Fruitcake Recipes

Fragrant spices, nuts, dried fruit, and plenty of rum make fruitcake a special treat. We've got dozens of wonderful fruitcake recipes.

Staff Picks

Mini Christmas Cakes

This recipe makes enough for 24 luxurious mini fruitcakes. They make a thoughtful Christmas gift for neighbors, work colleagues or teachers, or as part of a gift basket. You can decorate them differently by making one for each family member which makes it a lot more fun.
By Ita

Gluten-Free Fruitcake

Rating: 5 stars
3
A dense cake filled with dried nuts and fruits and spiked with spiced rum that just happens to be gluten free. It will change your mind on fruitcakes. No re-gifting here!
By Buckwheat Queen

Mom's Brazil Nut Fruitcake

Rating: 5 stars
7
There's just enough cake to hold the nuts and fruit together, and no nasty citron. This is one terrific cake.
By Carla A.

White Fruit Cake

Rating: 4.79 stars
97
My mother has been making this fruit cake at Christmas time for as long as I can remember. My whole family loves it. I know there are a lot of people out there that have issues with fruit cake, but this recipe has converted even the most reluctant.
By Brenda

English Walnut Date Cake

Rating: 4.64 stars
13
This has been a favorite of my husband's since I can long remember. His mother always manages to bake him one every year (she's 75) for Christmas...though she claims it's always his last.
By HoneeBee

Pangiallo laziale (Italian Christmas Cakes)

Pangiallo is a traditional Italian Christmas cake, originally from Rome. Dried fruits and nuts are mixed with oil, wine, and flour to create a humble yet tasty treat that is vegan to boot! Wrap in cellophane or Christmas paper and give as gifts to friends and family.
By lacucinadinadia

Festive Fruitcake

Rating: 5 stars
6
This is a large recipe that is rich and dark. Make a few weeks ahead of time. The walnuts can be chopped or left whole.
By Carol

Christmas Cherry Cake

Rating: 4.08 stars
8
This is a lovely white cake with cherries and raisins added for those of you who don't want to go to the trouble of making traditional fruitcakes. This freezes well.
By Carol

Best Boiled Fruitcake

Rating: 4.75 stars
51
This recipe produces a really moist fruit cake it was given to me by my mom, and it's really easy. My mom uses it for Christmas cake by icing it. I use it for birthdays, Christmas, or just for a treat.
By Mark Richards

Dundee Cake

Rating: 4.71 stars
6
This Dundee cake recipe uses candied fruit peel and candied cherries to make a delicious version of a Scottish Christmas favorite.
By Carol

Christmas Nut Cake

Rating: 4.43 stars
7
This nut loaf is all nuts. I have never met anyone who didn't like it - except for a few nuts!
By Richard Reisner

Quick and Easy British Fruitcake

Rating: 3.5 stars
1
A quick and easy fruit cake for tea time that tastes best fresh out of the oven. You can use any mixed dried fruit you like, including cherries. [Recipe originally submitted to Allrecipes.co.uk]
By Tessaann
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Inspiration and Ideas

Christmas Wreath Cake

Christmas Wreath Cake
Rating: Unrated
20
"This recipe is exactly the recipe my grandmother made. The only change I make is substituting pecans for walnuts and adding a 1/2 teaspoon of mace." – sistahcat
Tips For Baking Fruitcakes

Tips For Baking Fruitcakes
Done right, fruitcakes are everything you want in a holiday indulgence.
When to Make Your Christmas Cakes

When to Make Your Christmas Cakes
Grandma Leone's Fruit Cake

Grandma Leone's Fruit Cake
Rating: Unrated
7
Smart Cookie's Fruitcake How-To

Smart Cookie's Fruitcake How-To
Holiday Bourbon Fruitcake

Holiday Bourbon Fruitcake
Rating: Unrated
11

Christmas Nut Cake

Rating: 4.43 stars
7

This nut loaf is all nuts. I have never met anyone who didn't like it - except for a few nuts!

More Fruitcake Recipes

Best Boiled Fruitcake

Rating: 4.75 stars
50
This recipe produces a really moist fruit cake it was given to me by my mom, and it's really easy. My mom uses it for Christmas cake by icing it. I use it for birthdays, Christmas, or just for a treat.
By Mark Richards

Sharon's Jamaican Fruit Cake

Rating: 4.36 stars
90
A dark, rich fruit cake for wine and fruit lovers! This is a recipe I use at Christmas and for Birthdays. I prefer to use Jamaican Red Label Wine and White Rum. But you may use your Favorites....ENJOY!
By Sharon

Fruitcake

Rating: 3.99 stars
75
This is my 90-year-old grandmother's recipe. Very simple.
By Roxy

Boiled Fruit Cake

Rating: 4.59 stars
22
This is an Northern Ireland recipe given to me by my Mum many years ago!! This cake is always much tastier the following day! Enjoy!
By WIGAN

Christmas Fruitcake

Rating: 4.59 stars
105
It's a shame that fruitcake as a species gets such a bad rap. With its two key ingredients--rum and butter--it ought to be a hit. This recipe includes dried fruit, instead of the glowing, candied stuff we've all learned to associate with fruitcake, and is less dense and more cake-like than many fruitcake recipes. It has become a favorite of my friends and family around the holidays (even the skeptical ones), and is delicious by itself, or covered with a layer of almond paste.
By Karen Uffelman

Irish Barmbrack

Rating: 4.18 stars
29
Barmbrack is a traditional Irish cake eaten on holidays. After pouring into the prepared pan, it is tradition to add objects to the barmbrack which symbolize certain things for the person who receives each in their slice. Thoroughly clean objects before adding them to the barmbrack. These objects can be pressed into the bottom of the loaf after baking instead: coin-wealth or good fortune; ring-will marry within the year; bean-poverty; pea-will not marry within the year; matchstick-unhappy marriage; thimble-single for life.
By Brooke Elizabeth

Crushed Pineapple Fruitcake

Rating: 4.89 stars
10
This is a very good cake for Christmas. Do not double this recipe. You don't need to age this cake.
By Carol

Rich Dark Fruitcake

Rating: 4.78 stars
30
This is my mother's very old recipe, at least 60 years old. My mother baked this for my wedding, and it sure is delicious and also a great Christmas cake. This is a very long recipe, but well worth the trouble. You can substitute a cup of drained maraschino cherries for the candied cherries, if you like.
By Carol

Christmas Cake

Rating: 4.65 stars
94
This cake is a rich, dark, moist fruit cake, very flavorful at Christmas. Try icing with almond paste for a more festive touch. This recipe is started in October or November so as to let it mellow before the holidays. I remember very well my mother storing her fruit cake in an old butter churn that belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I wish that I had that old crock.
By Carol

Maritime War Cake

Rating: 4.33 stars
3
This eggless cake was developed by resourceful cooks during the war when eggs, butter, and milk were rationed. It is a traditional Christmas cake here on the East Coast of Canada. Served with a nice big hunk of Cheddar cheese and a hot cup of tea, it is a real holiday treat!
By Linda S.

Poor Mans Cake III

Rating: 4.25 stars
15
This recipe if from the l930's. My Grandmother gave it to my Mother and she gave it to me. Now I am a grandmother and passed it down to my kids. It's really good. You don't have to dirty your mixer for this one, just a big bowl.
By Jill D

Kentucky Bourbon Cake

Rating: 4.59 stars
23
Fruit cake soaked in whiskey. Should be made a month in advance, if you can wait that long (I can't!). You'll need some cheesecloth for giving this cake its trademark bourbon wrap.
By Holly

Japanese Fruit Cake II

Rating: 5 stars
4
My mother used to make one of these every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is sinfully rich and fattening.
By Pat K.

Dundee Cake

Rating: 4.71 stars
6
This Dundee cake recipe uses candied fruit peel and candied cherries to make a delicious version of a Scottish Christmas favorite.
By Carol

Never Fail Fruit Cake

Rating: 4.17 stars
20
'Tis the season for fruitcake! This one is more candy than cake and oh so delicious. Keep it in the refrigerator indefinitely. Really.
By Cathy Brisco

Quick Fruitcake

Rating: 4.87 stars
29
This fruitcake recipe is very easy to make through use of prepared mincemeat and mixed candied fruit for a quick Christmas-time classic.
By Linda C.

Ice Box Fruitcake

Rating: 4.63 stars
65
I don't know if this is a regional dish or what ... but NO ONE I talk to seems to have ever heard of it except the people in my family... and most people act like it's sooooo ODD ... but it's really yummy and it's really simple common ingredients ...
By Elaine Harper

Martha Washington's Cake

Rating: 4.5 stars
1
This is a long procedure, but well worth the trouble. A great cake. Makes about 11 pounds.
By Carol

No Bake Fruitcake

Rating: 4.31 stars
12
This fruitcake recipe using crushed vanilla wafer cookies, cherries, pecans, raisins, and coconut is easy to make and requires no baking whatsoever.
By Ann Hammock

English Christmas Cake

Rating: 4.2 stars
3
This English Christmas cake is lovely in texture and taste. It just has one difference -- no chopped mixed peel.
By SCOTT LEANING

Applesauce Fruitcake

Rating: 4.79 stars
11
Fruitcake made with applesauce and maraschino cherries.
By TEETEE

Jam Cake

Rating: 4.22 stars
9
This is a traditional Kentucky Christmas Cake. I like it better than fruit cake and the pecans may be soaked in bourbon several days before the cake is made.
By Debbie Collins

Holiday Bourbon Fruitcake

Rating: 4.85 stars
9
Moist and tasty fruitcake is made with all types of candied fruit and nuts with a hint of orange and more than a hint of bourbon. It takes about three days to complete the process, but it is well worth the time and effort!
By Cookin' Canuck

French Fruitcake

Rating: 4.33 stars
12
The fruitcake from this French recipe uses candied orange peel, walnuts, and raisins to make a fruitcake requiring no aging.
By Carol
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