Baking School In-Depth: Fruitcake
Fruitcake is steeped in a history that’s as rich and enduring as its flavor. Its origins go back to ancient Rome, where cakes made with barley, pine nuts, and pomegranate arils were a practical way of preserving energy-rich ingredients. It wasn’t long before the medieval spice trade transformed these humble cakes into something far more decadent. Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, along with dried fruits and sugar, turned this practical food into an indulgent delight, a symbol of celebration and abundance. By the Victorian era, fruitcake had become a luxurious affair, often seen at weddings and feasts, soaked in spirits and covered in candied fruits.
But fruitcake isn’t just about extravagance; it’s about longevity. Its dense texture and high sugar content make it the perfect cake to preserve, growing richer and deeper with age. Queen Victoria famously let her fruitcake mature for a year before she ate it—an act of patience and restraint. In the US, particularly in the South, fruitcake became a cherished tradition, laced with bourbon and packed with pecans.
Baking a fruitcake is an act of devotion. In this world of instant gratification, fruitcake reminds us of the beauty in waiting, for the soaking of fruits, the slow baking, and flavors that deepen and meld over time. It’s a link between past and present, a piece of history, and a slice of joy for those at your holiday table.
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INGREDIENT BREAKDOWN
Excellent recipes require wonderful ingredients. Here’s how our recipes’ ingredients contribute to making the best fruicake.
DRIED FRUIT: The dried fruit forms the heart of the cake. It’s packed with natural sugars, which contribute to the cake’s sweetness and moisture. Soaking them in fresh orange juice and brandy not only infuses them with flavor but also softens them, preventing the fruit from becoming too hard and chewy during baking. The mix of dried fruits— like dried cherries, golden raisins, candied ginger, dried pineapple, dried apricots, and dried dates—introduces varied textures and sweetness while enhancing the cake’s deep, fruity profile.
ORANGE JUICE:Orange juice serves as a natural acid and liquid, helping to hydrate the dried fruits while adding a subtle citrus brightness. The acidity in the juice balances the sweetness of the fruit and contributes to the chemical leavening in the batter, helping it rise while also providing flavor complexity.
BRANDY: Brandy’s alcohol content acts as a solvent, extracting and concentrating the flavors from the dried fruits while providing the cake with a subtle warmth and depth. Additionally, alcohol helps break down tough fibers in fruit, making them softer. After baking, the brandy brushed onto the warm cake continues to flavor it, adding moisture and contributing to its preservation.
UNSALTED BUTTER: Butter is essential for creating a tender crumb. Its fat coats the flour’s proteins, limiting gluten formation and producing a soft, delicate texture. It also adds flavor, helping the spices and fruits meld together.
DARK BROWN SUGAR: Brown sugar brings both sweetness and depth to the cake. The molasses content in brown sugar lends a rich, caramelized flavor and helps create a moist, dense crumb. The slight acidity in brown sugar also interacts with the baking soda, contributing to the cake’s rise.
ORANGE ZEST: Zest contains essential oils that are full of aromatic compounds, imparting a bright, fragrant citrus note to the cake. It cuts through the richness of the butter and brandy, balancing the dense, spiced batter.
EGGS: Eggs are multifunctional in baking. They provide structure by binding the ingredients together, and the proteins in the egg whites help stabilize the batter as it bakes. The yolks add richness and fat, contributing to a moist, tender crumb. Eggs also help with emulsification, ensuring the fat and liquids blend seamlessly.
VANILLA EXTRACT: Vanilla enhances the overall taste of the cake, rounding out the sweetness and spiciness without overpowering the other ingredients. Its complex flavor compounds elevate the fruit and spice notes, bringing them into balance.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: Flour provides the structural foundation of the cake. In this recipe, the balance between flour and moisture is crucial to achieving a dense, but not overly heavy, fruitcake.
KOSHER SALT: Salt acts as a flavor enhancer, elevating the sweetness of the cake and balancing the rich flavors of the fruit and brandy. It also strengthens the gluten network, contributing to the cake’s structure, though, here, it’s used in moderation to avoid overpowering the other flavors.
BAKING POWDER: Baking powder introduces air into the batter, helping it rise during baking. It reacts with the moisture in the fruit and the acidity of the orange juice, creating bubbles that lift the batter and contribute to a light, tender texture.
GROUND SPICES: Spices provide the warm, comforting flavor that’s characteristic of a fruitcake. There are aromatic compounds that complement the richness of the butter and sugar and pair beautifully with the citrus notes in the fruit and zest. Each spice brings its own nuance—ginger adds heat and warmth, nutmeg and allspice provide depth, and cloves add a slightly sweet, pungent edge.
BAKING SODA: Baking soda neutralizes the acidity in fruitcake from tart ingredients like citrus and dried fruits, ensuring the cake’s crumb remains tender and moist rather than dense and heavy. It also works with the sugar and fat to provide a light rise, giving the cake a softer texture that can sometimes be elusive in such a hearty cake.
PECANS: Nuts are an essential texture component in fruitcake, offering crunch and contrast to the soft, moist crumb. Toasting the pecans before adding them to the batter brings out their natural oils and flavors, creating a nuttier, more intense taste. The nuts also help absorb moisture, preventing the cake from becoming too soggy.
CONFECTIONERS’ SUGAR: The dusting of confectioners’ sugar adds a finishing touch to the fruitcake, giving it a polished, elegant appearance. The sweetness is delicate, enhancing the cake’s flavor without overwhelming it.
Fruitcake
Makes 1 (15- to 18-cup) cake or 2 (8½x4½-inch)cakes (see Notes)
Ingredients
Fruit:
2 pounds (908 grams) dried fruit (about 5½ cups) (see Notes)1 cup (240 grams) fresh orange juice1/2 cup (120 grams) brandy
Cake:
1¼ cups (288 grams) unsalted butter,1½ cups (330 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar1 tablespoon (6 grams) orange zest3 large eggs (150 grams), room temperature2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract2¾ cups (344 grams) all-purpose flour2 teaspoons (6 grams) kosher salt1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground ginger1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground allspice1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground nutmeg1/4 teaspoon ground cloves1½ cups (170 grams) toasted finely chopped pecans1/2 cup (120 grams) brandy1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Notes
1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Poke surface of cakes with a wooden skewer, and use half of brandy to soak both cakes. Invert cakes onto a wire rack, and repeat with remaining brandy. Let cool completely on wire rack. Share one loaf with a friend!
While this cake can be eaten the same day with only one feeding, it is best after wrapping it and feeding it over the course of four to eight weeks. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and foil, and store it in a cool, dry place for two weeks. Unwrap the cake, and soak it with 2 tablespoons (30 grams) brandy or other preferred alcohol.
Rewrap the cake, and return it to the cool, dry place. Repeat the feeding process every two weeks until you reach your desired maturity. For a lighter cake, one to two feedings is perfect. For something richer and deeper, feed the cake three to four times. It is absolutely possible to overfeed the cake. If, after a feeding, it seems like the cake is struggling to hold onto liquid or has lost its integrity and is mushy, it’s probably time to stop. Wrap the cake and let it rest for one to two days, allowing it to absorb as much liquid as it can before serving.
SOAKING THE FRUIT
For fruit: In a medium bowl, fold together dried fruit, orange juice, and brandy until well combined. Tightly cover bowl, and let stand at room temperature until fruit is soft and has absorbed all (or nearly all) liquid, 12 to 24 hours, stirring once or twice.
You can use whatever blend of dried fruit reminds you most of the holidays. In testing, we used a blend of dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, and raisins. Prunes, dates, candied citrus peel, candied ginger, currants, and dried pineapple also make great inclusions. When using larger fruit, make sure to chop it to roughly the size of the smaller fruit before measuring.
To skip the overnight rest and soak of the fruit (though we highly recommend it), cover the fruit and liquid mixture as directed and microwave until the mixture is hot and steaming, about 1 minute. Let stand, covered, for 1 hour to steep and hydrate. Mixture should be completely cool before adding it to the batter.
Dried fruit has a really concentrated amount of sugar, which is hygroscopic. If left unsoaked, it will leach all the moisture from the cake, leaving it dry and crumbly. We used a blend here to add more flavor and moderate the amount of alcohol used. Dark or spiced rum or whiskey can be used instead of brandy. Other replacements for orange juice could be apple or cranberry juice or, simply, water.
PREPARING THE BATTER
Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C). Spray a 15- to 18-cup tube pan with baking spray with flour.
For cake: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar, and orange zest at medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition and stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until just combined. Add fruit mixture and any unabsorbed liquid and pecans; fold with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed. (It will seem like a lot of fruit at first but will come together.)
INTO THE PAN
Spoon batter into prepared pan, and smooth surface with an offset spatula. Firmly tap pan on a kitchen towel-lined counter a few times to settle batter.
BAKING THE CAKE
Bake until deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted near center registers at least 205°F (96°C), about 1 hour and 35 minutes. (See Notes.) Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Using a skewer or wooden pick, poke holes all over surface of cake. Using a pastry brush, generously soak cake with about half of brandy. Let cake absorb alcohol for about 5 minutes; invert cake onto a wire rack. Poke more holes all over cake, and brush remaining brandy across surface. Let cool completely, top side down, on wire rack.
Just before serving, dust confectioners’ sugar on top of cooled cake. (Alternatively, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and foil, and feed it; see Notes. Depending on how long you are feeding the cake, it can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks to 2 months.)
FEEDING AND STORING
The term “feeding” reflects the act of “nourishing” the cake with liquid, as though you’re tending to it, helping it evolve into something richer and more complex with each careful measure.
Feeding the cake: Feeding a fruitcake is the act of soaking it with alcohol, typically over the course of a few weeks or months. This helps to preserve the fruit and sugars, which develops the best flavor.
While this cake can be eaten the same day with only one feeding, it is best after wrapping it and feeding it over the course of four to eight weeks. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and foil, and store it in a cool, dry place for two weeks. Unwrap the cake, and soak it with 2 tablespoons (30 grams) brandy or other preferred alcohol. Rewrap the cake, and return it to the cool, dry place. Repeat the feeding process every two weeks until you reach your desired maturity. For a lighter cake, one to two feedings is perfect. For something richer and deeper, feed the cake three to four times. It is absolutely possible to overfeed the cake. If, after a feeding, it seems like the cake is struggling to hold onto liquid or has lost its integrity and is mushy, it’s probably time to stop. Wrap the cake and let it rest for one to two days, allowing it to absorb as much liquid as it can before serving.
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