My London trip just came to an end and I’m back to Beijing today. I have to admit that among the feelings of excitement from the trip, I’m a bit sad now, because I miss the great weather in London.
Guess I was super lucky in the last 10 days. It’s said that weather in London in June is unreliable and changeable, but I found most of days were sunny, cool and delightful. Sun set time is passed 9 in the evening, so you really feel the day is super long and you could accomplish a lot of things without getting tired. I spent as long as possible to stay outdoor to enjoy the sun shine. But now I’m back to steamy hot Beijing, which reminds me that everything is back to normal, and I need to start to work!
So, today is recipe will be – my family’s favorite fruitcake!
You might be wondering why I’m talking about this recipe, since Christmas is still far far away. Well, this is not a normal fruitcake, but one of my family’s favorite desserts. Fruitcake doesn’t have a good reputation and some of you might think it’s a joke. But I tell you, this recipe will totally change your view towards it.
This fruitcake tastes rich, full of fragrant of dried fruits, rum and butter. It rises very well, with fluffy texture inside and crispy surface. Unlike the other brownish fruitcake pictures on internet, this one has a beautiful golden color and a more appetizing appealing. A thin slice of this cake is a wonderful treatment with a cup of black coffee and everyone in my family loves it!
Traditionally, one of the most important function of fruitcake is for storage. It could be stored for weeks, sometimes half year, if stored properly. But in this recipe, I eliminate the storage part, because it tastes the best when it’s fresh. I especially love the taste when the cake was freshly made. The surface is just so crispy and crumbly the day you make it.
Even you never like fruitcake ever, I suggest you to give this recipe a try. It will totally change your opinion. And next time, you’d want to save this one for a family gathering or holiday party!
The recipe was adopted from Cookpad.com.
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Family Favorite Fruitcake
Ingredients
- 200 grams (7 ounces) dried fruits (dried grapes, cranberries, cherries, apricot)
- 70 milliliter (2.4 ounces) rum
- 200 grams (7 ounces) unsalted butter , melt
- 150 grams (5 ounces) sugar
- 3 big eggs (or 4 small ones)
- 50 grams (2 ounces) orange peel
- 50 grams (2 ounces) walnuts , chopped (or pecan)
- 220 grams (7.8 ounces) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
Instructions
- Add dried fruits and rum into a air tight container, mix well and cover. Marinate in fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Grease a loaf pan with butter, dust with flour and set aside.
- Add butter and sugar into a big bowl, mix well with mixer under low speed.
- Add eggs and continue to mix under medium speed, till the mixture slightly risen and becomes fluffy.
- Add in marinated dried fruits, orange peel and walnuts, mix well with a spatular.
- Sift in flour and add dry yeast, mix again with spatular.
- Bake in middle rack for around 70 minutes, until the surface turns golden brown and a chopstick comes out clean if inserted into the cake. During the baking, check on the fruit cake for a few times. If the surface starts to turn dark but the cake is not cooked yet, cover the loaf pan with lid or aluminum foil to avoid burning.
- Place the fruitcake on a cooling rack and slice to serve after completely cooled down.
- Store the fruitcake in a air tight container under room temperature for about 1 week.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
Deborah
Hello, I haven’t made this cake yet, so didn’t add a rating. I thought it was unusual that you used yeast in this recipe as the raising agent as baking powder is typically used in cakes. Is there a specific reason for this? Thanks!
Jean
Hi Maggie,
Thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Would it be possible to provide measurements in US standard cups and teaspoons vs. by weight and temperature in Fahrenheit?
Thank you.
kate
70 ml of rum= 24 oz????? Can you please give the corrected amount? thanks. 70ml is a little less than 1/3 C.
Maggie
Oops the dot was missing! Just corrected it. It should be 2.4 oz.
Claude
Hi Maggie, I’ve been looking for a yeast fruit cake like this for a fair while. It is absolutely delicious. Thanks for a lovely recipe. Much better than baking powder. I only use fresh yeast which gives the cake an even deeper flavour. cheers
fiona
I’ve never tried fresh fruitcake before, but I think this recipe is worth to try.
Hein
Just saw this on pinterest – just love it! Eggs and all 😉
Maggie
Hi Anna, I thought a lot of vegetarian eat eggs and that why I posted it on FindingVegan without looking into it. Only until you pointed out, I found out eggs are excluded in vegan diet. Will be careful next time and apologize for the inconvenience.
Richard Griffiths
Hi Maggie,
Your cake really was great thank you.
Have you heard of Rose Levy Beranbaum? She wrote Rose’s Heavenly Cakes about strangely enough cake making. Anyway she makes cakes in a different way from usual in that she mixes the dry things: flour, baking powder etc. Adds the fat and 1/3 of the eggs. Gets it mixed together then mixes it quickly for 30 sec. Then adds another 1/3 of eggs, mixes quickly then adds the final 1/3 and mixes quickly. The mixing is FAST!
This cake making is faster than usual and still produces a brilliant cake. Your recipe would then look like this:
2. Put dried fruits and rum into an airtight container, mix well and cover. Marinate in fridge overnight.
3. Put butter, sugar, flour, and baking powder into a big bowl with 1/3 of the mixed egg, mix for 30sec under med/high speed. Scrape down.
4. Add a further 1/3 egg, mix high speed 20 sec. Scrape down. Repeat with final 1/3 egg.
5. Add in marinated dried fruits, orange peel and walnuts, mix well with a spatula and put in round tin
6. Bake in middle rack for around 30 minutes, until the surface turns golden brown and a chopstick comes out clean if inserted into the cake.
7. Keep in tin 10 mins then put on a cooling rack and slice to serve after completely cooled down.
And it did work brilliantly.
Many thanks,
Richardx
Amallia @DesireToEat
What a delicious fruit cake, thanks for the step by step instructions.
Maggie
Hi Amallia, thanks for stopping by! I’m not an expert about baking myself so I found it useful to list step by step instructions. 🙂