Simple Fruit Cake Recipe

This simple fruit cake is a buttery, alcohol-free cake packed with raisins, sultanas, dried cranberries, chopped apricots and cherries. It bakes in one 8 inch tin at 325°F (160°C) for 60 to 75 minutes, takes about 2 hours start to finish, and cuts into 12 slices.

Two small things make it work. The dried fruit soaks in orange juice for 15 to 30 minutes instead of weeks in brandy, and it gets a light coat of flour before it goes into the batter so it stays spread through the cake instead of sinking.

Simple Fruit Cake or Traditional Fruitcake?

Traditional Christmas fruitcake is a dark, dense cake. The fruit soaks for days in brandy or rum, the batter is heavy with brown sugar and spice, and the finished cake is “fed” with more alcohol for weeks so it keeps for months.

This one is lighter in every way. It is a butter cake with a soft, tight crumb, a little orange and vanilla, and only a pinch of cinnamon. The fruit is softened in juice while you make the batter. Eat it within 5 days, or freeze it for a month.

• Soak: 15 to 30 minutes in orange juice or warm water, no alcohol
• Fruit to batter: 2 cups (300g) dried fruit to 2½ cups (310g) flour
• Pan: one 8 inch round or square tin, lined with parchment
• Bake: 325°F (160°C) for 60 to 75 minutes
• Keeps: 5 days wrapped at room temperature, 1 month frozen

If you want a deep, dark holiday cake, my vintage Christmas cake is closer to that style. This one you can bake this afternoon and slice tonight.

---

Soaking the Dried Fruit in Orange Juice

Put the dried fruit in a bowl, pour over ½ cup (120ml) of orange juice and leave it while you make the batter. In 15 to 30 minutes the raisins plump up and the apricots soften enough to bite through easily. Dry, hard fruit pulls moisture out of the crumb as the cake bakes, which is why unsoaked fruit cakes so often taste dry.

Warm water works too if you have no juice, and the cake will taste a little plainer. For a sharper citrus flavor, swap half the orange juice for lemon juice. All lemon can taste sour next to the sweet fruit, so I keep it to half.

Drain the fruit well before it goes anywhere near the batter. Pat it with a paper towel if it is still dripping.

---

Choosing the Fruit Mix

The card calls for 2 cups (300g) of mixed dried fruit: raisins, sultanas, dried cranberries, chopped apricots and cherries. Raisins and sultanas bring sweetness and stay soft. Cranberries add a little tartness. Apricots and red cherries give you the color you see when you cut a slice.

Any mix that adds up to the same weight works, so use what you have. Chop apricots and cherries to about the size of a raisin. If you use glacé cherries, rinse off the syrup and dry them first, because sticky, heavy pieces are the ones that end up in a layer at the bottom.

Dates and walnuts also work in place of some of the fruit; my date and walnut cake is built around that pairing.

---

Mixing a Smooth Fruit Cake Batter

Beat the soft butter and sugar for a full 3 to 5 minutes, until the mix turns pale and fluffy. This traps the air that lifts a heavy, fruit-filled batter. Butter that is too cold stays grainy and will not whip; it should dent easily when you press it.

Add the 4 eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Room temperature eggs blend in smoothly. Cold ones can make the batter look split and curdled. Forgot to take them out? Sit them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. And if the batter does curdle, beat in a spoonful of the measured flour and it will come back together.

Stir in the vanilla and orange zest. The cinnamon is optional and only ¼ teaspoon, just enough to round out the fruit without turning it into a spice cake.

---

Keeping the Fruit From Sinking

Before you whisk the dry ingredients, spoon 2 tablespoons out of the 2½ cups of flour and set them aside. Whisk the rest with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon, then stir it into the butter mixture just until the batter is smooth and thick.

Toss the drained fruit in the 2 tablespoons of flour you saved. The dry coating grips the batter so the fruit hangs in place while the cake sets. Fold it in with a spatula in a few broad strokes. Overmixing at this stage thins the batter, and a thin batter lets fruit drop.

Sinking fruit nearly always comes down to one of three things: fruit that was still wet, pieces that were too big, or a batter that was mixed too long.

---

Baking an 8 Inch Fruit Cake

Grease the tin and line the base and sides with parchment. The bake is long, and the paper keeps the edges from getting dark and dry. Spread the batter level and bake at 325°F (160°C) for 60 to 75 minutes.

The low heat lets the center cook through before the outside overbakes. Check at 45 minutes. If the top is already deep gold, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it for the rest of the bake.

The cake is done when the top springs back when pressed and a skewer pushed into the center comes out clean. A skewer that hits a raisin will come out sticky, so test a second spot before you add more time. Wet, raw batter on the skewer means it needs another 10 minutes.

Cool it in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift it out by the parchment onto a wire rack. A warm fruit cake is soft and can crack if you tip it out too soon. Let it cool completely before glazing or wrapping.

---

Simple Fruit Cake Design Ideas

The cake in these photos is decorated with its own fruit. Hold back a small handful of the soaked, floured fruit and press it lightly into the top of the batter just before it goes in the oven. It bakes into a jeweled top crust, and you do not need any extra ingredients.

For the glaze, stir ½ cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of orange or lemon juice, then add more juice a few drops at a time until it falls from a spoon in a slow ribbon. Drizzle it over the cooled cake in thin lines and let it run down the sides. Too much juice and it soaks in and vanishes.

• Birthday fruit cake: arrange apricot halves and cherries in a ring around the edge after glazing, while the glaze is still wet so they stick, and set the candles inside the ring.
• Fruit overload top: pile extra dried fruit, candied orange peel and a few walnut halves in the center, then brush with a little warmed apricot jam so it shines.
• Holiday table: sugared cranberries and a dusting of powdered sugar, or a few strips of candied orange peel.
• Plain and pretty: skip the glaze and sift powdered sugar through a paper doily for a lace pattern.

For a fuller orange flavor on top, a thin layer of orange curd under the fruit works well. At a party it sits nicely next to a red velvet cake or a vanilla cake for guests who want something less sweet and fruitier.

---

Making Fruit Cake Ahead for Christmas

Once completely cool, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for up to 5 days. The fruit holds moisture in the crumb, and the cake slices more neatly on day two than on the day it is baked.

To freeze, wrap it in plastic and then foil and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw it overnight at room temperature, still wrapped, and glaze it after thawing. For Christmas, that means you can bake it in early December, freeze it unglazed, and decorate it the day before you serve it.

If you want small gifts instead of one big cake, my mini Christmas cakes and cranberry orange mini loaves wrap up well for neighbors and teachers.

---

Fruit Cake Questions

Can I feed this fruit cake with brandy?

It is not built for feeding. The fruit is soaked in juice and the crumb is a light butter cake, so it will not keep for weeks. Want a boozy note? Brush the cooled cake with 2 to 3 tablespoons of brandy or rum and still eat it within 5 days.

Is dry fruit cake the same as this cake?

Yes. “Dry fruit cake” is the common name for a cake made with dried fruit, which is exactly what this is: raisins, sultanas, cranberries, apricots and cherries baked into a butter cake.

Can I use fresh apples instead of dried fruit?

Not in this recipe. Fresh apples release a lot of water as they bake, and the crumb turns heavy and soggy around them. Dried fruit adds sweetness without extra liquid.

Why did my fruit cake sink in the middle?

Usually it came out of the oven before the center was set, or the oven door was opened often in the first 45 minutes. Bake until the top springs back and a skewer comes out clean in two places.

---

Like orange with your fruit? The orange syrup cake is the next one I would bake. Leave a comment with your own fruit mix if you try this one; other bakers always want to know what worked.