I'm so excited to share this special recipe with you today.
It's a family fruitcake recipe.
I got this recipe from my mother-in-law, Gladys, who bakes a lot. She has been baking her whole life and can whip up amazing food, be it sweet or savoury, out of nowhere.
Of all the things that I learnt from her, there's one thing that I will never forget. She taught me how to activate yeast to make bread. And if you know me, you know how I LOVE to make bread.
Ok, let's just get on with the recipe.
Family Recipe
Gladys has been making this fruitcake since the whole family was living in Argentina. It's one of the sweet treats for Christmas celebrations.
She made it a while ago and we thought ok, we need to share this delicious cake with all of you.
Personally, for me, family recipes are the best because of the memories that come attached to them. The wonderful memories just make the food even more delicious.
What Is A Fruitcake Really?
Well, a fruitcake is a cake made with nuts, candied fruits and some type of liqueur. Some even add spices to the cake. Fruitcake is typically served during Christmas and in some places, during weddings also.
But of course, there are no rules to that. If you feel like having a fruitcake for your birthday in June, by all means, bake it and enjoy!
What Fruits And Nuts To Use
For this recipe, I'm using raisins, candied fruits and roasted almonds.
I'll talk about raisins a bit later.
The candied fruits and almonds are the ones that she uses. Sometimes she mixes almonds with walnuts. So it depends on what she has. I'm using only almonds as Marco recently roasted some almonds and it was such a convenience.
You can use whichever you like, of course.
Candied fruits are easier to find this time of the year. Gladys always buys mixed candied fruits and uses that. I'm doing the same.
If you don't like candied fruits so much, you can reduce the amount and use more raisins. Or just use raisins and nuts. Your choice.
Soaked Raisins
She told me to soak the raisins overnight in the liqueur that I want to use in the cake. That's going to soften the raisins and they will be more pleasant to eat.
And also squeeze out the liqueur from the raisins before coating them with some flour. It will be easier to coat them with flour with the rest of the nuts and candied fruits.
If you don't want to use any liqueur, no problem. You can simply soak the raisins in orange juice.
Glazing
This is how the bakeries in Argentina back then sell fruitcakes. This is how Gladys presented her fruitcake during the many Christmas celebrations that they had there.
The glazing adds to that Christmassy look. And it looks so beautiful, right?
This glazing uses egg whites and icing sugar. Super simple ingredients.
If you're not into using raw egg whites, then you can simply use milk or water. Or you can skip the glazing totally.
This is a family recipe but you can totally adjust it to your liking. Recipes don't need to be bound by rules. Be free my friends!
Hopefully, you'll give this wonderful and special recipe a try.
Before You Go
If you're looking for more holiday baking, I could give you some suggestions.
- Scandinavian almond cake
- How to make perfect panettone at home
- Mini chocolate panettone
- No-bake chocolate cheesecake
- No-bake stracciatella cheesecake
Video
Family Fruitcake Recipe
Ingredients
The Cake
- 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour (345 gr)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup orange liqueur (80 ml)
- ⅓ cup raisins (50 gr)
- ⅓ cup roasted almonds (50 gr)
- 3 oz candied fruits (85 gr)
- ½ cup butter (113 gr), softened
- ¾ cup sugar (150 gr)
- 3 eggs , room temperature
- ⅓ cup Sunflower oil (80 ml)
- zest of 2 oranges
The Glazing
- 1 egg white
- 1 ¼ cup icing sugar (150 gr), sifted
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Others
- candied fruits , to decorate
- nuts , to decorate
- some melted chocolate
Instructions
The Cake
- The night before, soak the raisins in the liqueur. Set aside.
- Chop almonds and candied fruits into pieces, place them in a bowl set aside. Squeeze out the liqueur from the raisins and place them in a bowl together with almonds and candied fruits.Set aside the liqueur for later.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Take 2-3 tablespoon of flour mixture and add into the bowl containing the candied fruits, raisins and almonds. Coat everything well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add in butter, sugar and whisk until creamy. Then add in eggs, 1 by 1, mixing well after each addition. Now add in reserved liqueur, oil and orange zest. Mix well to combine.
- Add in flour mixture and mix well just to combine. Finally add in coated candied fruits, raisins and almonds. Fold everything gently to mix. Pour the batter into a 9x5 inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan that has been buttered and floured.
- Get your oven preheated at 430ºF (220ºC). As soon as you put the cake in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350ºF (175ºC) and bake for 60 minutes or until the cake is fully cooked. Cool completely before glazing.
The Glazing
- Whisk egg white until frothy. Add icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking to incorporate as you go.
Assembling
- Drizzle some of the glazing on top. Decorate with candied fruits and nuts of your choice.
- Add lemon juice to the balance of glazing and whisk to combine. Drizzle on top of the fruitcake. Finally drizzle some melted chocolate. Slice and enjoy!
Darshana Chandarana says
Hi I baked this cake over the weekend. It turned out good but I am not sure why the cake was slightly brown from inside instead of yellow like the pic. I added orange juice instead of orange liqueur.
Shehla Siddiqui says
If we don’t want to add liquor in there what’s a substitute?
Bea says
You can simply skip it or use orange juice. Hope it helps.
faye says
I made this with my mom and we absolutely loved it.. we decorated it exactly like you did it look so beautiful! thanks!
Bea says
Awesome Faye, I'm excited to hear that. Thank you so much for the love! 😉
Shehla Siddiqui says
I made it today . Made 2 mistake . Didn’t ready your reply and soak raisins in warm water and add water in egg batter . Second just place all the bits on the top instead of folding in batter . Just took out from oven no idea how does it make . But mistakes are made for learning 😊