Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake. An old school fruitcake gets a modern, simplified update with a delectable dried cherry and chocolate twist.

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake

Today’s new recipe for the Holidays is again one that I have had an idea for over the last several Christmases. This year I swore I was going to make a recipe happen.

Boy, I’m glad I did!

I don’t quite remember where the idea came into my head a couple of years ago. I may have heard it from my friend since childhood, Gail,

I know that she has mentioned that she had such a recipe but I have never tasted hers. 

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake ready for the oven

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake recipe inspiration.

I thought about asking about her recipe first but some dried cherries I had from another experimental Magic Bars recipe, caught my attention.

I thought that the intensified flavour of the dried cherries would go nicely with chocolate base  thatI had already planned. Cherries soaked in rum sounded even better!

When I previewed a photo of this recipe on our Facebook Page, several followers mentioned chocolate chips. Gail said she didn’t add any to hers but might next time.

I decided to add them as little bursts of more intense chocolate goodness. In the first bite of the taste test, that turned out to be a good idea as well.

Booze or no booze, that is the question.

Spouse and I are great fruitcake lovers, as regular readers and the number of recipes in that category on the website, can attest.

Although neither of us are rum drinkers, we love it in food! Spouse even more so than me. Her favourite thing in the world is probably my Rum & Raisin Ice Cream.

Rum Raisin Ice Cream.

Although we love rum in food, it isn’t for everyone. We’ve added notes to the recipe to provide non-alcoholic alternative.

There is plenty of moisture in the cake ingredients to ensure that it won’t be dry.  There is no need for soaking the cake in anything afterward if you don’t mind.

Another lighter rum flavour option might be to just soak the fruit in the rum and ignore the cake soak at the end.

Any way you prepare it, the flavours will work equally well.

Be sure to let me know if you try it!

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake

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Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake

Yield: 40 small pieces

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Additional Time: 1 day

Total Time: 1 day 2 hours 30 minutes

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake. An old school fruitcake gets a modern, simplified update with a delectable dried cherry and chocolate twist.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups sultana or golden raisins
• 1 1/2 cups chopped glacé cherries
• 1 cup mixed dried fruit
• 1 cup citrus peel
• 1 cup rum, any kind, I used Newfoundland Screech (If making a no alcohol version use white grape juice or apple juice)
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon, optional
• 1 tsp nutmeg, optional
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 1/2 cup (or more) additional rum if you do the additional rum soak

Instructions

1. Start by soaking of the dried fruits in the rum for a couple of days minimum. You can do it much longer of course, even weeks ahead.
2. I soak them in a shallow airtight glass or plastic container. Stirring them several times during the day.
3. After 24 hours or so, the fruit should have soaked up practically all of the rum. Still continue to stir it occasionally to ensure even soaking throughout the fruit.
4. Grease a 10 inch springform pan well and line it with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
5. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda (and the spices if you are including them). Set aside.
6. Cream the butter and  brown sugar until light and fluffy.
7. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Next blend in the molasses until well combined.
9. Fold in 3 /4 of the dry ingredients mixture, until almost incorporated. A few streaks of flour should remain, so that it isn't over mixed.
10. Add the chocolate chips and soaked fruit and any remaining rum syrup in th container. There should be very little if any left.
11. Fold the fruit in for several turns before adding the last of the dry ingredient mixture.
12. Fold until the batter is smooth. This ensures your batter is not overworked for a soft cake.

BAKING

1. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
2. Bake for 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Test it with a clean wooden toothpick at two or three points near the centre to be absolutely sure the cake is baked.
3. Cakes this large are going to vary greatly in baking time between ovens. The low temp will allow for extra baking time if necessary and there is plenty of moisture in the ingredients so it's pretty forgiving.
4. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes before releasing the sides of the pan and sliding the cake onto a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
5. At this point you can, (optionally of course) poke small holes in the top and bottom of the cake with a skewer or toothpick.
6. Pour on 4 ounces of dark rum or your favorite whiskey, half on the top, wait ten minutes, then flip it over and pour the remaining half on the bottom.
7. Soak several layers of cheesecloth in additional rum if you like and wrap completely around the cake, then cover with several layers of plastic wrap and store in a COOL place.

Notes

This recipe can easily be made non alcoholic by using the suggested substitution of grape juice or apple juice to soak the raisins.

The cake would not be soaked in anything after baking. It still makes a very nice raisin cake with a very straightforward preparation method and with no need to boil the dried fruit. 

Nutrition Information

Yield

40

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 325Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 5gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 54mgSodium 100mgCarbohydrates 47gFiber 3gSugar 26gProtein 7g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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