Apricot Fruitcake
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Apricot Fruitcake. This light apricot fruitcake recipe takes our very popular Apricot Raisin Cake and turns it into a moist and delicious Christmas fruitcake.
Originally published Nov 18, 2009.
As promised to my followers on the Rock Recipes Facebook Page, here is my latest light fruitcake that I have been working on.
It's based upon the Apricot Raisin Cake that is so popular here in Newfoundland, especially during the holiday season.
I've always liked the texture of that cake, so I bumped up the amount of fruit in it. I added some glacé cherries and mixed fruit as well.
I've added no nuts here but if you are so inclined, add your favourite chopped toasted variety to this recipe. This just may destined to be a new family favourite for the holiday season.
The recipe upon which this light fruitcake is based is very popular here in Newfoundland, especially around Christmas. Find the original moist, rich Apricot Raisin Cake here.
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Apricot Fruitcake
This moist, spice-less fruitcake is one of our family favorites. It is not nearly as heavily flavored as dark fruitcake. Since no spices or molasses are used this cake relies purely on the flavor of the dried fruits.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ cups light raisins or sultana raisins
- 2 cup dried apricots chopped
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- ½ cup cream cheese
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pound glace cherries, chopped
- 1 pound mixed dried fruit
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan combine the water, apricots, ¼ cup sugar and raisins and simmer slowly for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature.
- Cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift together the flour and baking powder.
- Fold half of the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
- Fold in the cooled boiled apricot mixture.
- Fold in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Fold in the cherries and dried fruit.
- Bake in a greased and floured tube pan or 2 greased and parchment lined small loaf pans at 325 degrees F for about an hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- A tube pan will probably take over an hour depending on size. My small aluminum loaf pans took about 55 minutes. The toothpick test is the most reliable way to test if the cake is baked.
- Cool in the pan/s for a 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in a cake tin or other airtight container. Freezes well too.
Notes
The prep time here includes cooling time for the boiled raisin base.
I recommend using light raisins in this recipe if you want to keep the golden color of the cake crumb. Using darker raisins can affect the color but not the flavour of the cake.
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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
48Serving Size
48 servingsAmount Per Serving Calories 171Saturated Fat 3gCholesterol 26mgSodium 50mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 2gSugar 17gProtein 2g
I love a good fruit cake, so I'll be making this later in the week.
Thanks. Teresa
I love the texture of apricot cake also and I am very excited about making this cake in a few days!
I made this fruitcake today. It is the first time that I've tried to make one and it turned out wonderful!!! I love it! I used one large loaf and I had a pan that has 8 small loaves. They are so cute, I hope they freeze well because I wanted to wrap them and give as little Christmas gifts! Thank you so much for sharing. I will be trying some of your other delightful dishes in the future! Michelle D
When you make the cakes in smaller pans do you adjust the temp
No, just the baking time.
if i was to make the fruit cake with some nuts like almonds would i need to boil the almonds too? thanks !
I definitely would NOT boil the almonds. I might toast them lightly in the oven first though for extra flavor and texture.
Thanks for reading, Barry.
I first made this recipe last Christmas & it turned out great. I made it again for my mother's 80th birthday cake & everyone raved about it.I now have 2 more requests from my husband & son for this DELICIOUS fruitcake as their birthday cakes. I have made it in a tube pan but now will do them in loaf pans.
Thanks for the recipe Barry.
You're so welcome. This recipe has been in my family for many years and I expect will survive for generations to come.
Just wondering how long this keeps? Is it like other fruit cakes that last forever? Does it freeze well? Thanks.
I never try to keep fruitcake for longer than a week or so. I just usually freeze it in loaves and take it out of the freezer as I need it....and yes this one freezes very well.
I tried making this cake and it did not turn out at all like the one in the picture. It was still good and tasted great, but the colour and texture was very different than your pic. Mine was much darker in colour, because after coking the raisins for 30 minutes the liquid turned dark and therefore caused my dough to be much darker than your pic. Also mine is very crumbly....and dense. It still got eaten mind you but I'd love to know what I did wrong. Also there was way too much dough for a tube pan, I had quite a bit left over??? Would appreciate feedback.
I suspect that you boiled the mixture too rapidly. It needs to be slowly simmered. I have never had that result. The type of raisins probably also contributed to the color, try using golden raisins next time. Sizes of tube pans vary so I can't comment on that but mine more than accommodates this recipe. Any excess can always be baked in a small loaf pan and even given as a gift.
Oooo! This looks and sounds sooooo yummy! I think that this is one fruitcake that I will definitely make and like! Thanks for the recipe!
can you soak this cake with rum or apricot brandy and wrap to keep longer? Or would it need to be a more dense recipe?
What are dry fruit I always use glacé fruit .is it the same
Yes Glace is absolutely fine.
Made this cake yeasterday and it is amazing. I will be making this one every christmas for sure!
One of the moistest fruitcakes I've ever tried. So glad you approve.