Old English Fruitcake
Old English Fruitcake. NEW VIDEO! Dark and moist with plenty of spices and packed with plenty of sweet glacé fruit. It's been a Christmas tradition in my family for decades.
Originally published on November 7, 2007. Updated to provide new featured photos and a new video!
It's still weeks away, I know, but I've got a head start on a dark old English fruitcake for Spouse. It's a real old English style, dense, dark fruitcake.
I think this one weighs in at between 7 and 8 pounds. It's her absolute favourite. Tomorrow she goes to the rum spa for a soak and a wrap. The cake, that is, not Spouse!
Inspired by my Newfoundland upbringing, this dark English fruitcake with roots in the UK is one of my favourite things to look forward to at Christmas. This is a large cake meant to be served in small pieces.
There are easily 40 portions or more which means there's plenty to share with friends and family whenever they pop by during the Holidays.
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Old English Dark Fruit Cake
Old English Fruitcake - A dark, rich, well spiced old fashioned English style fruitcake that can be made weeks in advance of Christmas.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups chopped dried prunes (6 oz), chopped
- 1 ¼ cups chopped dates (6 oz), chopped
- 1 ½ cups dark raisins (8 oz)
- 1 ¼ cups golden raisins (6 oz)
- 1 ¼ cups currants (6 oz)
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup molasses
- ½ cup coffee liqueur, or ½ cup strong black coffee
- Zest and juice of 2 oranges
- 1 cup chopped glace cherries
- 1 cup candied citrus peel
- 1 ½ cups toasted pecans (7 oz), roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoon allspice
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 tablespoon cocoa
- 3 eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup ground hazelnuts or almonds
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat and add the raisins, dates, prunes, currents, brown sugar, molasses, spices, coffee liqueur (or coffee) and the orange zest and juice.
- Bring to a gentle boil and very slowly simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes.
- When cool stir in the beaten eggs.
- Sift together, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda.
- Add the ground nuts and fold through the boiled mixture. Fold in cherries, citrus peel and pecans. Pour into prepared baking pan. You can decorate the top with additional pecan halves, cherries etc., if you like.
- Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 ½ to 2 hours depending upon the size of your pan. Mine took the full two hours in a 10 inch spring form pan.The cake should feel firm to the touch at the center and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. The cake should be cooled completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing.
- At this point you can poke small holes in the top and bottom of the cake with a fork and 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.
- 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.
- When serving, you can add a layer of marzipan or if you have decorated the top with fruit and nuts, brush with a simple glaze of equal parts water and sugar boiled together for about 10-15 minutes.
Notes
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.
Nutrition Information
Yield
40Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 231Saturated Fat 2gCholesterol 21mgSodium 62mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 2gSugar 24gProtein 2g
I am making this now and having a blast ! I feel like
Mrs. Patmore ! It smells fantastic. My husband loves fruitcake and he is so excited to try this one !
HAHA! That thought went through my mind as well - Ms. Patmore! I'm so excited about this cake. I'm making it and taking it with me on the airplane to visit family...CHEERS to a lovely and beautiful cake. I can't wait to taste it. (A lick of the spatula told me it tastes amazing.)
So looking forward to making this fruitcake. Looks very much like the ones my grandmother used to make every Christmas. The comments i've read give me confidence that the cake will be delicious!
My husband loves fruit cake but is a recovering alcoholic, is there something I can use in place of the rum? I so want to make this as it sounds like what I grew up to love.
The rum soak is completely optional. It's still great.
When I made one that needed to be spirit-free, I melted apricot jam and added enough white grape juice to render it a liquid which I brushed over the top. Of course you could use a simple syrup and add vanilla (which can be purchased alcohol-free).
This recipe looks great! I was just curious as to how many ml there are in a cup. Where I live a cup is 250ml but I believe that can vary in different countries.
Yes, 250 ml
Hi,
I would love to bake this cake and I have one question? I have 2 young kids and was wondering if the Rum soak is not advisable. I have baked other fruit cakes before where the rum or whisky is added before its baked and it is supposed to have killed the alcohol content when its cooked.
thanks and the cake looks great!
Most of the rum will evaporate off anyway, leaving the flavour. Regardless this cake is delicious without the rum anyway.
Hi. I have been making fruit cakes for years for friends although I don't eat them I like making them. I used another recipe but couldn't find the recipe. I searched the internet and found yours which has similar ingredients. I did double the recipe. One is in the oven now. Smells great. Tell me, have I left it too late as Christmas is only a week away? Well less.
This fruitcake recipe does not necessarily need to age because it already has a nice dense texture. I wouldn't worry. I'd even give it a rum soak for a few days. Merry Christmas!
Is 300 degrees for convection or regular temp?
Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Regular. When I use convection, mine will automatically step down to 275 degrees.
Great, thank you.
Barry, this was so good! Hubby made 11 small loaves. I did post a picture when they came out of the oven. Getting rave reviews on them, what a great recipe. We cut to sample about 2 days after baking and that is way too soon. Will make earlier next year so they can age a bit. Thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes with us! Happy New Year to you and yours.
Wonderful cake. Thank you fir the recipe
This is just simply the most delicious fruit cake. I am making another one today. Flavour, taste and texture superb! Thanks for the recipe!
Wait a month for flavours to develop??? Not sure if we can wait!!!!
I made this cake last night. I'm going to use honey next time instead of molasses. Also the edges came out burnt. How can I keep this from happening next time?
I've made this for many years and I've never had an issue with burning edges.Try a lower heat, your oven temp may be off. An aluminum foil collar is useful too if you have a fast oven.
Just a thought but I find honey tends to take over the taste of baked goods. On the other hand, honey is great for preserving and keeping things moist. How about posting your thoughts on your finished product. Hmmmm...... something to think about.
I'm looking forward to making this cake shortly. What sort of container do people store it in for long-term keeping? How often should I resoak the muslin?
As often as you like reallly. I do it once a week before Christmas at least. I generally store in an airtight tim or plastic container.
Hi, if I were to soak the dried fruits in rum prior to baking this cake, is there anything that need to change in the recipe? Thanks.
No I don't think I'd change anything. Good idea.
HI, I have gone ahead and bake a simplified version with only dark rum-soaked raisins and cranberries to just see how the texture turned out. I have followed exactly the steps in your recipe. I have rave reviews from my families and friends. I must say the cake tasted really good.
I noticed that you didn't soak the dried fruits in rum but boiled them in melted butter and sugar in Step 1 to 3. I threw the dark rum soaked raisins and cranberries and I'm not sure if this has an effect on the cake. Its extremely moist and the crumbs just fall out whenever I cut the cake or trying to hold a piece with my fingers. I would like to know if the purpose of boiling the dried fruits is to accelerate the plumping up of the dried fruits. If this is so, I shall not add those dark rum soaked dried fruits in this step.
I will making the actual batch of fruitcake next weekend and till now I'm trying to figure out if I should add an additional 1/3 cup of flour to make it hard enough to hold together.
Thanks.
Hey Barry! Can I leave out the alcohol altogether and still expect it to keep till Christmas without freezing It?
I have no experience with anything other than the alcohol soak. I'd make it closer to Christmas in that case.
what can i substitute if i want to reduce the molasses to 1/2 cup. Can i increase the coffee liqueur to 3/4 cup?
I've never done substitutions with this cake.
my nanny used to wrap news paper around the outside of the baking tin to stop it from burning!!😉😉
Jan Cruz
golden syrup!!