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
Just made this for the first time, today. It turned out BEAUTIFULLY. I substituted flax egg for real egg (allergies), and it has still turned out perfectly. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!!
Best fruitcake ever! Made it 2 weeks ago and i have couple of slices left.I follow the recipe and came out delicious.House smelled amazing! Today i will make another one for our Christmas party.
Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you for this! I am making it today in Lytton B.C. Canada. I am a Buddhist monk originally from St. John's Nfld.
We made 4 cakes in bread loaf pans - extra nuts and candied fruit - turned out wonderful! Then, as an alcohol substitute, a glaze of crab-apple jelly, apple juice, touch of vanilla, almond and orange extract . Brushed it on all sides.
Everyone here loved it - We will be giving the cake for presents. The monk from Saskatchewan, who always said he didn't like fruit cake, is now a fan because of this cake.
Hi Barry ..just wanted to let you know friends and family said on a scale of 1 to 10 this cake is a 12 ,I told them about your cookbooks ...thanks for freely sharing this one tho, the world needs it ...Hope your 2018 is awesome ...Esther
Sorry I did not see where to add the spice so it will so with the dry ingredients.
I am so excited about this recipe even though it is after Christmas. My previous fruit cakes have been a hit with the neighbors but I am ready for this now.
I have some true black currants but no prunes or dates so I will improvise. I love the use of cocoa which was often used by the more affluent before 1822 when the Dutch production made it less costly and more easily available. So I am sure this is in keeping with an original recipe from Britain.
I followed the recipe exactly except to add Italian orange peel in a liquor,not too much liquid. It was perfect. An old British friend who survived the bombing of London thinks it is astounding. There is not much left at this point so I may have to do another.
This is so delicious! I made it for the first time this past Christmas and it was a hit! We enjoyed it so much, I’ve made another one. Who says you can’t enjoy good fruitcake all year long!? Thank you!!
Hi Barry,
I am about to start the Christmas baking. Ordinarily, I'd have it done by now, but this is my first year in the new house in Tampa, FL. My challenge is going to be opening up space in the refrigerator to store the cakes as they age. I have a set of small loaf pans and I will make many loaves to send with the Christmas cookies to family and friends.
My usual recipe has gone missing in action thanks to the move and lots of boxes that still sit in storage. I went looking on the internet and found your recipe. It looks somewhat like the one I've used in previous years. Thank you for having this on your page. I look forward to trying it.
If you are interested, I'll be glad to share my lemon bread recipe with you. Just let me know. It's also great for the holiday season. Slice those loaves and butter with sweet butter. Serve with wassail and you have one of my favorite Christmas memories.
I'd love to see your recipe. Send it to barrycparsons@gmail.com
I made this cake a week ago. Just had a taste and it is unbelievably moist. Made it in two loaf pans.
I am not a big fan of molasses and find the molasses taste overwhelming in this cake. Would like to cut the molasses down to 1/3 cup or so if I made it again. I also like to find pieces of date in my cake so would not be boiling the dates as the recipe calls for.
I think if I made these changes I would really like the cake. As another reader mentioned, I don't find the cake overly sweet as some fruit cakes are but I don't mind that.
So just wondering what I could sub for the molasses if I don't use the 3/4 cup called for in the recipe.
Sub part honey.
So glad I found this site. My aunt was German/Irish and her husband was German. She made her fruitcakes in July. It was my memory that she kept her cheese cloth covered cakes soaked with brandy. But I've found no other posted recipes calling for brandy so I'm wondering if my memory is playing games with me. They were very black by Christmastime and utterly delicious. They, also, were made from "real fruit"! Preserve me from candied fruit!! Yuk.
Many recipes switch up the spirits. Any can really be used.
Hi Barry
Season's greetings.
I plan to bake this cake. I have a few queries,wii be glad if you can suggest.
I want to omit the prunes and dates quantity. People here dodnt enjoy over load of fruits. So by omitting this how much should I increase the quantity of the flour or should I increase the quantity of the ground almonds/hazelnut?
I understand the measurements you gave for 40 portions which means the cake weighs around 7 to 8 pounds.
Cheers
The prunes and dates in the batter are what forms the traditional sticky dense nature of this fruitcake. I'd suggest another recipe if you don't want that sort of cake. Or make what we call a 'light" fruitcake that is not made with that fruit base. Some suggestions here: https://www.rockrecipes.com/best-christmas-cake-recipes/
Thank you for the response. I will check them out as well
Could you also clarify on my second question? On how much will this cake weigh?
Thank you once again.
That answer is already provided in this post.
it says in the recipe itself that it's 7 to 8 pounds. I divide the batter between three loaf pans instead of one large round cake. This is the third year I've made this cake, and always turns out great.
Barry I made this last weekend - thanks for the excellent recipe! Exactly like my mom used to make (and keep well hidden) every year. I will be sharing with the family over the coming holidays.
I laughed reading these comments. "Can I make it with no fruit or nuts or flour or sugar?" You are a patient man!
LOL! That's the second time this morning I've been told I'm a patient man.
Made this fruitcake and it is amazing. I have never made a fruitcake and to be completely honest have never cared for it. Well for Christmas my family decided to have a fruitcake competition. My Grandmother normally makes fruitcakes every year, but this year she has been in the nursing home and well she is going to be the judge of the competition. After following each step and seeing exactly how its made, i now have a new found respect for fruitcake and cant wait to cut into it. Based off the smell and look alone its going to be amazing. Thanks for the recipe.
Update, it turned out amazing and the flavor is pretty aeesome. I have had more than one person ask for me to make them one. Again thanks for the recipe.
I tried this recipe ans it came out so well! The cake had a rich flavor, it was a big hit with my friends.