Holiday Fruitcake
Christmas just isn't right without a traditional Holiday Fruitcake! It's a delicious combination of fruits, spices and special ingredients.
Ingredients
FRUITS
- 1 cup dates such as Medjool, pitted and chopped
- 3/4 cup dried raisins
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried blueberries
- 1/4 cup dried apricots
- 2 cups mixed candied citrus peels see Recipe
- 1 cup mixed glazed cherries
- 1 tbsp. orange zest
- 2/3 cup dark rum such as Gosling
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice tips & tricks
- 1/3 cup pineapple juice
DOUGH
- 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. ground Himalayan sea salt
- 2 tsp. allspice
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened tips & tricks
- 4 large free-run eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
TOPPING
- glazed cherries, as needed Footnote
- pecans halves, as needed
Directions
- In a medium bowl, add dates, raisins,cranberries, blueberries, apricots, citrus peels, glazed cherries and orange zest; stir very well.
- Pour in rum, orange juice and pineapple juice. Stir well,cover and macerate for 12 hours, stirring often.
- In a small skillet over medium heat, add pecans and toast them for 2 to 3 minutes; transfer to a bowl to cool. Repeat with the walnuts.
- Transfer them to a cutting board and chop them; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 250ºF/130ºC and line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper lightly with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whisk until very well blended and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine brown sugar and butter; process until the mixture is creamed.
- Add one egg at a time and mix well between each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and mix before adding half the flour mixture; process on low speed until just blended.
- Add half the fruit mixture and half the chopped nuts; mix until blended, about 30 seconds.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and process again until just incorporated. Add the rest of the fruits including the juice and the remaining nuts. Process once again until everything is well mixed but don’t overdo it.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level it out using a spatula. Decorate the top of the cake to your liking.
- On the lower rack of the oven, place a pan filled halfway with hot water. Transfer the cake on the rack above and bake for 3 hours in the preheated oven or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When cooking time is up, transfer it to a wire rack to cool off completely before taking the springform off and peeling off the paper.
- Place the cake on a couple pieces of plastic film and wrap it up nice and tight. Transfer the wrapped cake onto foil and wrap it tightly.
- Place it in a cake tin to protect it even more and store the fruitcake in a cool, dark place until ready to serve. If you’d like to increase the flavor even more before the Holidays, please read the blog.
Notes
Footnote: Some of you might want to skip the fruit-nut topping and opt for either a buttercream frosting, bring a British flare to it by covering in marzipan and then royal icing, or simply using fondant