Traditional Christmas Dark Fruit Cake Recipe

One of many delicious Christmas dessert Recipes

This dark fruit cake recipe is a little different from the traditional Christmas recipe. It has more cake and less fruits, but on the other hand it is very moist and tastes wonderful.

If you are looking for different Christmas dessert recipes, then I hope that you will try this one.
Most fruitcake recipes are so loaded with different types of dried fruits that the cake in it gets lost. In the end it is just fruits glued together by moistened flour.

This dark fruit cake recipe will give you an actual cake experience. There are plenty of fruits in it, but not an overwhelming amount.

The fruits in this traditional Christmas cake are minced and soaked in rum, making it moist and delicious. I baked it this year for the first time and have to admit that from now on, it will join the cookies that I bake every year.

I hope that you will enjoy this dark fruit cake recipe as much as I did.

Dark Fruit Cake Recipe

For the fruitcake:
• ½ cup of small mixed candied fruit (64 g)
• 2 tablespoons candied citron (35 g)
• ¼ cup currants (raisins) (35 g)
• ¼ cup of broken pecans (28 g)
• ½ cup of Meyers dark rum
• ½ cup of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons butter (113 g) – at room temperature
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar (60 g)
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 325°F (162°C)

Prepare the fruitcake:
• Mince the candied fruits and citron in a food processor lightly spayed with oil.
• Place them in a bowl and add currants and nuts.
• Add ¼ cup of rum and soak the mixture for 24 hours. Cover tightly and store at room temperature.
• Mix the flour with cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl.
• Cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the egg, then add 1/3 of the flour, then molasses, then flour again, then milk and then the rest of the flour.
• Add the candied fruit mixture together with the rum. Blend in well into the cake batter. The batter will be slightly curdled, but that will not affect the cake’s texture.
• Grease and flour3 ½ to 4 cup baking mold or a 6 inch by 2 inch (15 x 5 cm) cake pan.
• Move the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the tester comes out clean.
• Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and the sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of rum.
• Place a piece of clear foil large enough to wrap the cake on the counter.
• Moisten a piece of cheesecloth with 1 tablespoon of rum and place on top of the foil. Make sure that the cheesecloth is large enough to wrap the cake.
• Place the unmolded cake onto the cheesecloth and sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining 1 tablespoon of rum.
• Wrap the cheesecloth and the foil around the cake.
• Cool to room temperature before covering it tightly with aluminum foil.
• Store the cake in an air tight container.

Source: The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum



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