Homemade fruitcake is infinitely better than anything you can buy at the grocery store, and this one is easy to make! If you’re looking to share, this recipe can also be baked as two loaves.
Fruitcake is often met with reluctance and perhaps a judgmental eye roll, but I LOVE IT. Like most baked things, homemade is best, and this recipe is one of the easiest I’ve found.
This is another recipe from my thrifted recipe treasure box and although it’s decades old, it still holds up in the modern kitchen!
Here’s the original recipe from the box! Neatly typed on a folded sheet of paper – the red ink and tiny stamped Christmas shapes are so sweet!
Mincemeat is the ingredient that makes this recipe so simple. None Such is a good brand and widely available. Their Brandy and Rum recipe was very tasty in this recipe.
There’s no need for a standing mixer, or an electric mixer of any kind. The batter can be stirred by hand. Most of the work is greasing and lining a tube pan with parchment. Or, you can bake this recipe in two greased and floured 8-inch loaf pans to further simplify things.
The cake baked so perfectly, I almost didn’t want to glaze it! Almost. I made a quick confectioners’ glaze which was delicious and also a quick fix.
I couldn’t resist scattering a little more candied fruit on top, using those nuclear-colored green and red cherries for garnish. This is optional, of course, but really makes the cake look retro, and like it came straight from the pages of an old colorized cookbook.
Chances are, I’m not going to change anyone’s mind about fruitcake if it’s already been made up. But if you’re like me and happen to find a slice delicious for breakfast or a snack, then this is definitely worth a try!
Easy Holiday Fruitcake
Equipment
- 9-inch tube pan or two 9×5-inch loaf pans
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour unsifted
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 jar 28 oz. commercially prepared mince meat (such as None Such)
- 1 can 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups 1 lb. mixed candied fruit
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Glaze and toppings
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 1/3 cup chopped candied fruit
- 12 candied cherries
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Grease a 9-inchtube pan and line with parchment paper.
Instructions
- Sift together the flour and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a wooden spoon. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for one hour and 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan. Turn out of the pan and remove the parchment paper.
- For the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add milk or cream 1 tablespoon at a time, until a thick pourable glaze is achieved. Spoon over the fruitcake. Immediately add candied fruit and cherries around to top of the cake.
- This recipe can also be baked in two loaf pans, 8 1/2×5-inches each. Bake time will decrease to 1 hour 10 minutes.
