recipe reviews for:

Christmas Fruitcake

“It's a shame that fruitcake as a species gets such a bad rap. With its two key ingredients - rum and butter - it ought to be a hit. This recipe includes dried fruit, instead of the glowing, candied stuff we've all learned to associate with fruitcake, and is less dense and more cake-like than many fruitcake recipes. It has become a favorite of my friends and family around the holidays (even the skeptical ones), and is delicious by itself, or covered with a layer of almond paste. Fruitcake is also traditional for wedding cake in England, and makes a very rich, sophisticated dessert for luncheons or teas.”

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Reviewed: Dec. 22, 2011

Four weeks ago, I made a quadruple batch of this and hoped for the best. I opened the tin last night to cut some up to bring in to work today to share. It was absolutely fantastic. SO SO SO GOOD. One of my co-workers said it was the best fruit cake he had ever tried. I think the cheesecloth really made the difference. Next year I will start it in October to see if it is even better. Thank you so much for this excellent recipe. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

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Reviewer:

HeatherM

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Reviewed: Dec. 9, 2009

I tried a corner before wrapping for the aging process: delish! My first time both eating and making fruitcake and this tasted like rum-y caramel-y goodness! I left out raisins, as I don't like them, and added almonds, cashews, and macadamia nuts. Can't wait to try it after the mellowing. PS. My BF suggested I call it something other than fruitcake so people will actually eat it. LOL.

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Reviewer:

Josie

Reviewed: Jan. 27, 2009

This is an extremely rich and decadent recipe! I used heaping portions of my favorite dried fruits and maraschino cherries, left out the citron, and used walnuts instead of pecans. After tasting the batter, I decided to kick up the spices and add 1/4 tsp. each ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. It came out moist and spice cake-ish after aging - the only negative was that it was very buttery/brown sugary tasting, and no one could eat more than a little bite at a time. Will have to do some more testing.

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Reviewer:

Rachlean

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Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Seattle, Washington, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 15, 2008

I am really excited to try this after it has aged the appropriate time. I didn't add the mango, but added raisins and currants instead.

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CHARITYBOO

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: Beaverton, Oregon, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 9, 2008

Okay, so far I've only sneaked one bite, but I can already say that this cake is divine! I made it today after soaking the fruit for only 15 hours. I think 15 hours was just fine, as all of the alcohol had been absorbed. Also, I used Grand Marnier to soak the fruit in, simply b/c I had forgotten to buy dark rum. I quadrupled the recipe and used a variety of pans and dishes - from a small loaf pan to a few ramekins. Baking time varied from about 40mins for the smaller ramekins to 1 hour for the loaf pan. I still need to get the rum, so the cakes are waiting until tomorrow, when I'll sprinkle on the rum and wrap in cheesecloth and parchment. I can say that I won't be ageing the cakes for 10 weeks as called for in the recipe, but I am definitely planning on ageing them for a few weeks until I ice them and send them to friends and family as gifts. I'll post an update then. But I can already say this cake is superb!

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Reviewer:

Diana Moutsopoulos

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

Living In: London, Greater London, England, U.K.

Reviewed: Oct. 14, 2008

My favorite fruit cake recipe!!! Very good!!

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American

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Feb. 4, 2008

My family loved this recipe. We had planned to let it sit the customary week or longer but it didn't even last an hour. It was great but I would double or maybe triple it next time.

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Reviewer:

Sherri

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Petal, Mississippi, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2007

I cannot fairly rate this because I used way too much rum. I think if I would have only used the 1/4 cup that was called for, it would have been great. I also used heaping measurements of the fruit and nuts. This is a good recipe for DARK fruitcake.

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Reviewer:

cassarugh

Home Town: Florence, Alabama, USA

Living In: Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 22, 2007

This is a really good fruitcake recipe using some more exotic fruits. I doubled the recipe though to make a good sized family cake, and yes, it is just like my English wedding cake. Just a little tip though, if you are going to ice this cake and want a nice flat top, make a dip in the middle of the mixture as you put it in the tin. Then it will rise to a level instead of having a hump on the top.

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Reviewer:

slashignore

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Battle, Sussex, England, U.K.

Reviewed: Nov. 22, 2005

I doubled the recipe to make a 9.5X3 round. I used whetver fruit I had on hand(walnuts,cranberries,raisins,currants and golden raisins). I did not think mango would quite go with cake. I soaked the fruit in Apricot flavoured brandy instead of rum for 3 days and used 4 cups of that (doubled the original recipe). Did not have molasses on hand so substituted honey. Next time I am going to try adding some treacle as well for the color and deep flavor. I made this cake for my mom-in-law's birthday. Topped it with lightly sweetened whipped cream which was a nice contrast to the dense cake and garnished it with orange slices. Everybody LOVED it. The cake turned out to be rich,moist and delicious. This recipe is a keeper.

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