It's great.. in one word. The only thing that I did not like was how small a portion this recipe makes. Given how fast the cake disappears, I would start with at least the double of this. I did make some changes - like i used orange peels and apricots instead of citrons and cherries just because we like those better. I dont think it matters as long as you keep teh quantity of fruit approx the same.

I tried this for Christmas and it was simply wonderful. Moist and with a punch. Got rave reviews and my cousins have asked me to bake more! I could not get molasses to I had to use treacle and I omitted the citron but I've never had a more beautiful cake :) Thank you P.S: I have one stored away for Feb when we have visitors!

I guess I'm not sure why this recipe is so popular. I used an egg replacer and it rose fine, but the molasses is so strong that it ruined it for me. It's almost like a strong Boston Brown Bread. I will say it was easy but I'm not giving this one to anyone.

I am a Brit, living in France and I must answer one of the questions that was asked: yes, you must let your cake age as much as possible, and this does mean 10 weeks or more. It's also the same for Christmas Pudding.

This may be a premature rating since the cake is just now coming out of the oven. It had to bake at least another 15-20 minutes for the toothpick to come out clean. Maybe this was due to liquid from the soaking fruit which I put in since the recipe did not say to drain. There is also a discrepancy for the aging with it showing Ready in 11 Days on the printout, but it shows 70 days on the screen one place and 11 days another place, then the directions say store at least 10 weeks! Really? I used some different dried fruit including pineapple, cherries and a fruit and peel mix which is the combo my mother used for hers. The final test will be for taste which will be when we try it in a couple of weeks.

I might be reviewing this recipe prematurely because it's only been out of the oven for an hour, but this is my first attempt at making fruitcake and I'm quite excited about it. Disclaimer! I love this recipe, even though I made some modifications. First, I think you really can use any fruit you want for this recipe. Although I'm sure the original is delicious exactly as it is, it's probably safe to use whatever fruit you have. I used: Candied citron, Currants, Dried papaya (instead of mango), Prunes (instead of cherries due to a food allergy), and Figs (because I had them). I also doubled the recipe. And, to add insult to injury, I made this recipe gluten free. SORRY! For gluten-free, here's my modification (and it worked GREAT!) . Instead of the all purpose flour, I used (remember I doubled the recipe!) 1/4 cup sweet rice flour (Mochiko sweet rice flour) and 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour plus 1 tsp xanthan gum. The cake rose nicely and since I was bad and had a little nibble already, I can say the flavor is wonderful. My cake doesn't look very much like the ones posted. Mine is much darker, so I wonder if my changes were a bit too much, or if I made a mistake somewhere along the way. It's fine though, I think it's perfect. For a more cake-like consistency, I might add an additional 1/4 cup of sorghum flour, but I'm pretty new to gluten-free baking too so someone with more experience might want to comment. Thank you for the yummy recipe!

This cake is deeeeliscious!!! Good thing I made four right away because it hasn't been 10 weeks yet and we already ate two loaves. My kids love it too. I found that the molasses was a bit too strong for my liking so I made another batch of 6 (that's how yummy it is) with a combination of dark molasses and a lighter molasses. The batter tasted great but I haven't tried the actual cake cause I am still ageing it. I made two with Brandy and the rest with Rhum. Will update when I finally taste the next batch. Can't wait to serve this for Christmas and New Year. I'm sure my guest will love it too. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

I made this cake last night for the holidays. The cake came out fine, however, I did not have a 6 x 3 pan & I wanted to be able to put it in a holiday tin, so I baked it in a larger pan and it came out really thin. The only recommendation I can give you is to buy the smaller pan, one that will fit the tin, or line a tin with foil and use that for the pan. I wish I would have doubled the recipe or used a loaf pan, but I was concerned about how I was going to let it sit for 10 weeks if I used a loaf pan. The recipe itself, as I said turned out great, and I am planning on looking for a 3 x 6 pan for my next cake & I will make more as soon as I get the proper size. I not only wrapped mine with cheesecloth which I had on hand because I do a lot of canning, and parchment paper, but I also wrapped it with foil after the parchment paper to keep it moist & fresh. I will use this recipe again using a 'fruitcake mix' that I purchase in the store just because it is easier than measuring out each of the fruit ingredients individulally. I love drinking coffee with it. I also made the other "Fruitcake" w 52 reviews at 'All recipes' as well last year and it 'flopped' for me, however, I am going to give both of these fruitcakes another try asap. If you compare the ingredients you will see the other fruitcake had a lot more flour, and I noticed the difference and how small this one was in comparison FYI. The other was the size of a 'standard' fruitcake, whereas this one was not.

I love this cake. I've received a number of compliments on it as well. We have it all year and use whatever dried fruit we fancy. (I omit candied fruit though.) I prefer to use brandy instead of the rum, though I've had success with both. I also tend to add extra spices such as nutmeg and ginger. Always a great cake. I prefer it after at least a week of aging, though some members of the household sometimes sneak into it before. But if you can hide it away, do so as long as possible. It'll be worth it.

I have been making this fruitcake for the past several years. Everyone loves it! Best after several weeks. Any mix of dried fruit is good. Cut the butter to a scant half cup (about 3/8 cup) as I found that the butter came out of the cake during baking. Very rummy. Keeps well for many weeks but only if you hide it and forget about it. Yum!