Easy, fruity, boozy fruit cake recipe with rum
Savor the rich, irresistible fragrance of this rum-infused fruit cake recipe, studded with colorful dried fruits like kiwi, pineapple, papaya, figs, and Turkish apricots. Soak the fruits in golden Bacardi rum or your favorite alcohol on day one, bake the cake on day two, and serve on day three. It's that simple.
Servings: 10 people
Calories: 461kcal
Equipment
- Spice Mill or Blender
- 1 loaf pans 9 x 5 x 3 inch or 23 x 13 x 8 cm
Ingredients
Soaked Fruit Mixture
- ⅓ cup dried Turkish apricots diced
- ⅔ cup dried papaya diced
- 1 cup golden raisins
- ½ cup dried kiwi diced
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup dried pineapple diced
- ½ cup dried figs diced
- 9 Tablespoons dark rum 6 Tablespoons for the fruit soak plus 3 Tablespoon for the glaze
- 4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
For the fruit cake
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour 92 grams
- ½ cup blanched, slivered almonds optional, or almond powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup dark brown sugar 100 grams
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup chopped raw pecans
For the glaze and decoration
- ¼ cup apricot jam for glaze
- whole pecans, walnuts or dried fruits optional, for decoration
Instructions
Day #1: Soak the dried fruit
- Put the dried Turkish apricots, golden raisins, cranberries, apricots, pineapple, kiwi, figs and ginger in a medium bowl. Pour the dark rum and freshly squeezed orange juice over the mixture. Mix with a spoon. Cover and let sit at room temperature in an airtight container for 12 hours. Shake the container occasionally to ensure that the liquid is absorbed evenly by the fruit.
Day #2: Bake the cake
- Preheat oven and line the loaf pan with parchment paper. Place a rack in the middle and bottom of the oven; preheat oven to 325°. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Toast the almonds, then grind them to a powder. Toast the blanched almonds in a dry small skillet over medium heat, tossing often, until a slightly brown and very fragrant - about 3 minutes. Let cool, then grind into a fine powder in stages using a spice mill. Pour into a bowl and set aside Omit this step if not using nuts or if you are using almond powder.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Transfer the all-purpose flour, ground almond powder, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger to a small bowl. Mix with a whisk until evenly combined.Mix the wet ingredients. Transfer the unsalted butter and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the mixture until light and fluffy on medium-high speed. Beat in 2 eggs. If you do not have a stand mixture, you can use an electric mixture or a wooden spoon.Combine all the ingredients. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients flour mixture in one go. Beat just long enough for all the visible flour to be incorporated - about 15-20 seconds. Add the soaked fruit mixture and chopped pecans. Fold in with a spatula. Do not overmix.Pour the batter into the parchment-lined loaf pan.
- Bake the fruit cake. Fill a loaf pan with hot water and set in the bottom rack. Place the loaf pan containing the cake batter in the middle rack. Spray the inside of the oven with water. Close the oven door immediately. Bake the fruitcake 1hour. Remove the loaf pan and continue baking in dry heat until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean - about 15 minutes.
- Feed the cake with rum (first feed). Transfer fruit cake in loaf pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in the pan -about 30 minutes. Carefully lift the cake by holding the parchment. Remove the parchment. Place the cake bottom up on top of some the used parchment. Gently poke holes all over the bottom of the cake with a skewer. Dap the bottom of the cake with about 1 tablespoon of rum. Do not brush as this may cause the surface to crumble. Turn the cake right side up and remove any parchment. Brush the top and sides of the cake with 2 tablespoons of rum. Allow the cake to cool completely.Continue feeding the cake (optional): Wrap the cake in a clean sheet of baking parchment followed by a sheet of foil and finally plastic wrap. Feed the cake with 1-2 tablespoons of rum or your preferred alcohol every two weeks ,re-wrapping it each time. You should feed the cake about 4 times in total including the first feed when the cake was dabbed with rum while it was still warm out of the oven. Serve the cake a week later to maximize absorption. The cake can be stored in a cold place or in a refrigerator. If you plan on keeping the cake for months, store it in the refrigerator.
Day Three: Glaze and serve the cake
- Warm some apricot jam in the microwave - about 30 seconds. Brush the top and sides liberally with apricot. The apricot jam serves as a glaze and also seals in the moisture of the cake. If using a chunky apricot jam, remove any large bits so that the glaze is even. Decorate the top of the cake with walnuts and glaze the walnuts with the jam as well. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The cake is best served after allowing the flavors to settle for at least one day.
Video
Notes
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- Time intensifies the flavors. For the best results, make it up to 7 weeks ahead and baste it each week with classic Bacardi rum and prepare to astound your family and friends.
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- The dried fruit should be diced into even pieces. The dried fruits should be about the size as half a dice.
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- Use a total of 4 cups of dried fruits and nuts. For me, the best combination is 3 ¾ cups of dried fruit and ¼ cup of nuts.
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- Vary the fruit color for different effects. You could exclusively use green dried kiwi for example for a St. Patrick's Day fruit cake or go monochromatic and use a combination of chopped figs, dates and currants.
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- Check the sweetness of the dried fruit. Check the sweetness of the dried fruit, ensuring a balanced overall sweetness in your combination. Candied fruit is sweeter than golden raisins, and candied orange, delightful in small amounts, can be overwhelming if too much per bite. To assess your fruit combination, cleanse your palate with a sip of water, then taste half a spoon of assorted dried fruits. Adjust accordingly if needed.
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- Substituting with fresh fruit may be tricky. This Christmas fruit cake recipe has not been calibrated for fresh fruits. Fresh fruit releases additional moisture when baked which could affect the cake batter.
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- Try your favorite warm spices. You can also experiment with your favorite powdered spices like allspice, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Note the amount of spices already used in this recipe to determine how much to use.
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- When lining the loaf pan, use long pieces of parchment. I used two pieces, cutting one long piece to span the length of the loaf pan with overhang on one side. Instead of two small pieces for the shorter sides, I cut one long piece, providing a double layer at the bottom. This method makes it easier to lift and flip the warm cake for feeding. It's an optional step but significantly simplifies the process.