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Finished Fruitcake Slice: A close-up of a Moist Fruit Cake Recipe slice showing colorful dried fruits and nuts inside, topped with candied fruit pieces.

Moist Fruit Cake Recipe

A traditional moist fruit cake recipe that’s tender, rich, and full of wine-soaked fruits. Perfect for the holidays, it actually improves with age when properly stored and fed with brandy or rum. This recipe breaks the stereotype of dry fruitcakes and creates a cake everyone loves.
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Dessert, Holiday Baking
Cuisine: British, European, Traditional
Keyword: 100 year-old fruit cake recipe, Best fruit cake recipe, Easy fruit cake recipe Mary Berry, Grandma's fruit cake recipe, Moist fruit cake recipe Mary Berry, Rich fruit cake recipe, Simple fruit cake recipe, Traditional fruit cake recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Soaking Time: 15 hours
Total Time: 18 hours
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 320kcal
Cost: $20

Equipment

  • 1 9-inch round cake pan (Deep-sided, lined with parchment)
  • 1 Kitchen scale (For accurate measurements)
  • 2–3 Large mixing bowls (For fruit soaking and batter)
  • 1 Electric mixer (Hand or stand mixer works)
  • 1 Fine mesh strainer (To drain soaked fruits)
  • 1 Skewer (For doneness test & feeding cake)
  • As needed Parchment paper (To line cake pan)
  • As needed Aluminum foil (For wrapping & storage)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Mixed dried fruits - Your choice of raisins currants, cherries
  • ½ cup Candied peel - Chopped
  • ½ cup Dried - cranberries
  • ½ cup Dates - chopped
  • ½ cup Blanched almonds - Roughly chopped
  • ½ cup Dark rum or brandy - Substitute apple juice for alcohol-free
  • ½ cup Orange juice - Fresh preferred
  • ½ cup Black tea strong - Unsweetened
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour - Sifted
  • 1 cup Brown sugar - Packed
  • 1 cup Unsalted butter - Softened
  • 4 large Eggs - Room temperature
  • 2 tablespoon Molasses - Adds deep flavor
  • ½ teaspoon Sea salt - Fine
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon - Ground
  • ½ teaspoon Nutmeg - Fresh grated best
  • ¼ teaspoon Cloves - Ground
  • ½ teaspoon Allspice - Ground

Instructions

  • Combine all dried fruits in a large bowl. Heat rum (or juice/tea) with spices until steaming, pour over fruits, stir well, cover tightly, and soak overnight.
    Fruit Soaking Step: A variety of dried fruits in a bowl as warm spiced rum is poured over them.
  • Preheat oven to 275°F. Line a 9-inch deep cake pan with parchment and butter thoroughly. Drain fruits, reserving soaking liquid.
    Mixing the Batter: A bowl of cake batter being whisked, with soaked raisins and dried fruits folded in.
  • Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then mix in molasses and vanilla. Alternate adding flour and reserved soaking liquid. Fold in soaked fruits gently.
    Freshly Baked Loaf Cake: A golden loaf cake cooling in parchment paper, glistening on top with syrup or glaze.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake 2.5–3 hours at low temperature. Test with skewer for doneness.
  • Cool completely in the pan. Wrap tightly for storage and begin the feeding process with rum or juice if aging the cake.
    Finished Fruitcake Slice: A close-up of a moist fruitcake slice showing colorful dried fruits and nuts inside, topped with candied fruit pieces.

Notes

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 320kcal (16%) | Carbohydrates: 45g (15%) | Protein: 4g (8%) | Fat: 12g (18%) | Saturated Fat: 6g (38%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 55mg (18%) | Sodium: 120mg (5%) | Potassium: 320mg (9%) | Fiber: 3g (13%) | Sugar: 28g (31%) | Vitamin A: 250IU (5%) | Vitamin C: 2mg (2%) | Calcium: 50mg (5%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)
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