Fruit Cake


Fruit Cake Recipes…

Traditional Dried Fruit Cakes
And Cakes Made With Fresh Fruit

Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake—bongo vongo (Flickr.com)

Fruit cake recipes made with fresh fruit or dried fruit are included here. Pineapple upside down cake, lemon and orange flavored cakes, traditional fruit cakes…

Strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry cakes… can be found at my Berry Cake page. Also, see Apple Cake for recipes containing apples.

Traditional Fruit Cakes

Fruit cake — or fruitcake — is a cake made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts, and spices, and optionally soaked in spirits. These cakes are often served in celebration of weddings and Christmas.

History of Fruit Cakes

The earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash.

In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added, and the name “fruitcake” was first used.

Fruitcakes soon proliferated all over Europe. Recipes varied greatly in different countries depending on the available ingredients.

Starting in the 16th century, sugar from the American Colonies and the discovery that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits created an excess of candied fruit — making fruit cakes more affordable and popular.

In the 18th century in some areas in Europe, fruit cakes were made using nuts from the harvest for good luck in the following year. The cake was then saved and eaten before the harvest of the next year.

The fruitcake also remained popular at Victorian Teas in England throughout the 19th century.

Fruit Cake Recipes Around The World

Bahamas

In the Bahamas, not only is the fruitcake drenched with rum, but the ingredients are as well. From 2 weeks to 3 months in advance of making the cake, all of the candied fruit, walnuts, and raisins are placed in a enclosed container and are soaked with the darkest variety of rum.

After the cake is baked, rum is poured onto it while it is still hot.

Bulgaria

Kozunak is a fruitcake usually prepared for Easter.

Germany

The Stollen, a traditional German fruitcake usually eaten during the Christmas season, is loaf-shaped and powdered with powdered sugar on the outside. It is usually made with yeast, butter, water, flour, zest, raisins, and almonds.

Italy

Panforte is a chewy, dense Tuscan fruitcake dating back to 13th-century Siena. Panforte is strongly flavored with spices and baked in a shallow form.

Panettone is a Milan fruitcake.

Romania

Cozonac is a fruitcake mostly made for every major holiday like Christmas, Easter, and New Year.

Switzerland

Birnenbrot is a light, fluffy sweet Swiss fruitcake with candied fruits and nuts.

United Kingdom

In the UK, fruitcakes vary from extremely light to rich and moist.

The traditional Christmas cake is a fruit cake covered in marzipan and then in white satin or royal icing. They are often further decorated with snow scenes, holly leaves, and real or artificial berries, or tiny decorative robins or snowmen.

United States

Typical American fruitcakes are rich in fruit and nuts.

Most American mass-produced fruitcakes are alcohol-free, but traditional recipes are saturated with liqueurs or brandy and covered in powdered sugar, both of which prevent mold.

Brandy- or wine-soaked linens can be used to store the fruitcakes, and some people feel that fruitcakes improve with age.

 

Fruit Cake Recipes – Table of Contents

Follow the links below and be delighted by the most fruity-flavored — from light to rich — fruit cake recipes you’ve ever tasted:

For Additional Help Take The “Cake Making Course”

The Cake Making Course is the ONLY online baking program that offers complete step-by-step videos. They are so incredibly easy to follow, and show you how to put together a cake masterpiece from empty mixing bowl, to an iced and decorated piece of perfection!

Fruit Cake – List of cakes by country of origin.

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