Chocolate Cherry-Berry Fruitcake
Chocolate Cherry-Berry Fruitcake
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| Total time: | Overnight, |
| Yield: | 1 large cake or multiple smaller cakes |
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups dried cherries, chopped if very large
- 1/2 cup brandy or rum, or 1/3 cup water
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 2 tablespoons Cake Enhancer, optional
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups candied red cherries
- 1 1/3 cups Raspberry Jammy Bits or Blueberry Jammy Bits (a combination is nice)
- 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks
- 2 1/2 cups diced pecans or walnuts, optional
Glaze
- 3/4 cup simple syrup, brandy, or rum
Directions
1) Combine the dried cherries with brandy, rum, or water. Cover and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, stir, then set aside to cool.
2) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease the pans of your choice: two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans, five 7" wooden bakers, six 7" paper bake & give pans, one 12-cup bundt-style pan, or two 6-cup bundt-style pans.
3) In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, flavors, and cake enhancer.
4) Beat in the eggs one at time. Stir in the flour alternately with the milk.
5) Combine the dried cherries and their liquid, candied cherries, Jammy Bits, chocolate chips, and nuts. Stir into the cake batter.
6) Spoon the batter into the lightly greased pans, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 50 to 100 minutes; the smaller the pan, the shorter the baking time. When done, the cakes will be a light golden brown all over, and a cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean.
7) Remove the cakes from the oven. If you're removing them from the pan(s), wait about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack. If you've baked them in paper pans, they can stay right in the pan.
8) If you're using simple syrup, brush the warm cakes all over, continuing to brush until you've used it all. If you choose not to use the syrup, you may wish to brush the warm cake(s) with brandy or the liquor of your choice.
9) When completely cooled, wrap well and let rest at least 24 hours (or for up to a month, brushing with liquor or syrup weekly), before serving.
Yield: 1 large bundt-style cake; 2 small bundt-style cakes; 2 standard loaves; or 5 to 6 smaller loaves.
Reviews
02/13/2012- I made two batches for Christmas give-aways. The first time, I mixed in the chocolate chunks before the liquid had completely cooled -- they melted slightly, and gave the whole cake a chocolate complexion and a cocoa flavor. Fabulous! The one that I made right was absolutely fine and I would have loved it had I not tasted the error first ... we had a couple left over, and as we dealt with them, my husband kept saying "we GAVE THESE AWAY???"
- 12/17/2011
- After reading all of the reviews, I was ready for the cake to stick to the pan. I heavily greased the loaf pan, let the pans sit for 10 minutes after baking, ran a knife along the 4 sides of the pan and when I flipped the pan over onto the cooling rack, only half came out. The bottom half stuck to the pan. Argh! Tastes great, but frustrating that all that work and ingredients didn't yield something prettier.
05/12/2011- Now I feel stupid. That's cleread it up for me
- 04/01/2011
- Since I was a child, I have loved to bake Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors. This recipe guarantees that there will be a mini Fruitcake in the majority of the gift baskets! People who are convinced they do not like fruitcake, love it! Thank you for such a delightful treat.
- 01/01/2011
- Nice, very nice! Made five bake-and-give loaves on Christmas Day, then proceeded to give most of them away. The one my family ate, though, was just great! I made the "taste of the tropics" one last year, so it was nice to out a new one; this could become a new Christmas tradition, trying out GOOD fruitcake recipes! I even made homemade candied cherries, since cherries from Chile have flooded the stores lately, and I used Calvados brandy as the "extra" touch and in the glaze. I also used the jammy bits; it was fun to try to identify all the different bursts of flavor, my favorite being, naturally, the crunch from the mini chocolate chunks I used. There were so many mix-ins, I wasn't sure it was going to get into the batter; My mixer was jostling all around trying to stir it up! It was worth it, though, and I finished glazing and wrapping just as the taxi showed up to take me to the airport. So what will it be next year; Kichels? Lebkucken? So many recipes, so little time!
01/01/2011- This was a very expensive disaster. The cake tasted horrible. I would not recommend this recipe. I am extremely disappointed because this is the first of many recipes I have tried from KAF and the first that is a total disappointment. We threw the entire cake minus two pieces in the garbage. There are too many strong flavours mixed in the cake that compete with each other and actually gave us both stomach aches. Yes, I used KAF cherries and jammie bits. I am glad this was not my first KAF recipe that I tried.
Sorry to hear that this one didn't work out for you. Please don't hesitate to contact the baker's hotline if you would like to troubleshoot. MJR @ KAF
- 12/27/2010
- I found this recipe in the catalog I received at the beginning of Dec. and made it that same weekend. It is delicious especially with the mix of dried fruit and chocolate. I will definitely make this again and will probably use the recipe to make gifts in smaller pans.
- 12/24/2010
- This cake is delicious!!! It's not your mother's fruitcake. It will become one of our family traditions.
- 12/24/2010
- I had my cakes fall apart, too. I weighed all ingredients and put in well-greased mini and regular loaf pans. I had no trouble getting them out of pans and soaked but, upon slicing the regular size loaf, each slice crumbled - not at all a pretty gift. I gave the small ones as gifts so I have no idea how they fared. Tonight I am making a trifle with the crumbs and loaf that are left. That should be pretty and taste good.
- 12/15/2010
- Lighter than most, pronounced chocolate flavor, be generous with rum when you "soak" the cake post-baking. Let it season at least 2 weeks, 4+ is better. Ages beautifully.
