Golden Fruitcake
Golden Fruitcake
(11)
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| Total time: | Overnight, |
| Yield: | Two standard loaves, or an indeterminate number of smaller gift loaves, depending on size |
Ingredients
Fruit
- 2 cups raisins: golden, jumbo, or your favorite type of raisins
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1 cup candied lemon peel
- 1 3/4 cups candied red cherries
- 3/4 cup brandy, rum, or whiskey; or apple juice, plus extra to brush over the cakes when they come out of the oven
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, optional
- 5 large eggs
- 3 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups diced pecans or walnuts, optional
Directions
1) To prepare the fruit: Combine the dried fruit (except for the candied cherries) with liquid in a bowl. Cover and let the mixture steep overnight.
2) Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease the loaf pans of your choice: two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans OR five 7" wooden bakers OR six 7" paper bake & give pans.
3) To prepare the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, corn syrup, baking powder, salt, and flavors.
4) Beat in the eggs one at time.
5) Stir in the flour alternately with the milk.
6) Add the undrained fruit, the candied cherries, and the nuts.
7) Spoon the batter into the lightly greased baking pans, filling them three-quarters full.
8) Bake the cakes for 50 to 80 minutes, depending on the size of the pans; smaller pans will bake for the shorter length of 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.
9) Remove the cakes from the oven. Brush with brandy or the liquor of your choice while warm.
10) When completely cooled, wrap well and let rest at least 24 hours (or for up to a month, brushing with liquor or flavored syrup weekly), before serving.
Reviews
- 12/25/2011
- I do not usually care for the old fashioned dense fruitcakes. this one is light with just the right amount of fruit. It is really good when you use Crown Royal to season this cake. Everyone enjoyed it, it was very easy to make and not expensive like the old fashioned fruitcakes. Number one on my list. Will continue to make this years to come!
- 12/22/2011
- This is a wonderful fruitcake. Everyone liked it better than a dark fruitcake...
- 11/30/2011
- Just to let you all know, the "fruitcake fruit" blend that KA sells is only 20oz...this recipe calls for 23oz. So you either need to limit your fruit or buy two bags. I would recommend buying the fruit cake kit instead (much cheaper!)
- 11/22/2011
- Well worth 5 stars, delicious fruit cake with a lot of fruits and nuts, very easy to make. I use brandy as liquor to soak the fruits, and ad it all to the recipe, i made the 8x4 version, I had to bake it 30 minutes more than suggested in the recipe. The only problem we can find in our family, is that we will never know how long we can keep it, because we eat it very fast. Well I will bake an other batch. I'm prood to be a KAF enthousiast.............
- 11/21/2011
- Delicious!!! Was very simple to make. I used peach brandy on this one and will use it again as it worked fine for me.. Had a great taste and good texture to it and will use this recipe again when I make a fruitcake.
- 11/14/2011
- Gorgeous! We've just opened one out of three golden fruit cakes (2 pounds each) I prepared one week ago. The fruit was soaked for 2 days in Brandy. But I ran out of it so the finished cakes were moistened after baking with a sweet sherry wine. Incredible combination. One cake went to my parents' house and another one is waiting for our monthly visit to my uncle and aunt's.
- 10/31/2011
- I have made this recipe every year since I read it in a KAF catalog a few years ago. It is the most delicious fruit cake I've ever made or eaten. I love your fruit mix too, no citron. i've made it for my birthday cake also.All my family like it too which is not true of other fruitcakes I've made. I have been baking experimentally for about 60 years, so you can guess I've tried many recipes.
- 11/21/2010
- Oh my gosh!!!! This is awesome. Now that I am a retired wife/mother/grandmother I wanted to bring some old traditions back. When I was little my grandmother always had fruit cake and I loved it even though so many did not like it. Well I must order some more fruits as I am making mini loaves. My husband and I cannot believe how awesome and moist. It doesn't get any easier and they look great. I am using them in homemade goodie baskets. I am so glad I found King Arthur!!
- 01/08/2009
- This is a fantastic fruitcake and a keeper. I would recommend this to people who think they dont care for fruitcake and I will be making it again and again.
- 12/26/2008
- This is the first fruitcake I have ever made. My family and friends raved about it. They particularly liked that the fruits were a great blend (cherries, raisins, apricots, and cranberries). Easy to follow instructions. Easy to find ingredients. The only change I made was to eliminate drizzling alcohol liquid over the cakes after they cooled. This is sure to be an annual treat in our family. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something a little different to bake!
