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Old-Fashioned Fruitcake
Fruitcake is a time-honored classic that was first popularized back in the sixteenth century when it was discovered that fruit could be preserved for long periods of time if baked into a sugary fruitcake. While refrigerators help render that purpose unnecessary today, fruitcake can still be a delicious dessert, especially when you can liven it up with a touch of brandy, like I do here.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8 - 10 1x
- Category: Bakery
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup dried currants
- 1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple
- 1 cup brandy
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, raw
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 pinches kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the apricots, cranberries, cherries, raisins, currants, and In a small saucepan, heat the brandy to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Pour over the fruit and let it macerate for 10 minutes. Drain the fruit and reserve the brandy. Place the fruit in another bowl and mix with the pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans, and almonds.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the butter on medium speed for a minute, then add the brown sugar and mix until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Scrape down the bowl, then beat in the orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. On low speed, beat in the flour and baking powder.
- Fold the fruit and nut mixture into the batter. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
- Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, bring the reserved brandy back to a simmer and reduce by half. When the cake comes out of the oven, pour the brandy over the cake. Let the cake cool fully in the pan before slicing and serving.
