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Christmas rum & fruit cake

Christmas rum & fruit cake (part 2)

Viola
This Christmas fruit cake is so moist and flavorful, perfectly spiced and studded with a variety of nuts and fruits that were soaked in rum. This is the perfect recipe to make a big fruit cake that you can share with your friends and family!
4.95 from 19 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Course Desserts
Cuisine European, Indian Fusion
Servings 24
Calories 349 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Dry ingredients

Wet ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter (softened at room temperature)
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar (pack the cup with the sugar while measuring)
  • 4 large eggs (see notes for egg replacement)
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest (from 1 large organic orange)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest (from 1 large organic lemon)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup applesauce (or grated apple)
  • ½ cup orange juice (freshly squeezed)

Fruits & Nuts

Instructions
 

  • Drain all the soaked fruit in a large colander/sieve with a bowl underneath for about 10-15 minutes. Save the drained soaking liquid for later.
  • Grease a 9" springform pan with tall sides well with some butter. Then cover all sides and bottom with parchment paper. Then grease the parchment paper with more butter. Don’t skip on the parchment paper because the cake takes a long time to bake and might burn on the outside if not properly covered.
  • Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Transfer all the drained fruit into another bowl and sprinkle ¼ cup of the dry ingredients over the fruit. Toss everything together and make sure all the fruit is coated well in the flour mix.
  • Preheat your oven to 150C/300F for 10 minutes.
  • In a separate large bowl beat together the soft butter and sugar either using an electric mixer or handheld whisk, for about 2-3 minutes or until the mixture looks pale and fluffy.
  • Add in the eggs one at a time, whisking between each addition. Don’t worry if the mixture looks like it is curdling at this stage.
  • When all the eggs have been mixed well, add in the orange and lemon zest, vanilla extract, the applesauce (or grated apples) and orange juice and mix everything well together.
  • Now add in the dry ingredients in 2 additions and mix just until no dry clumps of flour are visible. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
  • Finally add in flour coated fruit mix and all the nuts into the batter and fold everything well together using a large spatula just until everything looks mixed together. The batter will be quite thick.
  • Transfer the cake batter it into the prepared baking pan and level the top using your spatula.
  • Bake for approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. The baking time may vary depending on the type/size of your oven and the size of your baking pan(s). I kept an eye on the cake after 1 hour and 30 minutes and check it every 10 mins thereafter. When a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, the cake is done.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan placed on a wire rack for about an hour. After an hour, remove the cake from the pan, peel away the parchment paper and place it back on the rack to cool completely.
  • Brush the cake all over with the reserved soaking liquid. Wrap the cake tightly with some parchment paper and aluminum foil. Store it until ready to serve. See notes below for storage instructions.

Serving

  • When you are ready to serve the cake, decorate it however you like. Some options include brushing the cake all over with a fruit jelly for a lovely shine or dusting it with cocoa powder/icing sugar like I have done here. Cut the cake into slices using a sharp knife and serve.

Video

Notes

To make a vegan version of this fruit cake:
  1. Replace the eggs with ‘flax-eggs’. To make 1 flax egg, mix 1 tablespoon ground flax meal with 2 tablespoons of water and let it sit for about 15 minutes to gel up. For this recipe, you will need 4 ‘flax-eggs’.
  2. Replace the butter with any flavorless vegetable oil of your choice. My favorite option to use is cold-pressed avocado oil.
Cake pans:
This recipe makes enough to fit in one tall 9″ cake pan or 2 smaller 6 or 7 inch cake pans. You could also bake this cake in 2 9" loaf pans or make smaller cakes in muffin pans or mini bundt cake pans. Baking times will depend on the size of the cake pan and your oven (as oven temperatures can vary).
Storage instructions:
This cake can be consumed the day after it has been made. I like to make it about a week before serving to allow flavors to mature.
If you would like to make it in advance, it can be stored for up to a month if you brush it every week with the remaining alcohol from fruit soaking.
If you used fresh fruit juice instead of alcohol to soak your fruits , the cake must be consumed within a week after baking.

Estimated Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Christmas rum & fruit cake (part 2)
Calories
349
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
14
g
22
%
Saturated Fat
 
6
g
38
%
Cholesterol
 
51
mg
17
%
Sodium
 
64
mg
3
%
Potassium
 
284
mg
8
%
Carbohydrates
 
43
g
14
%
Fiber
 
3
g
13
%
Sugar
 
19
g
21
%
Protein
 
4
g
8
%
Vitamin A
 
297
IU
6
%
Vitamin C
 
4
mg
5
%
Calcium
 
44
mg
4
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
*Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.
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