Brandy Aged Fruitcake
Brandy Aged Fruitcake is so rich & delicious. Brandy softens the fruit and mellows the cake part of the fruitcake and it acts as a preservative. You’ll become a fruitcake convert.
Why do American’s hate fruitcake?
I get it, really. The fruitcakes that you find in the grocery and the big box stores are gross. I don’t know what the green things are in those cakes, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.
I’m not surprised so many Americans think they hate fruitcake, even if they’ve never tasted it.
With this recipe, I’m on a mission to change as many American minds about fruitcake as I can.
Ingredients for making Aged Fruitcake:
Fruit & Nuts:
Cake Batter:
Ingredient notes:
- Dried Fruits: Use the best quality dried fruits and nuts for this cake. Candied orange peel and candied cherries can be found in the grocery store starting in the fall, but they are also available on-line.
- Alcohol: The alcohol is key to the flavor, texture and preserving for this cake. I prefer a high abv slightly sweet alcohol like brandy or rum. You can also use whiskey or bourbon. Don’t use lower abv liquid like wine for aging, you need the higher alcohol as a preservative.
- Brown sugar: This is a “dark” fruitcake which includes brown sugar rather than white sugar. Light or dark brown sugar is fine.
Scroll through the process photos and watch the video to see how to make, age and finish a traditional Christmas fruitcake:
- Mix the dried fruits and nuts with lemon zest, juice and brandy.
- Cover and set aside for at least 12 hours or up to 2 days.
- Add the eggs to the butter and sugar.
- Add the flour.
- Add the soaked fruit.
- Mix to combine then spread into the cake pan.
FAQs about making traditional aged fruitcake:
The alcohol moistens the cake and fruit, flavors the cake and acts as a preservative. It’s hard for bacteria to live in a high alcohol/low moisture cake.
I like to use brandy, but you can also use whiskey, bourbon, sherry or rum instead.
The liquor not only softens the fruit part of the fruitcake, it also softens and mellows the cake part of the fruitcake and keeps the cake from spoiling. There is no good substitute for the liquor in this recipe.
As the name Brand-Aged Fruitcake, implies, this recipe needs to be made several weeks, or even several months, before you want to serve it. I usually bake my fruitcakes by mid-October so they’re well-aged by Christmas.
The cake can be finished with a layer of marzipan and a layer of fondant or royal icing. But you don’t need to decorate the cakes at all. Fruitcake can certainly be served without any icing or marzipan.
Once the cake is aged, it can keep at room temperature for several months. Keep the cake wrapped in plastic and in a closed container like a cake tin. Once a week brush any cut edges or un-iced parts of the cake with more of the liquor used for aging.
Watch this video to see how to cover a cake with rolled fondant.
You’ll also love this Almond Filled Stollen on your holiday menu.
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Brandy-Aged Fruitcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz almonds (½ cup coarsely ground)
- 3 oz walnuts (1 cup chopped)
- 12 oz dark raisins (2 ¼ cups)
- 8 oz light raisins (1 ⅓ cups)
- 3 oz candied orange peel (⅓ cup)
- 3 oz candied cherries (⅓ cup)
- 6 oz zante currants (1 cup)
- 1 lemon (grated zest juice)
- 6 oz brandy (⅔ cup (plus more for aging, see note))
- 7 ½ oz all purpose flour (1 ½ cups, see note)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 6 oz brown sugar (¾ cup)
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
Decoration (optional)
- 8 oz apricot preserves (1 cup)
- 1 recipe marzipan
- 1 recipe rolled fondant
- recipe Royal Icing
- Marzipan holly and silver dragees for decoration
Instructions
- Combine 1 ½ oz almonds, 3 oz walnuts, 12 oz dark raisins, 8 oz light raisins, 3 oz candied orange peel, 3 oz candied cherries, 6 oz zante currants, with the zest and juice of 1 lemon. Add 6 oz brandy and toss to coat the fruit and nuts with the liquor. Cover the bowl and let it sit overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a 9"x 3" cake pan with a parchment round. (see note)
- Sift together 7 ½ oz all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ginger and ½ teaspoon table salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream 6 oz unsalted butter and 6 oz brown sugar until light and aerated. Scrape down the bowl and the beater. Add 4 large eggs, two at a time. Mix until combined then scrape down the bowl and the beater.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 batches and mix until combined. Fold in the soaked fruit and all the liquid.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread it out to an even layer. Bake until a toothpick poked in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. As soon as the pan is removed from the oven pour ¼ cup of brandy over the top of the cake.
- Cool the cake to room temperature before removing from the pan. Wrap the cake in two layers of plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature.
- Once a week for at least 4 weeks, unwrap the cake and generously brush on all sides with more brandy. The cake can be served as is or you can ice and decorate the cake with marzipan and fondant.
Ice & Decorate the cake (optional)
- Unwrap the cake. Glue the cake to a cardboard cake circle using a dab of royal icing. Trim the cake cardboard to the same size as the cake. Place on another cardboard circle or serving plate.
- To finish with Royal Icing: Make a batch of fluffy royal icing. Ice the top of the cake with thick swirls of icing to resemble snow. Decorate with marzipan or fondant holly or other edible decorations. Wrap a wide ribbon around the sides of the cake.
- To finish with Rolled Fondant: Ice the cake with apricot preserves. Roll the marzipan to a 14" round. Roll the marzipan onto the rolling pin then transfer and unroll onto the cake. Trim the marzipan flush with the bottom of the cake and board. Brush the marzipan with brandy.
- Roll the fondant to a 14″ round and cover the cake over the marzipan. Trim the fondant flush with the bottom of the cake and board.
- Add dragees, stencils, glitter and marzipan holly or other decorations as you like.
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Hi, should we brand new rum or those we used to soak the dry fruits? Thanks
The liquor that soaked the fruit goes into the batter along with the fruit. Extra liquor is used to “age” the cake after baking.
Adjust for high altitude, couldn’t find. Can’t wait to make this. Be well and thank you.
Sorry, do you have a question? I’m not an expert in high altitude baking if that is what you’re asking. Perhaps another reader can help?
Thank you. My question is do I need to add additional flour for high altitude (9600 ft)?
Are there any high altitude bakers than can help?
The recipe calls for “brandy”, but brandy is a generic name, would you, please, specify which one you refer to.
Any brandy would work. The name brand doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t use a flavored brandy like blackberry or cherry. But any basic brandy would be fine.
It has a great flavor and good ratio of fruit/nuts to batter. After refrigerating and at least on application of additional brandy, it sliced well and held together.
I used the metric amounts and cut the recipe in half. I baked in 3 small loaf pans. I think I left them in a bit too long (there is a little dry crumb when I slice it – but all the fruit still makes it taste moist). I did bake at a lower temperature for longer (as I have done with other recipes) – So I just need to adjust my time based on my oven and the pans I choose.
Overall this was a huge success – one of the closest attempts to re-creating what I remember of the family recipe (now lost) from when I grew up. Thank you.
My husband who isn’t usually a fan of fruit cakes, love this! This has been my goto recipe for the last few years. I make this as gifts (2 x 6″ rounds and 1 mini loaf) and I always get asked early if I’ll be making it again this year. It’s turned out great every time.
The only change I make is using dried cherries since I don’t like the candied ones. I’ve also discovered after trying different brandies, that the taste and quality of the brandy makes a pretty big difference for the aged cake.
My favorite liquor is rum, I use plantation brand rum, I also like using whiskey with rum in the fruit soak, typically scotch or dickel.
It really brings out a caramel, candy like flavor, toasted nuts, butterscotch it’s amazing. Tastes like 5000 calories lol. It’s not but dang is it good.