Fruitcake has a bad reputation, but this old fashioned fruitcake is the one people actually eat instead of re-gifting. It's chewy, candy-sweet, and packed with dates, pecans, and jewel-bright candied fruit. Think less hockey puck, more holiday showstopper.
This isn't just any cake-it's the simple fruit cake recipe that's been in my family for decades. Call it traditional fruit cake, call it homemade fruitcake, even call it a 100 year-old fruit cake recipe - because I think it's older than that. Just don't call it boring. Around here, it's Christmas on a plate..
Table of Contents
- 🎥 Watch the video & see exactly how to make this fruitcake
- 🗝️ This is the best fruitcake recipe ever - fight me
- 🧾 Ingredient notes for this traditional fruitcake
- 📖 Recipe
- 🔪 How to make this old-fashioned fruitcake
- 📝 Stuff folks always ask before they bake this
- 🎁 More holiday chaos (the delicious kind)
- 👩🍳 From my mom's vintage recipe box to your table
- 💬 Comments
🎥 Watch the video & see exactly how to make this fruitcake
In this video, I'll walk you through exactly how to make an old-fashioned fruitcake people actually want to eat-and might even fight over at Christmas. No dry bricks, no weird mystery fruit, and absolutely no hockey pucks.
🗝️ This is the best fruitcake recipe ever - fight me
Sweet and chewy, this fruitcake is more like candy than cake-which is probably why no one ever leaves a slice behind. It's so good it's even been showing up on Tik Tok!
And showing my decadent side for a second-one of my favorite holiday breakfasts is a thick slice of this fruitcake smeared with cream cheese. I'm just saying, it's dangerously good with coffee.
Pro tip: if you watch the video, you'll see why I never use a food processor for the pecans. It just turns them into dust. Coarsely chopping by hand gives you that perfect crunch and texture in every bite.
🧾 Ingredient notes for this traditional fruitcake
The one thing that always amazes me about this old-fashioned fruitcake recipe is that there is almost nothing holding all of that sweet, sticky fruit together. Make sure you DO NOT buy fruitcake mix - you want to get each type of fruit called for individually.
- A scoop of all-purpose flour, because even the stickiest fruitcake needs a little structure.
- A whisper of baking powder to give it just the tiniest lift.
- A pinch of salt-because even sweet things need balance.
- Good ol' sugar. We're not pretending this is health food.
- A splash of vanilla… or if you're feeling feisty, swap in a glug of rum, bourbon, or brandy.
- A few eggs to bind it all together-get cracking.
- Candied pineapple chunks (red and green if you can find them). I've used the rings in a pinch-just cut them into chunks and pretend it was on purpose.
- Candied cherries-yes, the neon ones. Red and green, always. It's fruitcake, not subtlety.
- Dates, chopped and sticky. They're the heart of the whole operation.
- Pecans, because we're Southern and that's the law. Chop them, but not too fine-we're going for texture, not dust.
⚠️ Marye's kitchen PSA: Skip the sad "fruitcake mix" containers. They're dry, flavorless, and will ruin a perfectly good fruitcake faster than you can say "doorstop." Buy each fruit separately and let it shine.
Want extra tips, FAQs, storage info and more? Be sure to download the free Old-Fashioned Fruitcake Kitchen Cheat Sheet!
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound pecans
- 1 pound dates, pitted and chopped
- ½ pound candied cherries, (red and geen)
- ½ pound candied pineapple, (red and green or yellow)
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 tablespoon rum, bourbon, or brandy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250° degrees (that is not a typo-TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY degrees)
- Place a pan ⅓ filled with boiling water in the oven to create steam. Put it on the rack under the rack where the fruitcake pans will got.
- Fill the pan with hot water as needed during baking.
- Spray two 9-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and line with wax paper or parchment paper.
- Spray wax paper with cooking spray.
- Chop dates and nuts.
- Add them to a large bowl.
- Sift dry ingredients over fruit and nuts and mix in with your hands.
- Beat eggs until light, add vanilla and pour over fruit, mixing well. (you will probably need to mix with your hands - it's messy.)
- Spoon fruit cake batter into prepared pans, pressing down gently to remove large air bubbles and spaces.
- Place the filled loaf pans onto the rack above the pan with hot water.
- Bake at 250 for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
- Let cool.
Notes
- To store: let the cake cool and remove it from the pan. Leave the waxed paper on it and then wrap it in plastic wrap, then foil. Store in a cool dark place.
- This fruit cake ships well. Just wrap it in waxed paper, then in aluminum foil.
- No need to let fruitcake age. It's delicious the same day it's baked.
- Don't use the "mixed candied fruit". It isn't moist enough and your cake will be dry and tasteless.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪 How to make this old-fashioned fruitcake
Fruit cake is usually even better a day or two after it's made, and it will last several weeks, so I like to make it before the chaos of the holidays really gets going and I can't even pronounce oven, let alone use it.
- Start by tossing the chopped pecans, sticky dates, and all that jewel-toned candied fruit into a big bowl. If it looks like Christmas exploded, you're on the right track.
- Sprinkle in the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt-then roll up your sleeves and mix it like you mean it. Hands are encouraged. Maybe even required.
- Whisk the eggs and vanilla (or your booze of choice) until they're smooth and sunny, then pour them over the fruit and stir until everything's coated and clinging like gossip in a small town.
- Scoop the mixture into parchment-lined loaf pans, press it down like you're trying to shut your suitcase before vacation, and bake it slow and low just like the recipe card says.
📝 Stuff folks always ask before they bake this
Here are some of the most common questions I get asked. You'll find more FAQs, tips, and information on the printable Fruitcake Recipe Kitchen Cheat Sheet above.
Yes. But well wrapped it will be fine in the fridge for weeks. If you want to freeze it wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight on the counter and you're good to go.
No. Absolutely not. Non. Nyet. Nein. It will be dry, sad, and tastes like the kind of disappointment that happened when your high school crush stood you up on prom night or the great guy on the dating ap was using a 40 year old image of himself and lying about enjoying showers. I hope this is clear.
🎁 More holiday chaos (the delicious kind)
If you need a little more holiday chaos (the fun kind, not the "we lost the good scissors" kind), throw a Gingerbread House Party. I've been hosting them since the early 1980s-back when shoulder pads were big and graham cracker walls were bigger. The kids get to decorate with so much candy it looks like Willy Wonka had a meltdown, and honestly? It's a blast.
Feeling fancy? My 50 Best Red Velvet Recipes post has all the drama, color, and cream cheese frosting you need to make your dessert table feel like it's walking the red carpet. And if you want your holiday cookie tray to make your in-laws weep with envy, head straight to the 91 Best Christmas Cookies post. It's basically cookie couture. You're welcome.
👩🍳 From my mom's vintage recipe box to your table
This is the exact holiday fruitcake my mama made every single year. She sent it to her brothers overseas during WW2!
I couldn't tell you where she got the original recipe-knowing her, it came scribbled on the back of a church bulletin-but I can tell you that everyone who's ever tasted it went back for seconds.
I can't imagine a Christmas dinner without it, her date nut bread, and a pan of homemade fudge cooling on the counter. It's not just dessert-it's tradition wrapped in wax paper and sealed with memory.
So if you're a fruitcake lover-or you love someone who is-bake this one. It's the kind of recipe that gets passed down, talked about, and maybe even fought over a little.
Print it. Pin it. Share it with someone who still swears they "don't like fruitcake." (They just haven't tried this one.)
❤️ Thanks for spending time in my kitchen today. Don't forget to clean up after yourself on the way out.
Mattie says
wow this does sounds delicious...**********
Cindy Spach says
Great fruit cake was just wondering if you could hazard I guess as to how long it would take to bake this fruit cake and a 9 inch cake pan instead of using the two loaf pans?
Marye says
Yikes. I'd start checking it at one hour. I've never made it that way, though.