Best Light Fruitcake for the Holidays

🔱 Fruitcake Has a Long, Long History

Did you know that fruitcake has been around for hundreds of years? In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and dried fruits were added to bread dough for special occasions. Fruitcake was once even protected by laws that restricted its consumption to celebrations such as Christmas and weddings.

Most traditional recipes that have come down to modern cooks contain loads of candied citron, raisins, and either dark brown sugar or molasses, with a healthy dose of rum or brandy. They’re dense, heavy, dark, and rich. They’re also loaded with booze. Maybe that’s part of the appeal for those in the fruitcake lovers camp.

👱🏻‍♀️ My Blonde Fruitcake Recipe

This fruitcake has many of the same ingredients as the traditional holiday cake, but instead of dark and dense, it’s light in color, texture, and taste. It’s what Southerners call a “blonde fruitcake.” It’s loaded with candied pineapple, candied cherries, orange peel (no citron!), and pecans. And the cake is light golden in color — rich and buttery.

I’ve been making this fruitcake (with my own personal tweaks and additions) every year since I first saw the recipe in the November 1991 issue of Bon Appetit. I really need to re-write that recipe card before I forget what it says in all the places that are spattered with butter and vanilla.

This is one of the treats that BeeBop looks forward to every Christmas, and every crumb is consumed by the end of the holidays. For several years, I sent one to work with him near Christmas, and it became a standing request from the guys he worked with starting about November first each year. It’s really that good.

If you haven’t made a fruitcake for the holidays yet, I highly recommend this one.

❤️ What You’ll Love About This Recipe

• Light, golden texture that’s a departure from traditional dense fruitcakes.
• A perfect balance of candied fruits and crunchy pecans.
• A delightful buttery richness that’s sure to please.

🛒 Essential Ingredients

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• Candied Pineapple, Candied Cherries, and Candied OrangePeel — You may notice that there is no candied citron or raisins in this recipe. That’s one of the reasons why it has a lighter taste than dark fruitcakes, where those ingredients play a major role. There are two primary suppliers of candied fruits in the U.S. – Sunripe and Paradise – and both have excellent products.
• Pecans — In my opinion, they’re essential to this cake. I couldn’t recommend substituting with anything else.
• Butter — You’ll find that most Southern home cooks use salted butter for everything — even baking — and I do, too. If you prefer to use unsalted butter, that’s perfectly fine.
• The remaining ingredients are standard pantry items.

🥄 How to Make Light Fruitcake

Prepare the Pan and Fruits

1. Position an oven rack in the lowest third of your oven and preheat to 250°.
2. Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan and set it aside.

3. Chop the candied pineapple into about 1/3 inch pieces. Cut the cherries in half.
4. In a large bowl, mix the pecans and fruit with 3 tablespoons of flour.

👉 PRO TIP: Mixing the fruit and nuts with flour helps them stay suspended in the batter. Otherwise, they all sink to the bottom of the cake while baking.

Mix the Batter

5. In another large bowl, cream the butter with sugar with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
7. Stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Sift 1 ¾ cups flour with baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and stir until blended.

9. Stir the fruit and nut mixture into the batter.

👉 PRO TIP: At this point the batter becomes heavy weightwise. It gets pretty hard to turn it all around and mix it well, but just keep pulling the wet batter up from the bottom of your bowl and mixing until everything is well combined.

10. Put the batter into the prepared pan.

👉 PRO TIP: This is not really a pourable batter. I use a wooden spoon to put big blobs of batter into the pan. When all of the batter is in the pan, smooth the top.

Bake Until Golden Brown

11. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted halfway between the outside and tube of the pan comes out clean, about 2 ½ hours.
12. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
13. Turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
14. Dust with powdered sugar (optional).

⚠️ Troubleshooting Tips

⚡To Prevent Sticking: To stop your golden fruitcake from sticking to the pan, make sure to thoroughly grease and flour the bundt or tube pan. You can also use parchment paper to line the bottom (if it’s flat) for extra insurance against sticking.
⚡Even Mixing: As mentioned earlier, the batter can become quite heavy due to the fruit and nuts. To ensure even mixing, use a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula and pay special attention to scraping the bottom of the bowl. This will help incorporate all ingredients evenly and avoid pockets of dry or over-mixed areas in the cake.
⚡Checking for Doneness: To check whether the fruitcake is done, insert a toothpick or cake tester halfway between the outside wall and the tube of the pan. It should come out clean when the cake is fully baked. If there’s batter or moist crumbs clinging to it, the cake needs more time in the oven.
⚡Cooling Time: Allow the cake to cool in the pan set on a wire rack for the specified 15 minutes initially. This rest period helps the cake set and release from the pan more easily. After the 15 minutes, gently turn the cake onto a rack and allow it to cool completely before storing.
⚡Dusting with Powdered Sugar: The dusting of powdered sugar is optional and can be adjusted according to your preference. If you choose to dust, wait until the cake has completely cooled to avoid the sugar melting into the cake’s surface.
⚡Overbaking: Avoid overbaking, as this can result in a dry cake. Keep a close watch on the cake during the last stages of baking, as ovens may vary in temperature accuracy.

🍽️ How to Serve

• Slice your light fruitcake into thin wedges and enjoy it with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
• Serve it as a delightful dessert at holiday gatherings.
• Pair it with a dollop of freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra treat.

🍚 How to Store

• Store your fruitcake in a plastic cake container or cake tin at room temperature, keeping it cool. It should stay fresh for about 10 days.
• To freeze, cover it tightly in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil, then freeze it for up to three months.

📖 Recipe

Best Light Fruitcake

This beautifully golden and buttery Light Fruitcake, filled with candied fruits and nuts, is delicious from the first bite to the last.

4.93 from 14 votes

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Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 3 hours hours

Servings: 15 servings

Calories: 559kcal

Author: Lana Stuart

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups chopped pecans
• ▢ 16 ounces candied pineapple chopped
• ▢ 8 ounces candied cherries halved
• ▢ 4 ounces candied orange peel
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup butter room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ 5 eggs
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ Powdered sugar optional

Instructions

• Position an oven rack in the lowest third of your oven and preheat to 250°.
• Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan and set it aside.
• Chop the candied pineapple into about 1/3 inch pieces. Cut the cherries in half.
• In a large bowl, mix the pecans and fruit with 3 tablespoons of flour.
• In another large bowl, cream the butter with sugar with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
• Stir in the vanilla extract.
• Sift 1 ¾ cups flour with baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and stir until blended.
• Stir the fruit and nut mixture into the batter.
• Put the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted halfway between the outside and tube of the pan comes out clean, about 2 ½ hours.
• Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
• Turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
• Dust with powdered sugar (optional).

Notes

• Before storing, cool the fruitcake completely. Keep in a covered cake container at room temperature for about 10 days.
• To freeze, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Freeze for up to three months.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 | Calories 559kcal | Carbohydrates 71g | Protein 6g | Fat 30g | Saturated Fat 10g | Cholesterol 87mg | Sodium 153mg | Potassium 133mg | Fiber 3g | Sugar 51g | Vitamin A 470IU | Vitamin C 5mg | Calcium 54mg | Iron 2mg

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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