Holiday Fruitcake Loaf

Serve this Holiday Fruitcake Loaf with a cup of hot tea at your year-end bookclub meeting, with your fellow card sharp at this week’s cribbage game, or enjoy a slice alone in your living room with a good book on a lazy, snowy Sunday afternoon. Prepared with dried and candied fruit which has been soaked in strong tea, this loaf is moist and delicious!

Fruitcake was always present in our home when I was growing up.  From the end of November until well into January, fruitcake was in full supply and ready for the taking.  My mom used to make her fruitcakes in a bundt pan, which might be more traditional. And, she loved to use apricots in her cake, just like I’m doing in this Holiday Fruitcake Loaf!

You will note that the mixed peel, apricots, and cranberries are steeped with a cup of hot tea. This helps to infuse the dried fruit with flavour and it also rehydrates them. The rehydrated dried fruit holds on to that moisture and helps to keep your fruitcake loaf moist. Nobody likes a dry fruitcake!

If you happen to like a fruitcake that has alcohol in it, you can easily substitute the hot tea with rum, brandy, or whiskey. You could also opt for a citrus or cherry-flavoured liqueur. You will need to heat the alcohol so that it is more hot than warm, but it doesn’t need to be boiling. Just be very careful, especially if you are heating the alcohol over a flame! It’s times like this that I miss my electric stovetop!

I’m going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season. But first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. Over the past seven Christmases, I have built a reputation for sharing series-type recipes. The most popular would be my annual 24 Cookies of Christmas, which was fashioned after an advent calendar. But, I have others that are only 12 days, which were fashioned after the 12 Days of Christmas.

Before we get to a list of ingredients and instructions for today’s recipe, let me tell you about this series and more! Welcome, Dear Reader, to my second Christmas series this holiday season! I’m calling this series Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Breads and Loaves.

Just like every other series that I’ve shared over the years, this one will also see a new recipe shared each day for the next 12 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Breads and Loaves Series! Even though this is the second series for this holiday season, you can always look back at previous years if you just cannot wait until the next recipe is published. Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

BAKED GOODS MAKE GREAT GIFTS!

This loaf is so perfect for gift-giving, which is just what I did with it. Not only is this loaf great for giving to a friend or loved one, but it’s so easy to package and transport. It might be just me, but is there anyone else out there who loves to receive kitchen-related products as gifts?

If you’d like to gift this loaf to a friend, here’s what you should do. First, buy a new loaf pan and another kitchen item such as a whisk or a spatula. Bring them home, and wash and dry the loaf pan. Then, bake the loaf right into the new pan.

Once baked and cooled, garnish the loaf in any way you deem suitable. Wrap the loaf pan up in some cellophane, tie a ribbon on it, and attach the whisk or spatula. Now, you’ve got a dessert and a gift all in one! I’d love to get something like that; so thoughtful, right!?

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Mixed Peel – Sometimes referred to as fruitcake mix, it most often consists of red and green candied orange peels, red candied cherries, red and green pineapple and candied lemon peel. This is my go-to brand!
• Dried Fruit – You will need dried apricots and dried cranberries. You could substitute the cranberries with raisins if you prefer.
• Candied Red and Green Cherries – Check out Paradise Fruit Company for the best candied cherries.
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• Brown Sugar
• Tea – Brew a hot cup of very strong tea for best results.
• Vanilla Extract
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder
• Spices – You will need ground allspice, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger.
• Eggs – Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.

HOW TO MAKE A HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE LOAF

Add the mixed peel, apricots, and cranberries to a mixing bowl. Add the softened butter, salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Set aside. Prepare one cup of strong, hot tea. Pour it into the bowl with the chopped dried fruit. Use a spoon to stir to combine. Set that aside to cool for fifteen minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Set aside. In a separate, small bowl, whisk the two eggs. Set aside. Once the dried fruit and tea mixture has cooled for fifteen minutes, stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the tea mixture into the bowl with the flour. Add in the whisked eggs and chopped red and green cherries. With a rubber spatula, fold the ingredients together to form a batter. Set aside.

Lightly coat a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Depending on the size of your loaf pan, you might have more batter than you need. Do not fill the loaf pan more than 3/4 full with the batter. This recipe will require at least a 6-cup loaf pan. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until your loaf is baked through. Be sure to test to see if the loaf is baked by inserting a clean wooden toothpick into the center of the loaf. If the toothpick comes out clean, the loaf is done and can be removed from the oven. Otherwise, bake for five minutes longer and perform the toothpick test again. Once baked, remove from the oven and place onto a wire cooling rack. Allow the loaf to rest for fifteen minutes before turning it out of the loaf pan. Continue to cool on the cooling rack.

WHERE CAN I FIND CANDIED FRUIT?

The best place to find candied fruit is the Paradise Fruit Company. The company is located in Florida, but you can buy the products online. Whenever I bake with candied fruits or peels, I use Paradise products.

You can find candied cherries in grocery stores and baking supply shops, and I used to do that too. But the quality of the fruit, and especially the colour and taste, is so much better at Paradise. For this recipe, I used Paradise’s candied red cherries, candied green cherries, and mixed peel.

SERVING YOUR LOAF

Here’s the thing about breads and loaves – they both come from humble beginnings. Even looking at it, you can tell that it isn’t pretty, it isn’t spectacular, and it surely isn’t show-stopping. But, that certainly doesn’t mean that your bread shouldn’t be served with style!

Like scones and biscuits, I think breads lend themselves quite well to what most people would call English Tea. I like to think of English Tea as an afternoon snack. And, afternoon snacks are terribly underrated! I like to partake whenever time permits. Hot coffee and a slice of this Holiday Fruitcake Loaf, or any other sweet treat, is a great break from the 9-5 routine.

With the cooler weather approaching, I can’t think of a better way to serve this bread than putting out a full set of tea. Sure, it might seem I have too much time on my hands, but life is short, folks – enjoy it! Take the tea set out of your cabinet, dust it off, and take a well-deserved afternoon break!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!