The Ultimate Christmas Tradition

Have you been searching endlessly for that perfectly moist, flavorful, delicately sweet, & authentic fruitcake recipe? Look no further. This fruitcake is EVERYTHING you've been looking for

Dear Travelers and Ronins…

—Learn the art of Slow-Aged Fruitcake—
from scratch-made candied fruits to the final rum-soaked slice…
Every bite will melt in your mouth.

It’s more than a cake. It’s A Traditional Holiday Delicacy.

A Skill, A Gift, A Memory.

My fruitcake (left) vs Claxton (right)...mine is obviously much better. It's easy to tell it's made with real love 💕

Fruitcake has been a traditional treat in my family for as many Christmases as I can remember. My dad would take me and my sister Christmas shopping for our mother and every year we’d get her the same exact set of gifts:

• bath sets

• kitchen towels & oven mitts

• Queen Anne’s Cherry Cordials

• a couple candles (the fun part was that me and my sister picked the scent every year!)

• and of course, the one and only: Claxton Fruitcake

My mom always said “I love fruitcake! It’s not Christmas without it.” And of course, I loved it too when I was little. Now that I’m much older, and me and my sister have taken over most of the holiday cooking and baking, we thought, “Why have we never made a fruitcake at home?”

So we took a peek at those Claxton ingredients…eww….

high fructose corn syrup and every bad oil you can imagine…packed in this tiny rectangular “treat.”

It was around Thanksgiving in 2025, when we decided that we never again wanted to buy this for our mom! We were going to surprise her that Christmas with a REAL fruitcake.

As usual, I went to work researching exactly how to craft the perfect fruitcake that had that perfectly balanced ratio of fruit to batter, an authentic taste, extremely moist, and real fruits.

The step that really got me hyped for this recipe was the best part of all: the part where you soak the entire loaf in rum for months!!

So I looked up a few recipes, including a Claxton recipe (and even used the label from the Claxton fruitcake to mimic as many ingredients as I could).

Mind you, it was my first year attempting to make a fruitcake from scratch. My mom has been cooking and baking for such a long time, (myself as well, since I was five or six years old), and my mom always has to give me that “make sure to do this…” or “this may or may not work if…”. Yep, even as an adult she’ll have tiny doubts about me baking something for the first time…But she’s so sweet (I love her sm) she always trusts that me and my sister will have a result that’s worth making again.

Now, here is what I wanted from the finished result…

balanced fruit and batter ratio: either 1:1 or slightly more fruit than batter cuz extra moisture from the fruit is pure flavor😋

As many natural ingredients as possible. I wanted to reduce any artificial or pre-candied ingredients.

EXTREMELY moist from the fruit essence and rum. Dense, but moist was the key!

And finally, an authentic and nostalgic Christmas experience. Getting just the right flavor from spices, nuts, fruits, and vanilla.

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I remember asking my mom to buy rum for the cake because that was the most important ingredient for the slow aging process. I admit, I was nervous about this part. Letting a cake age in a moist cheese cloth for three months? That was scary…

Here is why it worked though: you shouldn’t let it sit in the fridge unchecked for four weeks. Every week or two, it needs to be taken out of the cloth and resoaked in rum to properly preserve it. It also needs to be re-wrapped and sealed properly!

But, let me assure you, this recipe worked for me the first time! Per usual, I accepted the challenge and the stress of mistakes and failure. Thankfully it was a beautiful success and a work of art. So luck you…you get to have peace of mind and know that this will work out for you just as it did for me. 💕

Now...are you ready to buy the recipe card?

Don't just buy a holiday dessert; invest in a skill. My $6.49 Fruitcake Recipe from my shop includes two detailed recipe cards for preparing your homemade fruitcake along with the art of fruit candying and slow-aging that have been lost to store-bought shortcuts. Purchase the recipe card now to make this Christmas treat every single year!

What’s included when you purchase the Fruitcake Recipe Card:

2 cards that cover:

• all ingredients needed to make this cake 100% from scratch: spice mix, fruit options, batter ingredients, liquid options for soaking/aging the cake.

• fruit candying steps from scratch: how to prep and candy three different fruits, make the syrups for candying, and the exact times and temps.

• aging and storing process: how to soak your cheesecloth and properly store for long lasting preservation.

Note that this makes two 9 inch loaves. So if you would love to try this recipe before Christmas so that you know exactly how to make it, you can cut the recipe in half to make one loaf, or if you simply just want to attempt the candying process and eat the candied fruit alone, go for it! Anything you want to master beforehand will be beneficial when Christmas shows up! Days fly by so fast, so go ahead and start experimenting and baking :)

Some things to know when making the cake:

Something you may not have on hand is a cheesecloth. This works perfectly for storing your cakes, but if you don’t have one, simply use a clean kitchen towel :) As long as it can soak up liquid, then go for it.

The spice mix consists of those warm, earthy, winter ones like nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon. I’ve had eggnog only once, but I remember the nutmeg was so comforting especially in December. So trust the spices in this recipe!

In my recipe, I have a list of fruits to put in. You can put them all in as instructed, or you can swap certain ones out for other fruits or even take one out and add more of another one. Just be sure that the final measurement for the fruit totals 6 cups to keep that balanced fruit-to-batter ratio!! If it’s your first time making it though, I’d suggest sticking with exactly what’s on the cards.

As for store-bought vs homemade candied fruits, I got you covered! If you don’t want to go through the trouble of candying at home, don’t feel bad about buying pre-candied fruits. In fact, I did this last year as well. Yeah, even I don’t always fully trust myself in the kitchen when making something for the first time. But if you would really love to go and make EVERYTHING from scratch without worrying about high fructose corn syrup in your cake, there is a second recipe card that comes with the recipe. It covers the exact process to covering three different types of fruits: cherries (the classic fruit in any Christmas cake), pineapples, and orange peels!

If you candy your own fruits in advance, be sure to store them properly. While any candy is generally shelf stable, candied fruits should be refrigerated, especially if you plan to store them for a long period of time. While they could last up to a week in your pantry if store properly in an airtight container, they will last better and longer if refrigerated. It’s also just safer, so I’d go with refrigeration.

When you go to soak the fruit in your choice of rum or cider for 24 hours, make sure they are fully immersed. You don’t have to put them in the fridge if you don’t have room. But whether you do keep them in your fridge or on the counter, they need to be tightly covered with plastic wrap.

Intermission…Got a question? Leave a comment!

For the batter, be sure to follow this correctly. If you’ve baked before, then you probably understand how important it is to measure your flour without packing it? It’s the same when you go to pour the flour from your measuring cup to the bowl: Sifting the flour is a crucial step in any type of baking!

Speaking of the flour, do not skip the step where you toss your fruits and nuts. If you’re wondering what this does, it basically keeps your fruit and nuts from sinking to the bottom of the loaf while it bakes. Tossing them in flour before folding them into the batter is the secret to having a perfect slice with a little bit of everything in every single bite.

When you put the loaves in the oven, they need to cook low and slow. Why? if you rush it, they could burn or bake unevenly. Therefore, be sure to check your cakes as soon as the timer goes off. If a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or crumby then it’s done! Remove them from the oven to cool. Do not overbake, as they can become dry quickly. Depending on your oven, they may need up to an extra fifteen minutes. Trust your intuition on this though. Only if they are still slightly moist or battery in the center, add five minutes at a time and check again.

Now for the fun part: soaking and aging the cakes in rum. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t go to the liquor store to shop for a good rum flavor. So I trusted my mom to pick out a flavor that would pair well with the cake. I must say, she has an amazing taste! The exact rum she got for the cake was the Captain Morgan Pineapple Rum. Of course you don’t have to use this one, but if you’re not sure what to go for, I’d highly recommend it! It’s fruity, light, and makes the cake taste super exquisite! If you don’t want to use alcohol, simply use apple cider. It works just as well! If you just popped those cakes out of the oven, poke a few holes in the top while they’re still hot and slowly pour a little rum or cider of the top so it absorbs the moisture and flavor. Alternately, you can pour some of the rum/cider in a small bowl and use a brush to brush the liquid over the top. Be generous here! I promise won’t regret it. Do about two Tablespoons for each loaf ;)

When the cakes are completely cool, go ahead and soak a couple cheese cloths (or two clean towels) with rum. The towels should be well dampened but not soaked. Basically, as long as they’re not drippy, they should be good! Gently place each loaf in a cloth and wrap it tightly making sure the cake is sealed and fully covered.

For proper storage and preservation, plastic wrap and foil serve two different, but very important, purposes. With the cake wrapped in the cheesecloth, very tightly wrap it in plastic wrap COMPLETELY. The plastic wrap protects and seals in the moisture and keeps it airtight. Next, wrap the cake in a double layer of foil. The foil acts a second protector and sealer that keeps out air, odors, and light. You want your cake to taste fruity and moist! You don’t want Christmas to come, and your cake is dry and tastes like the Christmas turkey that you had in your refrigerator… that wouldn’t be good 😅

If you know someone who might like this recipe, feel free to share it!

Lastly, take your multi-wrapped cake and snuggle it back into the loaf pan if it fits, or in a container with an air tight lid. This ensures the cake keeps its shape. If you place it back in the loaf pans, don’t hesitate to wrap the entire pan in one extra layer of plastic wrap! This wrap is not a must, but I do of course suggest it for extra preservation. I did it, and I will say that it definitely help. if you put the loaf in a container with an airtight lid, you don’t have to worry about wrapping in plastic again, as the container is already sealed.

Now, as I’ve been saying the entire time…very important…keep an eye on your cakes! These can be made up to three months in advance! This is a pretty long time, so be sure to check them every two weeks. You want to unwrap them and continue to add more rum or cider if needed. They need to remain consistently moist with the alcohol to keep mold away. Rewrap the exact same way and store again in your refrigerator (ensure they are airtight, fully covered, and moist!) If you keep them refrigerated, sealed, & moistened with alcohol, it should be fine :)

I haven’t tried freezing them, but if you do, you probably do not need to check them quite as often. I might try freezing them this year, and I’ll let you know what works.

Final note from me: if you’re making this last minute here are a few things you can skip:

you don’t need to soak the fruits for a full 24 hours. As long as they soak enough (maybe while your butter is softening and while you mix your spices and prepare the batter and chop the nuts) they should be good.

You don’t have to make your own spice mix. It’s totally up to you to just use cinnamon if that’s all you have, or if you have a premade Christmas spice mix that you buy, that should be fine as well! If you use a premade one, keep it around 2 or 3 teaspoons.

When soaking the cakes, I would still recommend wrapping them exactly as I mentioned so they can hold their moisture, BUT if Christmas is only a week away, you don’t have to go and brush them with more rum/cider. Just let it sit in the fridge, wrapped tight, until you are ready to eat it, if that day is close enough.

Then again…if it’s last last minute…a storebought fruitcake wouldn’t hurt either…

But my suggestion..? If you want the full experience go ahead and purchase the recipe card NOW and get started! It’s a one time purchase that let’s you experiment for as long as you need and make it every single Christmas to come! Have fun in the kitchen. It’s not school work nor a chore :)

If you have any questions or comments please let me know below!

I’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts. If you enjoyed, I’d appreciate if you’d subscribe for more warm recipes like this! It keeps me and my sister motivated and it’s FREE to subscribe! Thank you so much for reading.

Happy baking! Warm wishes sent your way…