This fruit cake loaf recipe is full of nostalgia, history, real and candied fruit, and (optional) rum! A flavor rich cake with holiday cheer! Makes 2 loaves.
Heat the oven to 325°F (165℃). Line 2 bread pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
Combine the currants, raisins, walnuts, red cherries, green cherries, dates and orange zest together in a bowl. Toss with ½ cup flour till coated.
Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the eggs and molasses and beat until combined.
Combine the remaining flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger and salt and using a spoon, stir in half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
Add half of the coffee and stir into the butter, then add the remaining flour and coffee and stir until combined but do not over mix.
Add the fruit and fold into the batter.
Divide the batter between the bread pans and place in the oven.
Bake for 75-90 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick. Rotate the cakes every 15 minutes to help them bake evenly. The cake should pull away from the sides a little and a toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Remove and cool for 10 minutes, then gently lift the bread from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Fruit Cake Loaves
You can make this into one large cake if you don’t like loaves. It will be a heavy cake and can be sliced very thin when serving.
You can also soak the fruit in ¾ cup spiced rum for 12-24 hours. The fruit will soak up most of the rum and just pour in any remaining rum into the recipe. You may wish to reduce the coffee by ¼ cup.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
May be frozen for up to 6 months.
For Aged Rum Fruit Cake
For an adult version, soak the cake for an hour or 2 in spiced rum after it has baked and cooled. Store in the refrigerator.
This bread gets better with age. To age the fruit cake, cool completely, then soak cheesecloth in sherry or triple sec.
The cheesecloth should be damp but not soaked, squeeze out any excess alcohol.
Wrap the loaves separately in cheesecloth then wrap in parchment paper.
Wrap again in tinfoil and place in zip top bags.
Refrigerate for 6-8 weeks. Remove the cheesecloth and re-soak and wrap the cake once a week.
The bread may be eaten after a week but will last up to at least 8 weeks or longer.