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    Home » North America » Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake

    Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake

    Published on Dec 8, 2019 Modified: Aug 7, 2020 by Alexandria Drzazgowski.

    Jump to Recipe

    This Christmas Fruit Cake is a wonderful staple in the homes of Canadians during some of their most special days. Packed with dried fruits such as pineapples, cherries, raisins and dates, mixed with pecans and soaked in rum, this recipe tastes unique and delicious. Try it with a cup of tea!

    Front view of Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake on a Christmas platter with slices in the background

    Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!

    YouTube video

    She’s back, ladies and gents!! Aunt Lori is back in the Foreign Fork kitchen today, and she is going to be teaching us how to make traditional Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake. 

    Christmas Fruit Cake in Canada is a long-standing tradition in the country. The fun part? The country is hugely divided on it. Many love the fruit cake and the nostalgia that it brings, while others can’t even get themselves to taste it. Still, though, Christmas fruit cake is a must in the homes of many Canadians during the holiday season. 

    Aunt Lori’s recipe for Canadian fruit cake features candied cherries, candied pineapple, various other candied fruits, and pecans. The cake is cooked with a water bath so as to keep the dough moist and delicious. 

    horizontal christmas fruit cake
    Jump to:
    • Wedding Traditions
    • What is In this Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake? 
    • How Do I Make Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake? 
    • How to Store Christmas Fruit Cake
    • Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum
    • Why is My Christmas Fruit Cake Crumbly? 
    • Christmas Fruit Cake

    Wedding Traditions

    Not only is this recipe a great holiday treat, it’s also a Canadian wedding tradition! In Canada, many couples will pass out fruit cake to their guests. They will ask their guests to sleep with the cake under their pillow that night as a token of good luck for the new couple. 

    On the couple’s one year wedding anniversary, they will normally eat a slice of their wedding fruit cake in celebration! 

    What is In this Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake? 

    Butter or margarine
    Lemon juice 
    Baking powder
    Eggs
    Granulated sugar
    Flour
    Seeded raisins
    Dates
    Mixed candied fruit
    Candied cherries (red and green) 
    Candied pineapple
    Chopped pecans

    [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”MUacCZIa” upload-date=”2021-05-11T20:29:00.000Z” name=”Christmas Fruit Cake ” description=”This Christmas Fruit Cake is a wonderful staple in the homes of Canadians during some of their most special days. Packed with dried fruits such as pineapples, cherries, raisins and dates, mixed with pecans and soaked in rum, this recipe tastes unique and delicious. Try it with a cup of tea!” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

    How Do I Make Canadian Christmas Fruit Cake? 

    Rinse the candied fruit with water. Then soak the fruit in rum overnight to remove the stickiness and rehydrate. 

    Mix all of the dried fruit in a bowl. Sift one cup of reserved flour over fruit and mix until all of the fruit is coated in flour. 

    In a separate, VERY large bowl, cream together butter and eggs. 

    Add the lemon juice and beat again. 

    Add sugar, flour, and baking powder and beat until creamy and smooth.

    Mix all fruit and nuts into the batter by hand. 

    Line wax paper into two 10.5”x5” loaf pans and 4 individual loaf pans and divide the batter among them.

    Fill a 9×13 pan with water and place it in the bottom of the oven as a “water bath” for the cakes. 

    Put the cakes in the oven and bake at 250 degrees for about 2.5 hours, or until a toothpick is removed clean.

    Christmas Fruit Cake Pinterest Graphic

    How to Store Christmas Fruit Cake

    It is vital to know how to store your Christmas fruit cake properly, because it is almost NEVER eaten the same day that it is made. Typically, Christmas fruit cake “ripens” for at least a month before consumption, but some people choose to let their cake rest for up to four months.

    To correctly store the Christmas fruit cake, first wrap it very tightly in wax paper. Then, wrap that in aluminum foil, making certain that there are no holes or air pockets.

    Keep the cake in your fridge for the desired amount of time. The longer you “ripen” the cake, the more flavor it will have when you finally eat it!

    horizontal christmas fruit cake

    Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum

    You can choose to store your Christmas fruit cake with the process I described above, OR you could take the entire process a step further with “feeding” your cake. 

    During the process of feeding your Christmas cake, you periodically soak the cake with more rum (or your alcohol of choice). When it comes time to eat your cake, it will taste distinctly of rum! This process normally takes about a month, but can extend for up to 3 months. 

    To begin, first wrap your cake in a rum-soaked cheesecloth. Then follow the previously mentioned steps of wrapping it next in wax paper and, finally, in aluminum foil. Continue to store it in the fridge between “feeding” sessions. 

    Every week, remove the cake from the fridge and unwrap. Use a skewer to poke holes into the top of the cake about every two inches. The holes should extend halfway down into the cake.

    Use a spoon to scoop rum and pour into each hole of the cake. Before re-wrapping, use a pastry brush to brush the remaining rum into the surface of the cake. Rewrap and place in the fridge again. 


    Continue this process until the Christmas fruit cake is ready for consumption. As aforementioned, this process can last anywhere from 1-3 months, depending on how strongly you would like your cake to taste of rum.

    overhead christmas fruit cake

    Why is My Christmas Fruit Cake Crumbly? 

    If your Christmas fruit cake is crumbly, you most likely didn’t add enough moisture into the batter/cooking process. Luckily, this recipe is designed to keep your cake beautifully moist. 


    First, soaking the fruit in the rum overnight rehydrates it. This means that the cake will not need to pull moisture from the fruit!

    Secondly, the water bath ensures that your cake recipe is surrounded by moisture while cooking, therefore keeping your cake wonderfully moist as well. 

    If you liked this Christmas fruit cake recipe, be sure to check out these other great dessert recipes as well!:

    • Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Belize
    • Easy Bread Pudding Recipe with Vanilla Sauce
    • Chocolate Glazed Donut Recipe
    • How to Make Candied Nuts
    • Butter Tarts from Canada
    YouTube video
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    horizontal christmas fruit cake

    Christmas Fruit Cake

    This Christmas Fruit Cake is a wonderful staple in the homes of Canadians during some of their most special days. Packed with dried fruits such as pineapples, cherries, raisins and dates, mixed with pecans and soaked in rum, its taste is unique and delicious. Try it with a cup of tea!
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: baking, Dessert
    Cuisine: canada, canadian
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours hours 50 minutes minutes
    Servings: 36 slices
    Calories: 441kcal
    Author: Alexandria Drzazgowski

    Equipment

    • 9×13″ Pan 
    • 9×5″ Loaf Pan
    • Small Loaf Pan
    • Oven Mitt
    • Mixing Bowl(s)
    • Sifter 
    • Toothpicks
    • Citrus Juicer

    Ingredients

    Batter Ingredients

    • 1 lb butter or margarine, softened
    • 2 tbsp lemon juice
    • 4 tsp baking powder
    • 10 eggs, beaten lightly
    • 2 cups granulated sugar
    • 4 cups flour, leave one cup reserved

    Mix-Ins

    • 2 lbs seeded raisins
    • 2 lbs dates
    • 1 lb mixed candied fruit
    • 1 lb candied cherries, red and green
    • ½ lb candied pineapple, chopped in slices
    • ½ lb chopped pecans

    Instructions

    • Rinse the candied fruit with water. Then soak the fruit in rum overnight to remove the stickiness and rehydrate.
    • Mix all of the dried fruit in a bowl. Sift one cup of reserved flour over fruit and mix until all of the fruit is coated in flour.
    • In a separate, VERY large bowl, cream together butter and eggs.
    • Add the lemon juice and beat again.
    • Add sugar, flour, and baking powder and beat until creamy and smooth.
    • Add all fruit and nuts into the batter and combine by hand.
    • Line wax paper into two 10.5”x5” loaf pans and 4 individual loaf pans and divide the batter among them.
    • Fill a 9×13 pan with water and place it in the bottom of the oven as a “water bath” for the cakes.
    • Put the cakes in the oven and bake at 250 degrees for about 2.5 hours, or until a toothpick is removed clean.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1serving | Calories: 441kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 192mg | Potassium: 456mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 565IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @TheForeignFork or tag #TheForeignFork!

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    Cake, Dessert, North America Canada

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lorne Barry says

      November 23, 2024 at 2:09 pm

      Is it possible to have the recipe for a single loaf.

      Reply
      • Alexandria Drzazgowski says

        November 24, 2024 at 6:03 pm

        Hi Lorne, I would recommend cutting the recipe in half. You will have a bit of extra batter left over that you may need to discard, but it is the easiest way to get almost the right amount of batter for one loaf 🙂

        Reply
    2. Rosemary says

      February 25, 2024 at 9:10 pm

      Can I do this recipe without any liquor?

      Reply
      • Alexandria Drzazgowski says

        February 29, 2024 at 7:44 pm

        You can use orange juice or apple juice instead of alcohol!

        Reply
    3. Kitty says

      February 08, 2022 at 5:50 pm

      This recipe is excellent. Thank you. I will try to make it. And let you know how it turns out.

      Reply
    5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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