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My mom always made the best fruitcake ever. No candied fruit and not sickeningly sweet. She would make 6 at a time. We would eat the stuff for breakfast, it was so wonderful. Mom is 87 now and not able to make the fruitcake anymore, but one of my sisters is carrying on the tradition. (Bless you!) The fruitcake has lots of dried fruit and nuts, but mom always used white flour and brown sugar. I wanted to see how it would turn out with sucanat and sprouted spelt flour. The results are great! Here’s the recipe my way – just keep in mind that it takes 3 – 4 weeks for the full flavor to develop.
Fruitcake
- 1/3 c. butter, softened, preferably grass fed
- 2/3 c. sucanat (I think coconut sugar would work just as well)
- 2 eggs, preferably pastured
- 1 c. sprouted spelt flour (buy sprouted spelt flour here)
- 1/3 t. baking powder
- 1/3 t. salt
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- 1/4 t. nutmeg
- 1/4 t. ground cloves
- 1/3 c. water
- 1/3 c. chopped pecans*
- 1/3 c. chopped walnuts*
- 1/3 c. chopped dried figs
- 1/3 c. chopped dried apricots
- 1/3 c. chopped dried papaya
- 1/3 c. raisins
- 1/3 c. chopped dates
- 1/3 c. chopped dried pineapple
- Brandy or whiskey mixed equally with water
Two – three days ahead of time soak the dried fruit in liquor and water, just covering the fruit.
Cream butter and sucanat and then add eggs and mix well. Add sprouted spelt flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Mix. Add water, nuts and fruit and mix together until all the bits of fruit are coated.
Pour into a greased loaf pan. Cover with parchment paper so that the top of the cake does not burn. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for approximately an hour and a half or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool and remove from the pan. Wrap the cake in several layers of cheesecloth and soak the cloth with as much liquor and water mixture as it will absorb. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap to retain the moisture. To allow the fruitcake to develop full flavor, store in a cool place for 3 – 4 weeks, assuming you have the willpower to wait that long.
*For easier digestion and fantastic flavor soak and dry the nuts ahead of time. Place 2 cups of nuts in a bowl. Add 1 t of sea salt and cover the nuts with water. Stir to dissolve the salt. Allow to sit for 6 – 8 hours. Drain and dehydrate in a dehydrator or in your oven at just under 150 degrees for 8 – 12 hours, or until completely dry and crisp.
Do you have a favorite fruitcake recipe?
Would love to make this, but I dont have spelt flour or sucanat, would it be the same measurements for AP flour and sugar? I realize would not be as healthy but I have those ingredients on hand. Thank you so much for the post!
Yes, I didn’t have to change amounts of flour or sugar when I converted the recipe. The original recipe calls for brown sugar. (Oh, the power of suggestion is too much for me – I think I need to go eat a piece of that cake).
I don’t think we’d have all those jokes about fruitcake being passed around from year to year with this fruitcake. This is the real deal!
Oh! Oh! Oh! THANK YOU for sharing this recipe! I LOVE fruitcake (go figure
and was wishing I had a good and healthy recipe. Marvelous. This will be on our table in December for sure.
Okay, I admit… I don’t really like fruitcake. But this recipe looks tempting enough to give it a try.
You’ll be hooked!