This Easy Fruit Cake recipe is a must for your recipe book. It has a deliciously moist and flavorful dried fruit and nuts filling. Great for breakfast, lunch, or as a snack!
Ukrainian-style dry fruit cake that's incredibly soft, moist, and easy to make! Thanks to the dried fruits, the loaf comes out moist and uniquely aromatic.
I love making it in the colder winter months and especially around Christmas time. It's just so delicious.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Stands Out
We all love a good fruit cake, especially during the holiday season. Here's one that's extra special because it's:
- Quick and Easy: The process of making this awesome holiday treat should not take more than 10 minutes.
- Healthy: This quick tea loaf is definitely a guilt-free pleasure. Something, that we all need during the holiday season.
- Festive: When your festive tables are groaning with food, and holiday drinks are nicely spicing up the party, wouldn't it be great for an easy and healthy dessert to wrap up the memorable night?
- Flavors: It's crunchy, sweet, and full of appetizing flavors. This is bound to become one of your favorite fruit cake recipes, like my Christmas Fruit Cake recipe.
Key Ingredients
- Eggs – Eggs act as a binder in this recipe, holding everything together for a cohesive cake.
- Butter – We use melted butter for a moist and tender crumb, ensuring that our fruit cake is not dry.
- Flour – We use a small amount of all-purpose flour to give the cake structure without making it too dense.
- Brown Sugar – Just a touch of brown sugar adds a hint of caramel sweetness to complement the fruits and nuts.
- Orange Zest – The zest of an orange adds a bright, citrusy flavor that cuts through the richness of the cake.
- Powdered Sugar – We use powdered sugar for sprinkling which adds a sweet finish to the cake.
Substitutions and Variations
The recipe is also super versatile, so feel free to get creative with it. Here are some of our favorite substitutions and variations:
- Use Your Favorite Nuts and Dried Fruits: The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any dried fruits and nuts that you prefer. Try substituting the raisins, apricots, prunes, cherries, and figs with your personal favorites. The same goes for the walnuts – feel free to use pecans, almonds, or even pistachios.
- Add Some Alcohol: For a boozy twist, try soaking the dried fruits in your favorite liquor before adding them to the batter. Rum, brandy, or whiskey would work wonderfully in this fruit cake.
- Experiment with Spices: Feel free to experiment with spices. Try adding a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, or even cardamom for an extra layer of flavor.
- Make it Vegan: If you're vegan or just out of eggs, you can try using a ripe mashed banana or unsweetened applesauce as an egg substitute.
How to Make Easy Fruit Cake
Step 1: Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add melted butter and orange zest.
Step 2: Chop all fruits and nuts. Add them to the bowl with the eggs. Also, add flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix well.
Step 3: Pour the batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 45 minutes at 355 F.
Step 4: After baking, cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Then, remove it from the pan and sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
What to Serve with Fruit Cake
Breakfast
- This fruit cake is a great addition to a breakfast or brunch spread. Serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or a spread of cream cheese.
- If you're feeling extra fancy, try toasting slices of the cake in the oven or a toaster oven. The slightly crispy edges and warm, soft center are absolutely delicious.
Dessert
- Fruit cake is traditionally enjoyed as a dessert, so feel free to serve it on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- You can also pair this cake with a variety of other desserts. It goes particularly well with custards, puddings, and fruit compotes.
Special Occasions
- If you're making this fruit cake for a special occasion, consider adding a simple glaze or frosting. A lemon glaze or cream cheese frosting would be a wonderful addition.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use any combination of your favorite dried fruits and nuts. For this recipe, we used raisins, apricots, prunes, cherries, figs, and walnuts. Feel free to mix and match based on your preferences.
I recommend using only dried fruits for this recipe. Fresh fruits contain more moisture, which can affect the texture and consistency of the cake. Stick to dried fruits for the best results.
If you notice that the top of the cake is browning too quickly while baking, you can cover it with a piece of parchment paper. This will help prevent it from getting too dark while the inside continues to cook.
The fruit cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also gently press the top of the cake - if it springs back, it's ready.
This fruit cake can be kept at room temperature for up to one week. Be sure to store it in an airtight container.
More Recipes You'll Enjoy
- Christmas Fruit Cake - This Christmas Fruit Cake recipe is exactly what you would expect from a crowd-pleasing Christmas dessert. It's festive, flavorful, and amazingly delicious.
- Banketstaaf (Dutch Christmas Log) - Banketstaaf is an amazingly simple Dutch almond pastry that takes only 10 minutes to assemble. The oven will do the rest of the work.
- Finnish Christmas Cookies - Joulutorttu are traditional Finnish Christmas Cookies made in the shape of a pinwheel and filled with a delicious prune jam.
- Hausfreunde Cookies - Layers of crispy shortcrust pastry are slathered with apricot jam and covered with sweet almond paste. Dipped in rich dark chocolate and garnished with caramelized cashews.
Recipe
Easy Fruit Loaf
Video
Ingredients
- 2 eggs beaten
- ¼ c butter melted
- 1 orange zested
- 1 cup dried fruits and nuts raisins, apricots, prunes, cherries, figs, walnuts
- 6 tablespoon flour
- 4 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon powdered sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 355 F.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs and add melted butter and orange zest.
- Chop up apricots, prunes and figs into 4-6 pieces each.
- Add dried fruits and nuts to a bowl with eggs. Also add flour, sugar and baking powder. Mix well.
- Spoon the batter into a covered with parchment paper loaf pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 45 min.
- If the top of the cake starts to brown too fast, cover it with a parchment paper.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
- Remove from loaf pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Nutrition
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
Linda Carmical says
Not a big fruit cake fan. Don't really know why that is, it was a favorite at my grandma's and aunt's house every Christmas. But I will admit, this one does sound good. Who doesn't like something with the word fruit and cake in the title? :/
Jessica says
This looks so so good! Definitely pinning for later!
Sarah says
Thank you for the recipe..looks so great! Love when it is guilt free cake!
Erin says
I love everything about this recipe - sweet, easy, and guilt-free! Thanks for sharing, definitely keeping this recipe!
Iryna says
Thank you Erin! Yes, it's really good! You will like it!:)