A few years ago we tested out a bunch of vintage quick fruit cake recipes for the blog. This was the best of the bunch; quick, easy and good to eat right away. Andit’s even better after it isbeen wrapped in some alcohol-spiked cheesecloth. Enjoy!
This year for our Christmas baking we decided to throw all caution to the wind and to venture into the land of doorstops and vibrantly-colored, nuclear fruit.
That’s right. This year it’s fruit cake for all!
What’s funny is that during the mid-century, fruit cake was already considered a “grandma’s dessert” and the butt of many a joke. So we thought it would be interesting to test out a couple of recipes from magazine ads of the time to see what the interpretations of “hip” or “quick” fruit cakes of the day would be.
But we had to have a place to start, so we picked this classic Wesson Oil fruit cake recipe from an ad in a 1953 Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
AuthorRetroRuth
From Wesson Oil Test Kitchen
Recipe Test
1 cup oil
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
4 Eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves
1 cup pineapple, apple or orange juice
1 cup chopped candied pineapple
1 cup thinly sliced citron
1 ½ cups whole candied cherries
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried figs
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups coarsely chopped mixed nuts
1
Mix together oil, brown sugar and eggs in a bowl. Vigorously beat with a spoon or electric mixer for two minutes.
2
Sift together 2 cups of flour and rest of dry ingredients. Stir into oil mixture alternately with the juice.
3
Sift remaining cup of flour over combined fruits and nuts. Pour batter over fruit and mix.
4
Line 2 greased loaf pans with paper. Pour batter into pans. Place a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven.
5
Bake cakes for 2½ to 3 hours in a slow oven (275 degrees). *Mine took 2½ hours to bake*
6
Cool on racks without removing the paper. When cool, remove paper and seal in a covered container in a cool place to ripen.
CategoryBread and Rolls, Cake, Christmas, Desserts, Fruit, Fruit, Quick Bread, Raisins, Cooking MethodBakeTags#allspice, #applejuice, #bakingpowder, #brownsugar, #candiedcherries, #candiedpineapple, #cinnamon, #citron, #cloves, #driedfigs, #egg, #flour, #mixednuts, #oil, #orangejuice, #pineapplejuice, #raisins, #salt, #walnuts
Ingredients
1 cup oil
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
4 Eggs
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves
1 cup pineapple, apple or orange juice
1 cup chopped candied pineapple
1 cup thinly sliced citron
1 ½ cups whole candied cherries
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried figs
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups coarsely chopped mixed nuts
Directions
1
Mix together oil, brown sugar and eggs in a bowl. Vigorously beat with a spoon or electric mixer for two minutes.
2
Sift together 2 cups of flour and rest of dry ingredients. Stir into oil mixture alternately with the juice.
3
Sift remaining cup of flour over combined fruits and nuts. Pour batter over fruit and mix.
4
Line 2 greased loaf pans with paper. Pour batter into pans. Place a pan of water on the lower rack of the oven.
5
Bake cakes for 2½ to 3 hours in a slow oven (275 degrees). *Mine took 2½ hours to bake*
6
Cool on racks without removing the paper. When cool, remove paper and seal in a covered container in a cool place to ripen.
Wesson’s Famous Fruit Cake
We mostly picked this because of the “famous” in the name. I assumed this meant that this recipe had been around for some time!
This was a really easy cake to put together. Actually, it wasn’t so much as a cake as a quick bread, like banana bread.
It even looks like banana bread batter! Except for the red and green cherries.
The biggest difference between this and banana bread was the incredibly long cooking time, similar to the long cooking time in our previous adventures into fruit cake (pork cake!).
But all-in-all, this bread came together quickly, smelled good while baking and looked pretty festive.
I don’t even mind the cherries that much!
“This is good. Tastes like a fruit and nut cake.”
The Verdict: Good
From The Testing Notes:
Good fruit and nut flavor. Not too moist, but not dry either. Cake itself is good, but not very spicy. Would benefit from extra spices and some rum or brandy! Good overall-would be very tasty as a breakfast bread.
FAQs
Diamond fruitcake – $1,650,000 ($ 1.65 million) World's Most Expensive Desserts - Diamond Fruitcake Sold on Christmas 2005, this cake was also created by a Japanese pastry chef.
What country eats fruit cake for Christmas? ›
Canada. The fruitcake is commonly eaten during the Christmas season in Canada. Rarely is it seen during other times of the year. The Canadian fruitcake is similar in style to the UK version.
What is the oldest Christmas cake? ›
That honor goes to a 4,176-year-old cake that was found in an Egyptian tomb, according to the Guinness organization. It is on display in a food museum in Switzerland.
What type of cake is traditionally eaten at Christmas time? ›
Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries.
What is the most expensive fruit cake in the world? ›
1. The “Diamond Fruitcake” – Price: $1.65m: Created by Japanese pastry chef Nahid Parsa, this fruitcake is encrusted with more than 200 diamonds. The cake itself is made with premium ingredients like organic flour, vanilla beans, and rare liqueurs, ensuring a delectable taste to match its extravagant price.
What is the longest lasting fruit cake? ›
But anecdotally we know that they can last for decades; some of the oldest have been preserved for more than a century. In 2017 a then 106-year-old fruitcake left behind by members of a 1910 Antarctic expedition was unearthed from one of the continent's first buildings.
What two ingredients help fruitcake last longer? ›
The trifecta of sugar, low moisture ingredients and some high-proof spirits make fruitcakes some of the longest-lasting foods in the world.
Why was fruitcake outlawed? ›
Fruitcakes were so rich, they were considered sinful and were outlawed in Europe in the early 18th century. Restrictions eased later in the century.
What does fruitcake mean in slang? ›
Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.
Why do fruitcakes last so long? ›
Fruitcake is no ordinary cake. It can stay fresh and edible for months after baking. What typically makes fruitcake last so long is its super dense texture. This texture prevents, let's say, less than appetizing things from setting up camp in the cake's crevices.
[Note: not all fruitcakes are made this way, see the safety note below.] The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that fruitcake will last two to three months in the refrigerator without spoiling, and will maintain its quality if stored up to a year in the freezer.
Is fruitcake good for you? ›
Is Fruit Cake a Healthy Snack? Even though fruit cake is full of raisins and fruits, this is not at all a “healthy” snack. Like any dessert, this cake is full of calories not “nu*trition”.
What do British call fruitcakes? ›
Did you know that the of eating fruitcake around the holidays stemmed from Great Britain? The traditional Christmas dessert isn't at all similar to the candied peel and citron cakes you might think of when “fruitcake” is mentioned. Called Christmas cake or plum cake in Great Britain, the dessert dates to Roman times!
What's the difference between a fruit cake and a Christmas cake? ›
Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.
What are the Christmas fruit cakes called? ›
The two most common styles of fruitcake in Europe are the stollen and panettone. British and American versions are much more cakelike. For over-the-top extravagance, honors have to go to a British version that crowns a rich fruitcake with a layer of marzipan icing.
What is the most expensive cake you can buy? ›
The "Diamond Cake" by Debbie Wingham - Price: $75 million
An amalgamation of luxury and confectionary art, it's embedded with more than 4000 diamonds, including pink, yellow, and white ones, making it not just a cake but a jewelled masterpiece. It's no wonder it holds the crown for the most expensive cake in the world!
What is the price of elite Christmas cake? ›
Elite Plum Surprise Cake, 680 g Box
| MRP: | ₹330 |
|---|
| Price: | ₹330 |
| You Save: | |
| (Inclusive of all taxes) |
But a birthday cake loaded with diamonds and hand-sculpted fondant just smashed the record for the most expensive dessert ever created. Price tag: $75 million. The decadent cake was created by British designer Debbie Wingham, who rose to fame when she crafted the world's most expensive dress for $17.7 million.
What makes fruit cake so expensive? ›
According to supply and demand, as demand goes up, prices usually go up as well. The rest of the year, very few people are buying fruitcake, and as a result they lower the prices to entice people to buy it outside of their regular patterns.
AuthorRetroRuth
