Rum Fruit Cake

This Rum Fruit Cake is incredibly moist and flavorful, and the only recipe you’ll need. 

Filled with plump fruit, crunchy walnuts, and holiday spices, it’s sure to win over any fruit cake skeptic. Best of all, it’s an easy recipe—no mixer needed!

I grew up loving the smell of my mother’s Rum Fruit Cake, filling the kitchen with holiday magic. You might find it surprising—an Italian woman making fruit cake! It was one of the first non-Italian cakes she mastered, and she was great at it.

This Rum Fruit Cake is just like hers. It’s easy to make with only a wooden spoon, and the fruit is boiled first, making it lush, and juicy, and giving the cake incredible moisture. I bake it along with traditional Italian treats like cuccidati, crostoli, and pizzelle every holiday season.

Be sure to also try my delicious nutella cake, spiedini or my homemade cavatelli pasta, my family can’t get enough of either

Why you’ll love this recipe

Moist with Rich Flavor: This recipe starts by boiling the dried fruits, making them plump and juicy as they absorb the spices’ warmth. The result is a moist fruit cake that combines the natural sweetness of the fruit with the deep, warm flavor of rum.
No Maturing Time Needed: Forget the weeks of aging required by classic fruit cakes—this recipe is ready to enjoy as soon as the next day, making it perfect for last-minute holiday baking without sacrificing flavor.
Adaptable: Customize this easy, moist fruit cake recipe by adding your favorite dried fruits and nuts to make it uniquely yours. Whether you prefer raisins, cherries, apricots, or pecans, you can mix and match flavors to suit your taste and make each cake truly special.
No Mixer Required: The best part about this easy fruit cake recipe is that you won’t need an electric mixer because all the ingredients are mixed easily with a wooden spoon just like in my frittelle recipe.

For complete ingredient quantities and full instructions, please scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

Fruit cakes often get a bad reputation, usually due to low-quality ingredients. However, using tasty dried fruit, premium candied orange peel, fragrant spices, and good rum can make a world of difference, creating a delicious rum fruit cake. Choose the best ingredients you can find, and select flavors that you genuinely enjoy.

• Dark rum – It wouldn’t be a Rum Fruit Cake without the rum. I enjoy using dark spiced rum but there are lots of varieties that will work. Choose your favorite.
• Dried fruit -This Rum Fruit Cake is quite forgiving. You can use many different types of dried fruits all of which give a distinct flavor. Try all raisins. Or switch half of the raisins for either golden raisins, figs, dates, or prunes which are all wonderful options. Adding a smaller portion of dried apricots, or pineapple is also delicious.
• Candied orange peel – It’s important to use quality candied orange peels available from specialty stores and maybe some rare grocery stores. If you can only find the bitter candied peel that most grocery stores stock, don’t use it. It will ruin the cake. Use more dried fruit like raisins, figs, dates, or dried pineapple.
• Walnuts – Nuts are often included in fruit cakes and the crunch adds texture to what would otherwise be a soft cake.
• Salted butter – For this recipe, I’ve always used salted butter. Of course, you could use unsalted butter but be sure to add a large pinch of salt.
• Brown sugar – Dark or light brown sugar both work for this recipe. Both are easily available at most grocery stores.
• Spices – You’ll need ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. If you don’t use them often, replace them before baking. Or see below, you may have one of the spice blends that will work well.
• Eggs – I like free range but use whatever you normally buy.
• All-purpose flour – Just regular flour with no raising agent in it.
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder – These rising agents are used at two different stages in the recipe for rising. 

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Bake for 1 ½ hours. To check if it’s done, insert a skewer; it should come out clean. If fully baked, leave the cake in the pan, and wrap it in a kitchen towel to cool slowly, keeping it moist. Once cool, spoon over extra rum. 

Marcellina’s Hint: Grease the cake pan with butter or spray oil to help the parchment paper stick. Be sure to double-line the pan with parchment paper; this will prevent the cake from burning or drying out during the long baking time.

Substitutions

• Spices – instead of individual spices, substitute each with the same amount of a spice mix like pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or any mixed spice that you enjoy.
• Candied Orange Peel – replace this with the finely grated zest of one lemon and one orange. Or substitute it with equal quantities of candied pineapple or dried apricot, peach, or pear.
• Walnuts – use slivered almonds or chopped pecans instead.

Variations

• Chocolate Fruit Cake – add ¾ cup of chocolate chips to the cake batter when stirring in the flour.
• Ginger – include ½ cup of diced crystallized ginger.
• Brandy – use brandy instead of rum. 

Equipment

For this recipe, you need a large saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, and basic kitchen equipment. Bake this Rum Fruit Cake in a 9-inch (23cm) round cake pan. 

Storage

This Rum Fruit Cake keeps beautifully for at least two weeks at cool room temperature when stored well. Wrap the fruitcake in plastic wrap and then place it in a sealed container. In warmer or more humid climates, it’s best to refrigerate it, where it will stay fresh for up to three months.

For longer storage, the freezer is ideal; I’ve frozen this cake for a year, and it still tastes perfect when thawed. Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to protect it from freezer burn, and let it come to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor. Avoid using aluminum foil when wrapping the cake.

Top tip

• Choose high-quality dried fruits for the best flavor. If you’re using larger fruits like dates or figs, chop them into smaller pieces for even distribution. You can use all raisins if you prefer, or a mix of various dried fruits—just be sure to keep the total weight the same. A digital food scale is handy for precise measuring.
• Let the boiled fruit mixture cool before adding the eggs and remaining ingredients. For convenience, I like to let it sit overnight, and then bake the cake the next day. However, as long as the mixture has cooled, you can proceed with the recipe at any time.
• Don’t skip double lining the pan—it’s essential. Since Rum Fruit Cake bakes for a long time, double layers of parchment paper help prevent the outside from burning before the inside is fully cooked
• Every oven is different, so don’t rely solely on the clock to determine when the cake is done. Instead, insert a skewer or toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean with just a few crumbs, the cake is ready. If it comes out with uncooked cake batter on it, give the Rum Fruit Cake a little more time in the oven.
• Rum Fruit Cake should cool slowly in the pan to retain its moisture. I always wrap it in a large kitchen towel to help it cool gradually, ensuring it stays moist and tender.
• Drizzle the cooled cake with extra rum to enhance its flavor. The alcohol will also give the cake longer keeping qualities and adding moisture.

Measuring Tip: When measuring flour, stir the flour first to loosen then spoon the flour into the measuring cup without packing it in. Scrape the back of a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level.

FAQ

Serving Suggestions

Rum Fruit Cake is traditionally served with coffee after Christmas lunch which is always a feast! With dishes like Vegetable Lasagna, my Butterfly Chicken recipe, and Marinated Artichokes, it’s a challenge to fit anything else in but this fruit cake is worth it. 

Made this recipe?
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This updated and improved recipe was first published here on July 22, 2011.