Easy Gluten Free Fruit Cake Cookie Recipe

Ahhhh fruitcake, it's been the butt of holiday jokes for some, but for others, this dense, fruit-filled loaf is the stuff that holiday dreams are made of! This year I set out on a mission, to embrace my inner fruitcake fan and to develop the BEST gluten-free fruitcake recipe on the internet.

{{ Our post and both of the Gluten-Free Fruitcake recipes that go with it were made in partnership with California Prunes. We received compensation in exchange for it. Opinions are always our own. Thank you for your continued support of our small business! }}

You might not know this, but my grandfather was the Fruitcake Cookie King of Cleveland, Tennesee. He passed away in 2020 and honestly, the holidays (and the months leading up to them) haven't been the same without our daily phone chats about his fruitcake cookie formula and what he has done to it this year to make it even better than ever before.

This year I set out on a mission to tap into my own inner fruitcake fiend. To hopefully find a sense of feeling connected with my grandfather throughout the process. And to do my part to shine a delicious, loving light on this often misunderstood and underappreciated staple of the holiday season.

What is fruitcake?

Fruitcake is one of the heaviest baked desserts available, consisting of a rich mixture of fruits, nuts, and just enough dense cake to hold everything together. It's also one of the few baked items that, when done correctly, can benefit from aging with alcohol.

Origins of fruitcake.

Fruit cake may have its roots in England, but it is not where it originates. Fruitcake has a lengthy history, and it has existed in some form or another since Roman times.

The ancient Romans created a type of energy bar/cake called Satura. This dense bar or cake included pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, raisins, barley mash, and honeyed wine to maintain their men in combat. The Satura lasted long enough to sustain a soldier through a long, hard battle, eventually becoming popular as a dessert for special occasions.

I mean, how about that?! Life-sustaining fruitcake. Who knew?!

Why is fruitcake a Christmas tradition?

Fruitcake became famous as a Christmas dish in the 18th and 19th centuries. The colonists brought the Christmas fruitcake custom to America in the years leading up to the Revolution. The ingredients to make fruit cake were more expensive and difficult to come by, making it a rare delicacy.

The tradition of making, gifting, and eating fruitcakes during the holidays has roots in British culture and is often referred to as Christmas cake or plum cake.

Is fruit cake good for you?

Fruitcakes usually have a lot of dried fruits and nuts, which are more condensed than fresh fruits and nuts and are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. A fruitcake's mixture of dried fruits provides antioxidants, notably polyphenols, which lower the risk of diseases including cancer, obesity, and diabetes.

However, while some of fruitcake's key ingredients are healthy it is still overall a sweet, boozy dessert and should be enjoyed in moderation.

What fruit is in fruitcake?

You can add any dried or candied fruit that you want to customize your fruitcake. One of my personal favorite dried fruit additions to both of my gluten-free fruitcake recipes on This Mess is Ours is California Prunes!

Popular types of dried fruit for fruit cake.

• prunes
• apricots
• dried apples
• dried pears
• dried figs
• currants
• raisins
• dried pineapple
• dried cherries
• dried cranberries
• candied mixed fruit

I did notice throughout the process of making these fruitcakes that I used my kitchen scale a lot. If you have one get it ready - if not, you may want to invest in one. This is mine:

What other recipes can you make with prunes?

We cook with prunes around here almost daily so it's safe to say we also have some of the most delicious prune recipes on the internet.

Whether you are trying to reduce refined sugar, cut unhealthy fats, or simply make healthier recipes, California prunes (or prune puree) can enhance cakes, cookies, muffins, savory sauces, and more!

If you are looking to incorporate more California prunes into your diet the recipes below are a great place to start.

Traditional Sugar Plums

I had never had a traditional sugar plum until we photographed these for G Free Foodie and let me tell you, they are delicious but completely unexpected!

Sugarplums are actually a lot like a raw bar that is full of warming spices and reminiscent of the holidays. The ground mixture of fruit and nuts is formed into balls and rolled in sparkling sugar for a sweet crunch factor that really makes them feel special.

Cl ick here to make Traditional Sugar Plums!

Is there alcohol in fruit cake?

Yes, there is some alcohol in most fruitcakes. Even if you saturate the cake with alcohol after cooking, the alcohol evaporates quickly. So don't expect to get tipsy while eating your fruitcake unless you pour a glass or two of mulled wine to drink while you eat it.

Brandy or rum is the most popular alcohol to add to a fruitcake. If you don't like either of these, try adding medium sherry, whiskey, or orange-flavored liqueur in their place.

If you are looking for a booze-free fruitcake recipe try my Bake & Eat Gluten-Free Fruitcake. You can soak the raisins in warm water instead of warm brandy and skip the alcohol altogether!

If you do plan to age your fruitcake don't sleep on the booze spritzer bottle, it's a true joy of the fruitcake-making process!

Booze Spritzer!

If you plan on aging your fruitcake with alcohol it is wise to invest in a glass spritzer bottle for easy alcohol applications throughout the aging process.

The spritzer helps you to control the flow of alcohol leaving the bottle ensuring you don't oversoak your aging fruitcake but also offers lots of opportunities to squirt yourself directly in the face with booze over the holiday season!

When should I start making my fruitcake for the holidays?

This answer all depends on whether you would like to age your fruitcake or create a make and bake fruit cake that you can enjoy the day you bake it!

Want to age your fruitcake? Plan on starting the process somewhere between 2 and 7 weeks before you want to eat or gift it.

If you plan on making our Bake & Eat Fruitcake you can plan to start baking the fruit cake the same day you want to eat it. While it isn't hard to make this fruitcake, there is a lot of prep work involved so I recommend beginning the morning you plan on serving the fruit cake and making a cozy baking project out of it.

Aging vs. make & bake fruitcake. Which is best?

The process known as "aging" refers to when freshly baked fruitcake is wrapped in liquor-soaked cheesecloth then sealed tightly for days or weeks. Often, the fruitcake is checked every week to ensure that it hasn't dried out. If needed more alcohol can be applied to the cheesecloth before rewrapping to age further.

Aging fruitcake with your favorite alcohol will improve the flavor of the cake as it sits. You can expect a much richer depth of flavor and very pronounced flavor notes in an aged fruitcake.

When you don't use alcohol in your fruitcake there is no need to age it. Cakes that are not soaked in liquor will only have a short-term storage period but can be stored in the freezer for long-term preservation.

Now for the fun part. The fruitcake bake-off of 2021!

I have spent over a month this holiday season perfecting my fruitcake craft. I have channeled my fruitcake-loving ancestors in a variety of different fruitcake-inspired activities and zeroed in on 2, not 1, but TWO epic gluten-free fruitcake recipes that are sure to stand the test of time.

Here is what I did to set the mood for making fruitcakes:

First, I attended the Cherry Bombe Magazine, Very Cherry Bombe Friendsgiving Fruit Cake Bake-Along, which you can watch by clicking here.

Next, I watched the 'Fruitcake Fraud' documentary while sipping on warm adult holiday bevies to really do some intense research. Who knew fruitcake was so riveting and scandalous!?!

And lastly, I actually baked and aged copious amounts of fruitcake. Literally, this might be the only time in my entire life that I used the term 'copious' and it actually is an accurate description.

Y'all I baked more versions of fruitcake than I ever thought humanly possible.

Those closest to me have heard me refer to this year's holiday season as #fruitcakegate on more than one occasion the past few months. I have had some serious fails in this quest, but some EPIC wins too.

So here it is, exactly what you came for... my fruitcake breakdown . The good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly.

Allow me to introduce you to the viral (non gfree) fruitcake recipes that served as baseline inspiration for this entire project.

Our first viral fruitcake contender:

Country Cleaver's Brandied Fruit Cake

This viral recipe from Megan Keno was the first that I tried and was the featured recipe for the Cherry Bombe cook-along.

I was intrigued that the loaf included a full fifth of brandy and that the recipe called for shredded zucchini in the batter. WHAT?!

I wanted this recipe to convert so badly, but alas the seemingly neverending supply of liquid in the zucchini along with the booze resulted in a disastrous gfree conversion. The gfree flour just couldn't stand up to the liquid factor.

I will give this one another go next year, but with a few caveats in place. The squash would have to be completely squeezed dry, the liquor would need to be cut way back, and the batter could use a few teaspoons of potato or corn starch to help everything bind together.

Our second viral fruitcake contender:

A Beautiful Plate's World's Best Fruitcake

My friend Laura's recipe is the number 1 fruit cake recipe on Google and for good reason.

Laura uses her culinary school training to approach recipes like a scientist and shares all her findings with you in her blog posts.

Her recipe yields gorgeous aged loaves every single time with an optional apricot glaze and pecan decoration to finish.

Laura's recipe is the inspiration point for our Aged Gluten-Free Fruitcake Recipe With Citrus.

Our third fruitcake contender was a recipe that has never graced the internet before but has gone viral in real life around Madera, Ca.

I love a recipe that has been passed down, shared around, and comes with rave reviews! Especially one that has never even graced the internet. Those are few and far between these days. The recipe I am referring to is one that my friend K.C.'s mom has been making for years and it is the inspiration for my new Bake & Eat Gluten-Free Fruitcake recipe.

And now, what you came here for. The This Mess is Ours approved gluten free fruitcake recipes!

When I started this project I naively thought it would be easy to recreate epic fruitcakes gluten-free. Boy was I wrong!

Turns out, I had some real head-scratcher scenarios to work through that left me crying in my booze-soaked fruit on more than one occasion. However, I am happy to report that through the recipe testing process we now have not one, but TWO EPIC gluten-free fruitcake recipes to choose from.

Gluten-Free Bake & Eat Fruitcake Recipe

Sometimes you just don't have 2-6 weeks between the time you bake your fruit cake and the time you want to devour it.

This no-fail gluten-free fruitcake recipe is a version of my friend K. C. the G Free Foodie's mom's famous fruitcake recipe and it is divine!

If you are interested in making booze-free fruitcake, you can soak the raisins in this recipe in warm water instead of warm brandy.

Aged Gluten-Free Fruitcake recipe

Having never eaten a ton of fruitcake in my life I really had to try all variations and this one was a top contender because it had a delightful cake-like texture to it that the other fruit cake recipes I tried lacked.

Of all the fruitcake recipes we tested this was the only recipe that called for butter as an ingredient.

When you cream butter and sugar together it incorporates small pockets of air in the batter.

This aerated batter allows this fruit cake to puff as it bakes, like a cake giving it a lighter texture than its dense fruitcake counterpart.

Unlike other fruitcakes that can be stored and aged at room temperature, this one needs to be stored and aged in the refrigerator.

Now that we have discovered the best fruitcake recipes there are still shockingly a few more things you should know! The fruitcake knowledge is ENDLESS.....

What type of pan is best for baking fruitcake?

Fruitcakes can be baked in loaf pans, muffin tins, small disposable pans for gifting, or other similar pans.

If using a loaf pan we suggest that you grease the pan well and line it with oiled parchment paper liners.

Loaf Pan

I liked the shape and the height of the fruitcake loaves that I baked best when I used my Goldtouch® Pro nonstick loaf pans.

The narrow base allows for the fruitcake to sort of bloom at the top creating a much more appealing shaped loaf than some of the other loaf pans I tried that were wider at the base.

What is the best knife to cut fruit cake with?

It is so frustrating when you spend weeks perfecting a fruitcake, only for it to mess up and crumble when you slice it! I have learned through my own trial and error that a bread knife is the best knife to use when cutting fruitcake.

Global Classic 8 ¾" Bread Knife

I personally own this gorgeous bread knife from Global and it is the BEST tool for slicing through dense fruitcake.

A regular chef's knife won't slice its way through the nuts and dried fruit the way a bread knife will.

Trust me, I tried. A chef's knife has the potential to crush and crumble the slices of fruitcake. Which is pretty frustrating when you have been soaking, baking, and aging a loaf for upwards of a few weeks.

I can't believe I am typing this, but I think that's it for my fruitcake manifesto!

If you have more fruitcake knowledge to share or you've tried either of our gluten-free fruitcake recipes, I would be so grateful if you would rate it with a star rating & let me know what you think in the comments below.

I just love hearing from you, andyour reviews and comments really help others that visit This Mess is Ours!

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Source: https://thismessisours.com/fruitcake/

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