Fruitcake is by far the most underappreciated dessert around—and that’s a shame!
With all the excessively sugary mass-produced sweets available today it would seem that this rich, spiced, and delicious cake does not get the respect it truly deserves. Fortunately, that means more fruitcake for us!
If you’re a prepper, a homesteader, or someone who just loves to cook traditionally, making a true fruitcake is a labor of love and a tradition worth keeping alive.
The History of Fruitcake
Many cultures have their own versions of fruitcakes, but the earliest fruitcakes as we know them today date back to the middle ages during the Crusades.
Made with dried fruits, stale bread, and mead, these cakes could last anywhere from months to years. Since then, fruitcake has remained wildly popular.
In the 1600s, as sugar became more affordable, the true old-fashioned fruitcake we know and love was born.
Fruitcake Shelf Life
Thanks to its high sugar content, preserved fruits, and a process known as “mellowing”—soaking in alcohol every so often—these cakes can really last!
Properly stored and cared for fruitcakes can last decades and are an excellent addition to your emergency food stockpile.
You may have heard about the 125-year-old fruitcake famously tasted by Jay Leno. A man named Morgan Ford took his great-grandmother’s 125-year-old fruitcake, a family heirloom, to California to share with the famous TV personality. After tasting the ancient cake he joked, “It needs more time”.
Although the recipe for that particular fruitcake is unknown, we do know the earliest American fruitcake recipe.
Published in Connecticut in a 1798 cookbook, the recipe uses unfamiliar measurements such as “one drachm nutmeg”. Since we no longer measure in drachms, we have to approach these old recipes to the best of our abilities using ingredients and measurements that are slightly more modern.
The result will be a long-lasting, flavorful fruitcake that has the potential to last for decades.
Related: Antarctica Keeps 106-year-old Fruitcake “Almost Edible”
How to Make Your Own Forever Fruitcake
With a little work and preparation, baking a fruitcake that can last for decades is something you can easily accomplish at home. Homesteaders and preppers are resourceful people and often use what they have on hand.
This recipe supports and encourages the use of substitutions as needed.
Supplies
● One or 9 inch round cake pan, or whichever cake or loaf pans you have available
● One or two tea towels
● Parchment paper or waxed paper
● 2 large mixing bowls
● Mixing tools such as a wooden spoon or hand mixer
● Cheesecloth or other breathable fabric
● Bread steamer, steaming pan, or a DIY steamer using a large pot and a small amount of water.
Baking
This recipe is a traditional English recipe shared with me by a relative. It yields one to two round fruitcakes.
However, just about any fruitcake recipe will do.
Related: 11 Wartime Ration Recipes Every Prepper Should Try
Ingredients
● 1 pound mixed dried fruit such as cherries, apricot, cranberries, dates, or plums.
● 1 pound chopped nuts such as pecans or almonds, salted or unsalted.
● ½ – 750 ml. bottle of brandy, sherry, port wine, or mead. Any kind of alcohol will do in a pinch.
● 4 cups of flour
● 2 cups of brown sugar
● 1 cup of butter or lard
● 6 eggs
● 1 teaspoon of salt
● 1 teaspoon baking powder and baking soda
● 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
● 1 teaspoon ground ginger
● 1 teaspoon ground cloves
● 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
● 1 cup molasses. A bit of extra brown sugar (or even maple syrup!) will work just fine if molasses is scarce where you live.
● Zest from one orange
● Zest from one lemon
● Juice from ½ orange
● Juice from ½ lemon
Instructions
Step 1: Preparing the nut and fruit mixture
● Add the fruit, nuts, and alcohol to a large mixing bowl and toss to combine.
● Cover with a tea towel and allow the mixture to soak overnight.
Step 2: Preparing the cake batter
● In a separate mixing bowl from your fruit and nut mixture, cream butter and sugar together then combine remaining ingredients until a smooth, thick batter forms.
● Carefully fold fruit and nut mixture into the batter and mix well.
Step 3: Preparing the cakes
● Grease the prepared baking pans.
● Cut the wax or parchment paper to fit the bottom of each pan.
● Pour the batter into prepared pans about ¼ inch from the top. Fruitcakes rise very little during baking since there is no added yeast.
Step 4: Steaming the cakes
● Cover and steam for 2.5 hours.
● If you don’t have a steamer, you can easily make a DIY version. Place an upside-down bowl or a saucer on the bottom of a deep stockpot and place the unbaked fruitcake on top. Then, fill the pot with enough water to reach the bottom of the fruitcake pan.
● Add water to the steamer as needed.
● Allow the cake to simmer inside of the covered steamer for 2-3 hours.
● Preheat oven to 300°F.
Step 5: Baking the cakes
● After the cake has finished steaming, carefully remove the cake and transfer it to the preheated oven for one hour.
● Remove the cake and allow it to rest covered on the counter for 12 hours.
How to Store Your Fruitcake
Mellowing and Aging
After your cakes have had the chance to rest, wrap them tightly and securely in cheesecloth or other breathable mesh-like material.
Finally, pour a generous amount of alcohol onto the wrapped cake.
Store in a cool, dry place such as a refrigerator or a root cellar and age the cake until you’re ready to eat.
Related: How Long Can You Keep Fruitcake? In This Case 106 Years
It’s important to “feed” the cake every week or two by brushing it with additional alcohol. This process not only helps to preserve your cake but keeps it nice and moist for years to come.
Why Preppers Should Add This Fruitcake to Their Stockpile
Of all the long-lasting cakes and breads that preppers buy or produce themselves, having a comfort food like homemade aged fruitcake in your arsenal is a real treat.
In a survival situation, even those who claim to hate fruitcake would warmly welcome this rich and comforting dish.
But then again, once you finally have a bite of your aged fruitcake, you may not want to share!
You may also like:
7 Mistakes To Avoid When Harvesting Rain Water
This Strange Method Will Make Your Food Last For 2 Years Without Refrigeration (Video)
How Does This Man Grow Oranges in Nebraska’s Cold Winter?
The Greatest Water Crisis In The History Of The United States. Is a ‘Megadrought’ Coming?
Wow. 125 yrs old. That’s super cool.
Bet his great grandma was a prepper.
What kind of liquor do you use, or could use.
I believe I would have chosen Willy Nelson to shear my 125 yr old fruit cake with. We would get the munchies first. O ya.
I did buy a fruit cake about 10 yrs ago. Still have it. Looks good, only got a little darker in color.
Say thanks for not using the metric system with your measurement. It a pain to deal with.
Will be making fruit cake. If we are not at war with each other. (Mandatory) vaccine COMING soon. Get your death shot and a free peace of fruit cake. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just say NO!!!!! STAY STRONG Y’ALL
it’s coming
Good artical. Thanks.
Totally agree “it’s coming.” I will be making more fruitcake too…..
Any kind of alcohol is good in fruit cake. I like rum or whiskey, because I don’t like brandy. I don’t know if sherry would have a high enough alcohol content to preserve the cake, but if you plan on serving it within a month or so it would probably be okay.
Miz Kitty: Do not use aftershave! Save it for the elderly gentlemen down the block, and back in the alley.
I wonder if Nana used to use her bathtub gin. There was more than one way to market her, ah, wares. Like the wide old farmer said, corn sells best by the gallon. niio
Perhaps when looking up conversion charts, then scrolling way down near the lower portion you will locate ‘Convert Ounce to Drachm’s
https://www.convert-measurement-units.com/convert+Ounce+to+Drachm.php
What would substitute for: ● ½ – 750 ml. bottle of brandy, sherry, port wine, or mead. Any kind of alcohol will do in a pinch. Some of us do not use or tolerate the use of Alcohol.
@ John Procidano
Knowing how to convert measurements is not the problem. I just don’t care to conform to the metric system. I use it at work all the time and don’t fell I should have to use it at home also. Plus my old cook books don’t show the metric system any where I have seen…
WOW, Well excuse me.
As far as the alcohol. I’m glad that some do not use or tolerate the use of alcohol. BUT not all of us are the same and Thank GOD that we are not. That’s why they make Chocolate and Vanilla ice cream. I don’t tolerate stupid, but it’s out there.
Thanks.
Hey John,
I believe that the cooking process should cause most of the alcohol used during the baking to evaporate out. The follow up applications are probably more for it’s preservative qualities. If you are still concerned, once you’ve baked the cake, let it sit for a month with no follow-up applications of alcohol and you should be fine. There would be residual flavor, but no (or extremely little) actual alcohol remaining in the cake because it evaporates quickly.
My 2 cents
John, agreed! Booze can stay in the jug till trading time. I do not care for it, except for an occasional beer. The cake can be well-wrapped and sealed in plastic too. Later, it can be thawed and moistened with milk and wrapped and warmed. Just enough to moisten it! If too much liquid is used, it crumbles when you add the cream cheese frosting 🙂 niio
Curious…how would those inexpensive Claxton’s fruitcakes hold up over time? And what keeps the nuts from turning rancid?
@Gwen
Don’t now if it’s good or not but you will eat rancid food when there is nothing else to eat. You also eat rancid food all most every day. Do you honestly think that you are eating fresh food at the restaurants or buying fresh food in can products or bag or box products. The fruit and veggies are not so fresh as one might expect. Walmart has a 65 rating out of a 100 in there produce. I also talked to a meat guy at walmart and he said do not buy meat there. He said they throw most of it in the trash because it is rotten when they get it off the trucks. Go figure…
Farm to table is the only fresh food.
Thanks’
Sugar! Notice how SWEET they are? I Use honey to preserve raspberries when I smash them and I even have blueberry syrup I have from last summer preserved using maple syrup! They all are a form of sugar. The alcohol preserves the dough too & must be applied every 2 weeks it says!
My Grandmother make fruitcakes every summer, then aged them for Christmas gifts. In spite of the stereotypical opinion now of fruitcake, her acquaintances used to ASK if they could be put on her Christmas gift list.
My mother also made lots of fruitcakes as gifts each year. She added white grape juice the day after baking for her gifts in an all “dry” church group. The cakes without alcohol would keep well at room temperature for over a month. For long term saving I would add rum as a personal preference and I’m not really a drinker. But whatever alcohol you use will add a bit of flavor. It is the sugar and alcohol that preserves it.
During World War II, my grandmother sent each of her sons a fruitcake several months before Christmas. Since they were in combat, only one of them ever got through. Probably someone en route smelled the liquor on it (whiskey in her case). Five years after the war ended, with all the brothers home safely, one of the fruitcakes arrived in good condition. What a laugh they had every time they would tell the story. And nobody brushed it every week with alcohol or refrigerated it either. It had been all over the war zone in Europe. My grandmother made awesome fruitcakes. None of that nasty citron stuff that some commercial sellers use instead of dried fruit–I am convinced the citron is why most people don’t like fruitcake.
I candy a bit of orange peel myself to add with the fruits.
Good article Christine.
I have a book from the late 1700s that uses odd measurements. My grandmother still knew a lot of them so she and I went through the cooking section of the book and wrote a list and equivalent measurements. Gill had been the one that stumped me. It was a tea cup so about 6 ounces or 3/4 cup. It would be a perfect peppers book today. Farming wisdom, cooking, food preservation and smoke houses ideas, a springhouse to act as a natural refrigerator, waterglassing eggs, things to make to sell such as whole barrels of vinegar for shopkeepers or farmers to make extra money. Farrier instructions for horse hoof care and shoeing. My horse yearsago had cracking on her hooves when I bought her. A daily application of bacon grease made a beautiful difference. The book has been handed down through many generations. My gr gr grandfather made worm oil for his and his horses arthritic joints. The family swears it works. Fill a glass jar with earthworms. Set it in a sunny spot behind a window. Eventually it is mostly oil in the jar. Strain out the remains of the worms and rub a little of the oil on your joints. Small applications are plenty. He wrote it in the back of the book. I haven’t tried that one. Grandma swore it mad was her joints limber. She was 95 when she passed on. Lived alone untill her last 6 months.
Ahhh, fruitcake. Certainly at the top of my list of all time favorite baked goods. Unfortunately, with advancing age, fruitcake and I are no longer best of friends. Gone are the day when I could eat a three pound fruitcake in two days all by myself. I can still do it, but it makes my A1C go off the scale. I still get ads from Collings Street Bakery all the time. They must think one of their best customers had left the scene. In my opinion, they make the best commercial fruitcake and it comes in a round metal can which is ideal for long term storage. The totally metal can will keep creepy crawlers and four legged fruitcake lovers from tasting your stored-away emergency rations before you do. It also make a handy Faraday cage for small flashlights and hand held GMRS radios. Which sort of ties in with the companion piece to this article, “What to do with things you throw away” or something very similar where we all talked about weird stuff we keep and uses we put to the stuff.
I think you probably mean Collin Street Bakery–my favorite! This past year, I broke with tradition and got one of their pineapple-pecan fruitcakes instead of the deluxe. It was good, but I missed the deluxe and will go back to that this year.
Not only do I love Collins Street Bakery fruit cakes, the tins my mom and grandmother have saved have become the baking pans for my attempts. I made trench cake for my grandmother and the others in her care facility several years ago. All thought it was a unique treat from the past! I have become a freak for good fruit cake and intend to try this recipe.
Yes I did mean Collin Street Bakery. Thanks for clearing that up for folks who were possibly misled by my misspelling the name of the vendor. One would think after forty or more years of buying their product I would have the spelling down correctly. Blame it on early onset of senile dementia. Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.
Why would anyone switch from a centuries-old recipe to pineapple-pecan fruitcake? Dee, you, too, must have had a lapse into an early bout of senile dementia. Not me! I’m an old fashioned curmudgeon and nothing but the original will do. I would really like it if they would offer a discount for, say, twenty cakes shipped to the same address. That would push me over the edge. A1C — is that some kind of new helicopter the Army is testing out? Why should I care about some helicopter that is probably over budget before they even have a prototype? The big problem is, if they are in the house, I just totally lack the will power to not eat them. It doesn’t do any good to pack them away for the EOTW. I would always be sneaking in and cutting just a taste until — Damn! The can is empty. That was the last piece. Will the can fit under my shirt so that the wife can’t tell I have demolished another can while I sneak it out to the trash?
LCC: Same here! No more having it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Now, tho, I want to make it gluten free and see how that goes. And, gotta make buckwheat cakes for breakfast. niio!
Sounds great but I like a lot more fruit and nuts, would it hurt the recipe by adding extra fruits and nuts?
Sherry: There is no such thing as too much extra fruit and nuts in a fruit cake. It might not hold together too well, but the taste would be supreme. If I wanted to experiment, I would add small increments of desired ingredients until I reached the point of — oops, guess that was too much orange peel or just too much fruit all together. It will still be edible, just not in nice neat slices. You might need a spoon but then with some creme fraiche or hard sauce, who cares if it is crumbly?
Question: Would it be possible to vacuum pact the fruitcake after it is well infused with chosen beverage of choice and storing it that way?
very good question!
I don’t see why not and if your vacuum packer is too small to handle a whole cake, I don’t see why you couldn’t reduce it in size so that your vacuum packer could handle it. Vacuum packed and then placed in a Collin Street Bakery tin. Your great, great grandchildren will be able to enjoy your thoughtfulness in their old age.
With all this talk about fruitcake, I just have to order at least one. When my doctor gives me a stern lecture I am going to blame it on all of you. I wonder if they offer next day FedEx delivery?
Your typical Christmas Fruitcake probably lasts longer in my home than anywhere else on planet earth! Nobody here likes to eat them. Way too sweet! Would need to be a SHTF scenario for sure before one was nibbled on! The life expectancy of any other baked treat t is always less than 24 hours!
When I was in college and for quite a few years after, my mother would order a 10# fruitcake in a tin from the Jane Parker Bakery and have it mailed to me. I always loved getting it and never had to share it since I was single and living alone. I discovered a couple of years ago that Jane Parker was back in business and making fruitcakes again but in limited quantities and for a limited time and at a highly exorbitant price. I am a cook, not a baker, so have never tried to make my own. Maybe I should try it. But without the nuts. Never liked them but I had a dog who got the nuts while I got the rest of the cake. She really liked pecans. Must not have been too bad for her since she lived for 18 years.
The Walmart near us sells small (13 oz) fruitcake bars, pre-sliced, from Thanksgiving until Christmas, for about $3. The day after Christmas, they get marked down to just over a dollar on the clearance rack. That is when I stock up, vacuum pack them and freeze them. I have several years’ worth now since I an the only one who will eat them and I tend to forget I have them. Not quite as good as the Jane Parker cakes but not bad for the money.
Tasty, very tasty article. Now I need to make some. If you think about it, fruitcake is the ultimate energy bar. My thing is carbs, a no-no. While I can handle some, like those buckwheat cakes I mentioned to LCC, even a little on some days is too much. Still, in the event of famine, fruitcake has much of what we need to survive in style. Trust me, go for a few weeks on scant rations and that fruitcake will make you drool while you devour it and lick every crumb from the wrapper and fingers. And, they can be stored dried on a shelf and remoistened easily. niio!
I baked some in tapered jelly canning jars – put some brandy on top and a lid before they cooled. Sealed up nicely and still look good to go after 7 months.
Chock full o’ nuts coffee is still sold in stainless steel cans… I’m thinking that the cake could be steamed in that, and then the can could be used to store it, maybe with foil taped over the plastic lid to make it less air permeable once the boozing up period is over. Or would it still be too leaky?
Thoughts?
Also, could the cake be dry canned?
Miz Kitty: Mom used to dry it on the pie shelf on the stove. She usually used coffee cans to bake in, but always pulled the cakes because the bottom would mold rather than dry. But, it can be cooled overnight and frozen in the can. Dried, it will keep for years on a shelf. Just add bay leaves to ward off millers. niio
I think they are too thin & rust very readily & wonder if alcohol hastens it.
Joni: No alcohol was added after baking. The cans will keep best in the freezer, but Mom used to dry her fruit cakes, as well. They could go back in the can, be sealed, and kept for years. To moisten, she always removed them from the cans. then sliced and covered with icing, cream cheese as I recall, which kept them moist, not that they lasted long. niio
Jodi Nicodemus:
I think you’re probably right. There’s such a thing as being too thrifty…”penny wise and pound foolish”, as the old saying goes.
Thanks for your input!
Red:
Thanks for your response. Yes, mouldering would be a problem, plus as Jodi N. pointed out, they are likely to rust out.
Miz Kitty: They stay in the cans only when stored in the freezer or after being dried. That’s the safest places for them. niio
I really want to try making fruit cake. I have been looking at dried fruit at grocery stores and the fruit feels soft in bag. Don’t mean to sound dumb, but dried makes me think of them being hard. Is that the fruit used?
Is the dried fruit used kinda soft when u squeeze the bag in store?
Jackie:
It could be the variety of fruit, or the drying process, but good quality dried fruit does have some moisture in it and is somewhat flexible and slightly sticky to the touch. Bullet hard dried fruit is either really old or has not been properly processed or stored. It won’t (probably) kill you to eat it unless it tastes bad, but you will probably have to stew it to make it edible.
Freeze dried fruit, OTOH, has had all of the moisture removed under extremely cold temperatures (hence the name), so the texture is light and crispy and the flavor closer to that of fresh fruit, rather than the sticky, concentrated sweetness of dried fruit. Health wise, the lower sugar content and flash drying process (which helps retain vitamins and minerals that may deteriorate in the traditional cooking or drying processes), so it can be a better choice for people who need to watch their sugar intake. Freeze dried fruit is easy to pulverize in a mortar and pestle for adding to smoothies and shakes, and may be eaten out of hand or used in cooking, just as traditional dried fruit. It will last a long time in storage provided it’s unopened. Open it still lasts a while, but any humidity in the container can leave the leftovers a sticky, gooey mess literally overnight. It’s also more expensive, but it is lighter weight.
Ultimately, both types have their plusses and minuses, so it comes down to preference.
I cannot click on this to read it…..
7 Mistakes To Avoid When Harvesting Rain Water
Can you help me?
I had to copy and paste. There’s something wrong about trying to copy from posts, tho. niio
https://www.askaprepper.com/7-mistakes-to-avoid-when-harvesting-rain-water/