{"id":7225,"date":"2026-08-24T22:26:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/?p=7225"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:26:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:26:40","slug":"never-fail-fruit-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/24\/never-fail-fruit-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0Never-Fail Fruit Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>\u00a0Never-Fail Fruit Cake<\/h1>\n<p>This classic fruit cake is rich, moist, buttery, and packed with colorful dried fruit and crunchy nuts. It\u2019s an old-fashioned recipe that\u2019s perfect for holidays, family gatherings, or enjoying with a hot cup of coffee or tea.<\/p>\n<h2>Ingredients<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>1 cup butter, softened<\/li>\n<li>1 cup brown sugar<\/li>\n<li>4 large eggs<\/li>\n<li>2 cups all-purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon baking powder<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon ground cinnamon<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 teaspoon salt<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup milk<\/li>\n<li>2 cups mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, currants, cherries, dates, or pineapple<\/li>\n<li>1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 cup brandy, rum, or orange juice, optional<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Instructions<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Prepare the Fruit:<\/strong> If desired, place the dried fruit in a bowl and soak it in the brandy, rum, or orange juice overnight. This gives the fruit extra moisture and flavor. You can also skip this step.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Preheat the Oven:<\/strong> Preheat your oven to <strong>325\u00b0F<\/strong>. Grease a loaf pan or round cake pan and line it with parchment paper.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cream the Butter and Sugar:<\/strong> In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add the Eggs:<\/strong> Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mix the Dry Ingredients:<\/strong> In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Combine:<\/strong> Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix just until combined. Do not overmix.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add the Fruit and Nuts:<\/strong> Gently fold in the dried fruit and chopped nuts. If you soaked the fruit, add any remaining soaking liquid as well.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bake:<\/strong> Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for <strong>1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes<\/strong>, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cool Completely:<\/strong> Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before removing it. This helps keep the cake moist and makes it easier to slice.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Optional Finish:<\/strong> For an extra-rich traditional fruit cake, lightly brush the cooled cake with a little brandy or rum, then wrap it tightly and let it rest before serving.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>\u00a0Baker&#8217;s Tip<\/h3>\n<p>For the best flavor and texture, make this cake a day or two ahead. The fruit and spices have more time to develop, making every slice even richer and more flavorful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Never-Fail Fruit Cake This classic fruit cake is rich, moist, buttery, and packed with colorful dried fruit and crunchy nuts.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recipe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7227,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7225\/revisions\/7227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.ukbiddingdirectory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}