Light Fruit Cake Recipe

This light fruit cake is another one of my true and tried cake recipes that I have baked countless number of times now.

The cake has the right amount of raisins, sultanas, candied mixed peel, cherries, and candied ginger. The good thing about this recipe is that you can actually adjust the amount of dried fruits that go into the cake. If you think you would prefer lesser fruits, or prefer more of one type of dried fruit to another, simply reduce or substitute each accordingly. But do take note that when you cut the quantity of fruits for a lighter version of this fruit cake, your cake will tend to be smaller, and you would, therefore, need to adjust the size of cake tin you use.

I usually bake this cake for wedding door gifts – cut into pieces, wrapped in cling wrap, and packed in cute, fancy boxes.

There is no alcohol mentioned in the recipe below. I do, however, on certain occasions or upon request, sprinkle some on the cake after baking. 

The cake takes at least 1 week to mature and is at its best if stored for 2 weeks. 

Light Fruit Cake Recipe – My Recipe Notes

• Line your cake tins well – this fruit cake takes approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes to bake to perfection. Given the long baking time, to avoid the sides of the cake from over baking and to dry out, you must wrap the sides of the cake tin with a double layer of brown paper or baking strips. This cake recipe has been calculated to produce cakes of approximately 3 inches high. If you are using a 3 inches tall cake pan, it is advisable that the parchment paper lining the insides of your cake tin be left at an extra height of one or 2 inches than the cake tin. This will prevent the cake from overflowing from the sides, should that ever happen (the cake has never even overflown for me – after having baked this cake for so many times, but its always better to take precautions.)
• Use good quality ingredients – This fruit cake does not contain any alcohol, and the substitute for it is the orange juice and lemon juice. Use only fresh juice squeezed from the fruits and not bottled juices. This recipe also calls for the use of molasses. This is an optional ingredient, but if you do use it, it adds depth to the cake, which positively enhances the taste of the cake. There is minimal baking powder in the cake, and that is intentional. Fruit cakes don’t quite require much raising agents, as they are meant to be dense. I use salted butter in this light fruit cake recipe, and so the amount of salt I add separately to the cake batter is rather little. You can use unsalted butter, and if you do, increase the amount of salt you add separately in the recipe to compensate. 
• Reduce baking temperature – the baking heat for this cake is slightly reduced at 160 degrees Celsius compared to other cakes, which is generally at 170 degrees Celsius. This is to adjust to the height of the cake, which is pretty tall at 3 inches. At this height, the cake requires a lot longer baking time compared to a shorter layer of cake, and therefore, to prevent the sides of the cake from drying out due to over baking, the baking temperature needs to be reduced so that the cake sides don’t bake too soon. Also, place the cake in the lowest rack in your oven. That way, you can prevent the top of the cake from browning too much.
• Maintain the total quantity of dried fruits – the dried fruits used in this light fruit cake recipe consist of sultanas, raisins, glace cherries, mixed peel, and candied ginger. While the recipe calls for a specific quantity for each of these fruits, they are entirely customizable. You can increase or reduce the amount of one type of fruit and replace it with another provided the total quantity of fruits used in the recipe remains the same. You can even use fruit mix sold in packages provided the weight equals the total of all the dried fruits mentioned in the recipe. Should you prefer an even lighter version of this light fruit cake recipe, you can reduce the quantity of fruits used in the recipe, but keep in mind that decreasing fruits could result in a smaller cake and you would need to adjust the total baking time as the cake batter will be reduced.
• Store the cake for at least one week before cutting – Since this cake is filled with fruits, it requires time to mature so that when you cut it, the fruits don’t crumble. Ideally, it should be stored for at least two weeks before cutting, but I have tried cutting it at one week, and it was ok too, so if you need to serve this cake sooner than planned, its best you let it rest for at least one week. To store the cake, wrap it in parchment paper (you can use the same ones used to line the cake tin), followed by cling wrap and finally with foil. Keep the cake in a cool, dry place. 

Light Fruit Cake Recipe

Here is the printable version of my light fruit cake recipe and while you are at it, don’t miss my recipe notes right below. They contain absolutely useful tips for the best light fruit cake ever!

Light Fruit Cake

This no-fail light fruit cake recipe is another one of my favorite cake recipes. The cake is lightly packed with an array of dried fruits and has no alcohol in it, making it a great family treat. The recipe comes with calculated tin sizes, giving this moist fruit cake recipe another set of thumbs up!

0 from 0 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Light Fruit Cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Yield: 1 6 inches square cake/7 inches round cake

Author: Priya Maha

Metric – US Customary

Ingredients

• 250 g plain flour
• 240 g brown sugar
• 275 g butter at room temperature
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 85 g raisins
• 85 g sultanas
• 40 g ground almond
• 60 g glace cherries
• 60 g mixed peel
• 30 g candied ginger
• 1 ⅓ tbsp molasses optional
• ½ tsp mixed spices
• ⅛ tsp baking powder
• ⅓ tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp vanilla essence
• ½ tbsp orange juice
• ⅛ tsp salt

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160 °Celsius. Grease and line cake tin with parchment paper and wrap the tin with 2 layers of brown paper or baking strips.
• Chop the fruits if you like them chopped and mix with ground almond. Leave aside.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in all essences, lemon juice, and molasses and mix well.
• Gently fold in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with orange juice. Mix until flour is well incorporated in the batter.
• Add the mixed fruits into the batter and mix well.
• Pour batter into a greased and lined cake tin and bake for about 2 hours and 10 minutes on the lowest rack.
• Remove cake from the oven and let it rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove cake from tin and let it cool completely.
• Once completely cooled, wrap it neatly in parchment paper, followed by cling wrap and foil and store in a cool, dry place for 1 week before icing or cutting the cake.

Notes

Calculated Tin Sizes

9 inches round/ 8 inches square (makes 1 layer of approx. 3 inches high cake)

• 410 g plain flour
• 400 g brown sugar
• 460 g butter (at room temperature)
• 6 eggs (at room temperature)
• 140 g raisins
• 140 g sultanas
• 65 g ground almond
• 100 g glace cherries
• 100 g mixed peel
• 50 g candied ginger
• 2 tbsp molasses (optional)
• 1 tsp mixed spices
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• ¼ tsp salt

 

11 inches round/ 10 inches square (makes 2 layers of 2 inch high cakes)

• 630 g plain flour
• 615 g brown sugar
• 705 g butter (at room temperature)
• 9 eggs (at room temperature)
• 200 g raisins
• 200 g sultanas
• 100 g ground almond
• 150 g glace cherries
• 150 g mixed peel
• 75 g candied ginger
• 3 tbsp molasses (optional)
• 1 ½ tsp mixed spices
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp lemon juice
• 1 ¾ tsp vanilla essence
• 1 ¾ tbsp orange juice
• ½ tsp salt

Note: Larger cakes may take a longer time to bake.

Nutrition

Calories: 5347kcal | Carbohydrates: 711g | Protein: 65g | Fat: 263g | Saturated Fat: 149g | Cholesterol: 1246mg | Sodium: 2745mg | Potassium: 2621mg | Fiber: 22g | Sugar: 406g | Vitamin A: 7823IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 653mg | Iron: 23mg

And that is pretty much all I have for you on my light fruit cake recipe. 

I hope you would give this cake a try, and if you do, let me know what you think here, ok?