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Old Fashioned Fruit Cake #4

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Submitted by Reycie

Old fashioned fruit cake with blackberry jam, fig preserves, watermelon rind preserves, candied cherries, pecans, and cocoa. Baked low and slow in a cast iron skillet.

YIELD

1 cake

PREP

10 min

COOK

20 min

READY

30 min

This is a Southern-style fruit cake that goes all in on preserves. Blackberry jam, fig preserves, and watermelon rind preserves all go into the batter alongside candied cherries, candied pineapple, raisins, and chopped raw apples. It’s the kind of recipe that comes from a grandmother’s handwritten card, the sort you only find in the Deep South.

Molasses, grape juice, sour milk, and cocoa powder darken the batter and add a complex, bittersweet backbone that keeps all that fruit sweetness in check. Eight eggs hold everything together in what’s essentially more fruit and nuts than cake.

Four cups of chopped pecans make this as much a nut cake as a fruit cake. Every slice is dense, sticky, and packed with bits of candied fruit and crunchy nuts.

Baking in a wax paper-lined cast iron skillet is old-school for a reason. The heavy iron distributes heat evenly at a low temperature, and that slow bake gives the batter time to set around all those heavy mix-ins without burning the edges.

Chef Tips

  • Line the skillet carefully with wax paper and grease it well. This cake is sticky and will cling to bare iron.
  • Bake low and slow. The preserves and molasses burn easily at high temperatures.
  • Toss the chopped fruit and nuts with a few tablespoons of flour before mixing into the batter. This keeps them from sinking to the bottom.
  • This cake freezes beautifully. Wrap tightly in plastic, then foil, and it keeps for months.

Variations

  • Soak the finished cake in bourbon or rum for a boozy holiday version. Brush it on weekly in the weeks before Christmas.
  • Swap grape juice for apple cider for a slightly different fruit note.
  • Use walnuts instead of pecans if that’s what you have on hand.

Ingredients

¾ 177
CUP ML BUTTER
1 237
CUP ML SUGAR
½ 118
CUP ML MOLASSES
½ 118
CUP ML GRAPE JUICE
¾ 177
CUP ML SOUR MILK
1 237
CUP ML BLACKBERRY JAM *
1 237
CUP ML WATERMELON RIND
preserves *
1 237
CUP ML FRUIT PRESERF
fig *
3 710
CUPS ML ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
plain
4 946
CUPS ML PECANS
chopped
2 10
TEASPOONS ML BAKING SODA
8 8
LARGE LARGE EGGS
2 2
SMALL SMALL APPLES
raw, chopped *
½ 2.5
TEASPOON ML SALT
optional
1 1
EACH EACH RAISINS, SEEDLESS *
½ 226.8
1 453.6
4 20
TEASPOONS ML COCOA POWDER

Directions

Mix the above, cook in a greased iron skillet with wax paper lining, cook on 300 degrees.

This cake freezes well.

* not incl. in nutrient facts Arrow up button

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Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 689g (24.3 oz)
Amount per Serving
Calories 2273 50% from fat
 % Daily Value *
Total Fat 125g 193%
Saturated Fat 33g 163%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 518mg 173%
Sodium 1051mg 44%
Total Carbohydrate 90g 90%
Dietary Fiber 18g 73%
Sugars g
Protein 70g
Vitamin A 35% Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 37% Iron 66%
* based on a 2,000 calorie diet How is this calculated?
Trans-fat Free, High Fiber
 

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