Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum

This Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe with Rum is the best thing you can make for your family & friends. Made with rich fruits and rum, this Christmas cake is bound to melt in your mouth.

Christmas Fruit Cake With Rum – Recipe Video

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Ingredients For Christmas Fruit Cake With Rum

  • 1 ½ cup (240g) mixed peel and dried fruits*
  • 1 cup (140g) raisins
  • 1 cup (140g) black currants
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) honey
  • 2/3 cup (160ml) rum (can replace rum with fruit juice or water)
  • ¾ cup (170g) butter
  • 1 cup (198g) light brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoon mixed spice**
  • ½ teaspoon ginger powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 2/3 cup (213g) refined flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

Note- Please read recipe notes for more details on the ingredients. 

Main Equipments Used

Steps In Making Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum

  1. Preheat the oven to 165 C (329 F)
  2. Take a 9 inch spring form cake pan and generously grease it with butter and then line the bottom and corners with parchment paper. Now take aluminium foil and fold it into double and cover the outside of the cake tin with the same. Tie it with a thread so it doesn’t fall off. Your cake tin is ready.
  3. In a large heavy bottom pan add honey, butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, mixed spice, ginger powder, cinnamon powder and rum. Now switch on the flame to medium and cook for couple of minutes while stirring continuously.
  4. Now lower the flame and add mixed peel, raisins and black currants and mix. Now bring the flame to medium and keep stirring it constantly and cook for 14-15 minutes or until you get few boils. You will notice the dried nuts will begin to swell up.
  5. Switch off the flame and let it come down to room temperature. The mixture will slowly begin to thicken.
  6. Once completely cooled add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix until everything is well combined.
  7. In another bowl sieve the dried ingredients like refined flour, baking soda and baking powder.
  8. Add the dried ingredients into the liquid mixture and gently fold in till everything is well combined. Don’t over mix else the cake might turn hard.
  9. Now pour the cake into the prepared baking pan and place the cake pan in middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 ½ hours (90-100 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Midway, if the cake top begins to brown too much, cover it with an aluminium foil.
  10. Once your christmas fruit cake with rum is baked, transfer it to a wire rack and after 10 minutes remove it from the cake pan and let it cool down completely.
  11. Brush the cake with rum for extra flavour and dust it with icing sugar and garnish it with some cherries. (optional)
  12. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for upto a month.

Recipe Notes For Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum

  • *Mixed peel is skins and peels of various fruits like oranges, lemons etc. You can also add any dried or candied fruits of your choice like figs, prunes, apricots, cranberries, plums, cherries, tutti-frutti, or nuts. Just keep the final measurement same.
  • **Mixed spice is various spices grounded together like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, all spice etc. It gives this Eggless Christmas cake a rich taste and flavour. It’s easily available in the market, especially during the Christmas season. If you don’t get mixed spice, you can use ¼ teaspoon of each (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, all spice, ginger powder ) Please note mixed spice is not the same as garam masala.
  • If midway the cake top browns too much then cover it with an aluminium foil.
  • Rum can be replaced with orange or apple juice.

Steps By Step In Pictures For Christmas Fruit Cake with Rum

1. Take a 9 inch spring form cake tin and generously grease it with butter and then line the bottom and corners with parchment paper.

2. Now take aluminium foil and fold it into double and cover the outside of the cake tin with the same. Tie it with a thread so it doesn’t fall off. Your cake tin is ready.

3. Now chop mixed peel in smaller pieces.

4. In a heavy bottom pan add butter.

5. Add light brown sugar.

6. Add honey.

7. Add cocoa powder.

8. Add cinnamon powder.

9. Add mixed spice.

10. Add ginger powder.

11. Add rum. (If you don’t like rum, replace it with juice or water)

12. Cook for couple of minutes on medium flame, while stirring continuously.

13. Now lower the flame and add mixed peel.

14. Add raisins.

15. Add black currants.

16. Keep stirring it constantly and cook for 14- 15 minutes or until you get few boils.

17. The dried nuts will begin to swell up. Switch off the flame and let it come down to room temperature.

18. In another bowl add refined flour.

19. Add baking powder and baking soda.

20. Once liquid mixture has come down to room temperature add eggs and mix until well combined.

21. Add vanilla essence and mix again.

22. Add the dried ingredients into the liquid mixture and gently fold in till everything is well combined. Don’t over mix.

23. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

24. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake top begins to brown too much, cover it with an aluminium foil.

24. Once baked transfer the cake on a wire rack for atleast 10 minutes.

25. Now remove the cake from the cake pan and let it cool down completely on the wire rack. Brush your Christmas fruit cake with rum for extra flavour. (optional)

26. Finally dust the cake with icing sugar and garnish it with some cherries. (optional)

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Next Recipe:
    • Aarti Madan
      – Reply

      Hey Ritu,
      In traditional Christmas cake recipes fruits are soaked in alcohol and spices in advance so the flavors get inside the fruits slowly. But in this instant method we boil the fruits in alcohol and spices as this is a quicker way of inducing the flavors inside them. That’s why once the mixture cools down, you will notice the fruits have swollen up absorbing all the goodness.
      Aarti 🙂

  3. Mita Raisurana
    – Reply

    Excellent recipe! Well explained! Just a few queries:
    1. Won’t the fruits sink while baking as we are not sprinkling maida on them?
    2. Boiling the liquids won’t make the things bitter?
    3. Will this cake last as long as the traditional one,for a month or so?
    Please clarify. Awaiting your reply..
    Thank you!

    • Aarti Madan
      – Reply

      Hey Mitha,
      Thanks a lot, glad you liked the recipe. Have answered your queries below.
      1. No the fruits wont sink.
      2. No, boiling method helps in inducing the flavours inside the fruits instantly, you will notice the dry fruits will swell up after sometime because all the spices and rum will be absorbed by them. Its similar to soaking them in rum months in advance.
      3. Yes it will last for more than a month in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
      Enjoy and happy baking.
      Aarti 🙂

  5. Anu Sethi
    – Reply

    Hello Aarti,
    Your cake looks amazing and would like to try this recipe. I already have some fruit soaked in rum (about 600gms ) and would like to know do I still need to boil the fruits and if not then at what stage should I add the honey. Thank you

    • Aarti Madan
      – Reply

      Hey Anu,
      Thank you, glad you liked the recipe 🙂 No, you don’t need to boil the fruits anymore. Just mix all the wet ingredients along with the spices and brown sugar and mix till everything is well combined. If needed microwave them for few seconds or cook on low flame till sugar melts and then add the soaked fruits in it. Rest recipe remains the same. Happy Baking
      Aarti 🙂

  7. Jesal
    – Reply

    Hi Aarti, this looks yum.
    How can I make this same cake without eggs but with rum.
    My aunt is super keen to make this cake for Christmas and has this query.

    • Aarti Madan
      – Reply

      That’s perfectly fine. 🙂 Sure we can use the boiling method if you like that. Then I would suggest you soak the fruits in rum for a day or two. Drain the excess rum and then you can add all the spices and wet ingredients (except the buttermilk) and boil them for better flavour. Do this a day prior to making the cake. The next day the mixture will thicken and then you can add 4-5 tablespoon of rum (for extra flavour) along with butter milk and rest of the dry ingredients. Once the cake is baked, you can again feed it with extra rum if needed. Enjoy 🙂

    • Yukti
      – Reply

      1. Hey how to store this cake?
      2. How long does it keep well?
      3. If i soak them in some juice how long should that be? N how to store that

      Sorry for too many questions

      • Aarti Madan
        – Reply

        Hi Yukti,
        Have answered your questions below:

        1. Hey how to store this cake? – Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for upto a month.
        2. How long does it keep well? For a month in the refrigerator.
        3. If i soak them in some juice how long should that be? N how to store that – You can soak the fruits in rum for upto a month. Keep it in an airtight container in a dark place and shake it every two days. Do not refrigerate.

        Sorry for too many questions- Perfectly fine.. hope it was of some help! Enjoy

        Aarti 🙂

  11. Sumathi
    – Reply

    Hi Aarti,loved the waytjis is done,I’m trying this tomorrow..I have a clarification,in case im using a convection oven do i set it to the same temperature and timing to preheat as well as bake or is there a different timeline to be followed.

    Thanks a ton for your help in advance

    Cheers,
    Sumi

    • Aarti Madan
      – Reply

      Hey Sumathi,
      Sorry for the late revert. Do you mean microwave with convection mode? If yes, then you don’t need to preheat it. Reduce the temperature by 20 degrees and check around 12-15 minutes earlier.
      Aarti 🙂

    • Yukti
      – Reply

      Hey thankyou for answering my questions. I might have commented on the wrong post. I meant all those questions for eggless n no alchohol plum cake

      1. So its storage and how long
      2. Since u have not used any juice here, will it make a difference if I do used soaked juice fruits here? And for that should I boil them in juice like you did in the rum recipe or just soaking, straining and using them?

      Thank you

      • Aarti Madan
        – Reply

        Hi Sumathi,
        Please check the Eggless Christmas cake post. Have mentioned how to store it.
        Yes you can use dried fruits soaked in juice, just strain the excess juice and use them. And no need to boil them.
        Aarti 🙂

  13. Mita
    – Reply

    Hi!! Tried your recipe of the traditional fruit cake,both kinds the eggless and with eggs and alcohol. They came out very well. My family and friends just devoured them!
    Thank you very much for sharing the recipe s in such great details! Decided to make them again next year!
    Thank you!

  14. Vrinda
    – Reply

    Hi Arti!
    Thanks for the recipe.. Wanted to ask.. If we are using load tins or smaller round 6 inch.. What is the benchmark to fill the tin… Wanted to make to gove away gifts.. But will be using either loaf or smaller thin.

      • Kanika
        – Reply

        Hi Aarti,
        How are you? All your recipes are tempting. I am planning to bake a eggless Christmas cake with your recipe but with Rum soaked fruits I have, which are soaked from last 1 week. Do I still need to boil them use extra rum as you mentioned in above comments.

        Thanks
        Kanika

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