recipe

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (213g) diced dried pineapple

1 ½ cups (255g) raisins, golden or regular

1 cup (128g) diced dried apricots

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 ½ cups (223g) chopped dates

⅓ cup (64g) diced crystallized ginger, optional

¾ cup (170g) rum, brandy, apple juice, or cranberry juice

1 cup (16 tablespoons, 227g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F

Topping/glaze (optional)

heaping 1 cup (170g) candied red cherries, plus additional for decoration, if desired

rum, brandy, simple syrup, vanilla syrup, or ginger syrup

Directions

Preheat oven, prepare loaf pan

reheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with greased parchment paper or brown baking paper, cut to fit the pan. Place one piece to run the length of the pan and stand up above.

Mix together sour cream and baking soda

In a small bowl, mix together the baking soda and sour cream; set aside.

Toss dates, raisins, cherries with flour

Combine the dates, raisins, cherries, and nuts with 1/4 cup of the flour and toss to coat the fruit and nuts. Set aside.

Pour batter into baking pan and bake

Place the batter filled pan into the preheated oven. Place a separate pan of water in the oven either on a rack underneath the fruitcake or beside it. (The water will help with a more even, gentle cooking.

Cool on a rack

Remove to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan. Let cool completely. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum to store.