Lighter Christmas Cake with Apple and Fruit
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This Christmas Cake is a delicious and moist cake packed with dried fruit, citrus zest, and applesauce. And with every bite, you will taste the holidays.
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Plus, it’s an incredibly simple cake to make during a busy season.
If you love fruitcake, this new twist on a vintage classic is for you. If you hate fruitcake, this recipe is definitely for you.
It’s delicious and light but filled with the beautiful flavor of the holidays. Not at all heavy.
What to Love About This Christmas Cake
- Soaking the fruit is not required
- Perfect for gifting
- Does not need to age for flavor
- A lighter, paired down version of the classic that’s amazingly yummy
Christmas Cake Ingredients
Ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here is a list of what you’ll need to make the Christmas Cake.
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs
- Pitted dates
- Applesauce
- Walnuts and pecans
- Raisins
- Mixed candied fruit
- Salt
- Spices: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg
- Baking powder and baking soda
- All-purpose flour
- Orange zest
GLAZE
- Apricot preserves
- Whole pecans for garnishing
Christmas Cake Ingredient Notes
A few thoughts, resources, and substitutions for the ingredients in this fruited cake.
Nuts:
While I used 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of pecans in this recipe, you can use all walnuts, all pecans, or your favorite nuts.
Candied Fruit:
There are so many varieties of candied fruit. And any of the flavors you like, work well. Paradise Fruit Company sent me some samples of their product and I chose the Old English Mix.
Orange Zest:
One of my favorite elements of this cake is the orange zest. Unless you really don’t like orange — I wouldn’t skip this ingredient.
How to Make the Christmas Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease three 8 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pans.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugar
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated; stir in vanilla and applesauce.
Step 2: Mix in the fruit and dry ingredients
Add the walnuts, pecans, raisins, candied fruit, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and orange zest. Mix until just incorporated and no visible signs of flour remain. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pans.
Step 3: Bake the Cake
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes in the pan. Then invert the cake onto a metal rack to cool completely.
Glazing the Christmas Cake
While it’s not necessary to glaze this Christmas Cake, it does give it a beautiful sheen and decorative top for the holidays.
Do not glaze the cake until just before serving.
When you’re ready, make the glaze by combining the apricot preserves and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the glaze has thinned and is shiny.
Brush the tops of the cakes with the glaze and garnish with whole pecans.
Serving the Christmas Cake
A serrated knife works best for slicing the cake. Serve on its own or spread with salted butter.
And a beautiful Christmas platter makes it extra special. I’m using Poinsettia Toile Oval Serving Dish with teacups to match.
More Christmas Recipes
Lighter Christmas Cake with Apple and Fruit
This Christmas Cake is a delicious and moist cake packed with dried fruit, citrus zest, and applesauce. And with every bite, you will taste the holidays.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cup pitted dates, chopped
- 3 cups applesauce
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 2 cups raisins
- 2 cups mixed candied fruit, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Glaze
- 1/4 cup apricot preserves
- 1/4 cup water
- whole pecans for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease three 8 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pans.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated; stir in vanilla and applesauce.
- Add the walnuts, pecans, raisins, candied fruit, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and orange zest. Mix until just incorporated and no visible signs of flour remain. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pans.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes in the pan. Then invert the cake onto a metal rack to cool completely.
- For the Glaze: Just before serving, combine the apricot preserves and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the glaze has thinned and is shiny. Brush the tops of the cakes with the glaze and garnish with whole pecans.
Notes
Storing the Christmas Cake
Once the Christmas Cake is completely cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator.
Serving the Cake
A serrated knife works best for slicing the cake. Serve on its own or spread with salted butter.
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Hi again. They are out of the oven and cooling. I suggest you add vanilla to your ingredient list. I just put about a teaspoon since that is pretty common for cakes. I think I need to put them at a little bit lower temp, maybe 345 since they got a bit overdone on the outside before the inside was done. They smell wonderful!
Hi Julia, thank you for sharing your process. As you know, every oven reacts differently. In my oven, it baked quicker than 75 minutes, so you did, I’m always watching closely. I do like your idea of adding vanilla! Isn’t everything better with it?! Hope you love them.
Actually you mention vanilla in your instructions, just not in the ingredients list. The cake is scrumptious!
The recipe says yields 3 loaves but the recipe says to prepare 2 loaf pans. Which is correct?
Oh, thank you, Julia. It is three loaves. I will update the post.
Thanks for the quick reply. Can I freeze 2 of them for a few days? or refridgrate? I plan to make this on Saturday!
You can absolutely freeze them for later. I have two in my freezer now! I prefer freezing because I always think the refrigerator tends to dry baked goods. Be sure to wrap them securely.