Fruitcake from Around the World

Today we are looking at a classic with different versions from all over the world. Yes, we are looking at Christmas fruitcake. You either hate it or love it but you’ll see so much of it during the holiday season. We’ll take a look at the different variations from around the world first of all and then we’ll share with you a classic North American fruitcake recipe!

The earliest instance of fruitcake was said to be in ancient Rome and it was a barley mash mixed with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins. Another early instance was in the Middle Ages which was similar but honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added.

There are about 20 different countries that are known for their own version of Christmas fruitcake. They are Australia, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Anglophone Caribbean, UK, and the USA. Take a look at the chart below to see how the different countries put their own twists on the Christmas fruitcake.

Country:	Notable Ingredients or Facts:
Australia	Eaten all year round with no icing.
Bahamas	Drenched with rum. All the candied fruits, walnuts, and raisins are covered in a container for 2-3 months with rum. Once cake is baked it is covered in rum while still warm.
Bulgaria	Consumed through the year. Contains flour, butter, oil, milk, yeast, yogurt, eggs, cocoa, walnuts, and raisins. Baked in a bundt pan.
Canada	Eaten at Christmastime and rarely seen other times of the year. Similar to the UK version. Usually in the shape of a loaf with no icing or alcohol.
Chile	Called Pan de Pascua. Sweet sponge cake flavoured with honey and ginger and has candied fruit, raisins, walnuts, and almonds
France	Called gâteau aux fruits.
Germany	More of a sweet bread. Made with yeast, butter, water, flour, citrus zest, candied citrus peel, raisins, and almonds. Usually has powdered sugar on the outside.
India	Dense cake with fruits, nuts, and spices.
Ireland	Eaten at Halloween. Often contains small tokens as a treat for those who find them.
Italy	Called Panforte. It’s a chewy dense cake with strong spice flavours and filled with dried candied fruits. Also has a version called Panettone usually in a cylinder “cupola” shape which is more of a sweet bread with dried fruit and spices.
New Zealand	Sold throughout the year. A lighter coloured cake. Most are tiered and iced. Includes multiple dried fruits and brandy or sherry.
Philippines	Called Crema de Fruta. Made with layers of sponge cake, custard or whipped cream, gelatin, and fresh fruits like pineapple, cherries, strawberries, and mangoes.
Poland	Loaf shaped sponge cake with nuts, figs, raisins, and candied fruits.
Portugal	Called Bolo Rei. The cake is round with a hole in the center and is made with raisins, nuts, and crystallized fruit. Included is a fava bean and whoever gets it has to pay for the Bolo Rei next year.
Romania	Called Cozonac is a loaf shaped cake with raisins, lemon or orange zest, vanilla, walnuts, hazelnuts, and rum. Topped with poppy seeds.
Spain	Similar to the Panforte and includes fig, almonds, walnuts, and flavourings.
Switzerland	Dense sweet cake with candied fruits and nuts.
Anglophone Caribbean	Black cake almost like a figgy pudding with lots of dried fruit and rum/wine.
UK	Round cake with marzipan on the top and then covered with Royal Icing. Can be light to rich and moist. Will contain candied fruit, nuts, spices, and sometime alcohol.
USA	Rich in fruit and nuts. Some are saturated with alcohol but many left plain. Usually quite dense and in loaf form.

Traditional Canadian Fruitcake Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups of candied mixed peel

3 cups of seeded raisins, light ones

1 cup of dark raisins

1 cup of currents

1 cup of halved candied cherries

1 cup of brandy

1 cup of rum

½ cup of candied pineapple

1 ¼ cup of brown sugar

1 cup of butter, softened

3 eggs

2 tsp. of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 ½ tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of cinnamon

1 tsp. of nutmeg

½ tsp. of salt

½ tsp. of cloves

1 cup of chopped pecans

1 cup of blanched almonds

How to:

In large bowl, stir candied peel, dark raisins, currants, cherries, brandy and pineapple; cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 12 hours or microwave on High for 3 minutes or until steaming; stir.

In mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Stir into batter, one-third at a time.

Scrape fruit mix over batter and then sprinkle with pecans and almonds. Stir to coat fruit and nuts.

Spoon batter into two 9- x 5-inch and one 5-3/4- x 3-1/4-inch parchment lined loaf pans, packing with back of spoon. Tap lightly on counter.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1-1/4 hours for small loaf and 2 hours for large loaves.

Allow to cool in pans on a rack for 30 minutes. Turn out, right side up, onto rack; let cool completely.

Remove the paper and wrap in plastic wrap and foil. Store in cool place for up to 2 months.