What to Look for When Buying a Fruitcake

Bakers and Distributors

Most of the bakeries we’ve chosen for this round-up have been baking fruitcakes for decades, and many of them have become famous for a particular style of fruitcake they make. When buying fruitcakes online, we think it’s best to buy from a reputable baker instead of an industrially-produced fruitcake of unknown origins. Food items distributed through major companies, such as Harry & David, were chosen because of their high standards when sourcing, storing, and shipping food items.

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Size and Servings

Since fruitcakes are typically a gift you give to a household, you want to make sure you’re ordering an appropriate size for everyone to have a taste. Most bakeries will give you an estimate for how many servings you can expect from their specific cake. Fruitcakes are also typically sold by the pound, although they may occasionally be sold by the round-cake size. Since fruitcakes are denser than many other cakes, you can assume that a 1-pound fruitcake is relatively small, not much larger than a pound of butter. The serving sizes are usually smaller slices. General guidelines for serving sizes are as follows:

1-pound loaf serves up to four people1.5-pound loaf serves four to six people2-pound loaf serves eight to ten people3-pound loaf or cake serves ten to 12 people4-pound cake serves at least 12 to 16 people

Ingredients

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Traditional fruitcakes are made with candied dried fruits and nuts, although the combination of fruits and nuts is almost entirely up to the baker. There are a few fruitcake essentials that you can expect, though. You can reasonably expect to find candied cherries and pecans in your fruitcake. Occasionally the pecans are replaced with walnuts, and in some cases, you can find nut-free fruitcakes. The rest of the candied and dried fruits change from cake to cake but often include raisins, pineapple, and citrus. More adventurous inclusions are dates, currants, plums, peaches, and even papaya.

Additionally, some fruitcakes include fruits that have been soaked in alcohol — classically rum, brandy, or sherry. Soaking the fruit in alcohol helps to keep the cake moist and preserve the fruits for even longer. It also tastes great and makes your holiday cheer a little livelier. Of course, if you’re giving the fruitcake as a gift, you’ll want to consider the alcohol content depending on your audience.

Shipping and Delivery Dates

Keep in mind when ordering a fruitcake that shipping and delivery dates will vary with each supplier. Most of the fruitcakes in this round-up are shipped nationwide, several days a week, although some bakeries have cutoff times for weekly shipments. Some of the larger operations ship every day during the business week and offer several different shipping speed options. It’s best to plan your delivery well in advance of when you think you’ll need it to ensure it’ll arrive on time. You can take comfort in knowing that most fruitcakes will hold for an extended time.

FAQs

How long does fruitcake last?

Most fruitcakes have a shelf life of about a month. With that said, most bakers will indicate how long each fruitcake can be stored for the best experience. If you know in advance that you’ll be enjoying the fruitcake over an extended period, it might be a good idea to portion it, wrap the fruitcake tightly, and freeze or refrigerate a portion to prolong the shelf life.

What is citron in fruitcake?

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Citron is a type of citrus that closely resembles a lemon but is considered more fragrant and bitter before candying. The additional bitterness, low juice content, and thicker citrus peel make it much less popular for regular use, but citron is ideal for preserving and candying. The acidic nature of the citron is a great balance with the sweeter ingredients in the cake and helps brighten the flavors of the other fruits.

What alcohol is fruitcake typically soaked in?

Rum is the most popular liquor for soaking a fruitcake and can also be used for soaking the dried fruits that stud the cakes. The most common kind of rum used is dark and unspiced. But fruitcakes are also known to be soaked with brandy or sherry and even bourbon occasionally. If you buy a fruitcake that hasn’t been pre-soaked, you can easily soak it yourself by drizzling the fruitcake with your liquor of choice and letting it soak in for a few hours to a few days. The longer a fruitcake rests with the liquor, the more the flavors will meld together—although the potency will remain the same. You can also heat the liquor of your choice to boiling to cook off the alcohol and soak the fruitcake with it for a less potent but equally flavorful cake.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Jenny Kellerhals has been a professional pastry chef for over a decade in New York City and loves tasting every type of dessert she can lay her hands on—and dissecting how they’re made. Based in Queens, she spends most of her time thinking about what she just ate and what she’s going to eat next, with a generous serving of cheese in between.

Amanda McDonald is an editor at The Spruce Eats and has over seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing about all things food — from what new products are at the grocery store to chef-approved hacks that keep tricky leftovers fresh for days. She updated this article to include the most up-to-date information.

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