Wake and Bake
20121212-wakeandbake-minifruitcakes.JPG

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

Fruitcake is great, but often in smaller portions. These individual loaves have a soft, spiced crumb and lots of candied fruit. They make the perfect size for gifting.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Yield: makes 8 small loaves
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Special equipment: 8 cavity 3- by 1 1/2-inch mini loaf pan

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (about 7 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, diced
  • 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup (not packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup candied fruit mix

Procedures

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease loaf tin. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice; set aside.

  2. In a small saucepan, combine butter, molasses, honey, brown sugar, and water. Heat over medium low heat, whisking occasionally, until smooth and combined. Let cool until only lightly warm to the touch. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking vigorously until combined. Pour mixture into bowl with dry ingredients.

  3. Stir mixture until well combined. Stir in candied fruit. Fill each loaf well until 3/4 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Loaves can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 3 days.