Light Fruit Cake Loaf Recipe

ByDonna Wishart February 16, 2023April 15, 2024

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One of my favourite bakes is an everyday fruit cake. It’s something you traditionally think of at Christmas – a traditional Christmas cake covered in icing! But easy fruitcake recipes are something that I make and eat all year round – just without the layer of marzipan and icing over it! This is a much lighter bake than a traditional rich fruit cake.

A naked fruit cake is the perfect pick me up to enjoy with a cup of tea and to share with friends at any time of the year. You can’t beat a nice fruity tea loaf or tea bread and this one is a really wholesome, hearty cake that will leave you more satisfied than a simple sponge.

Unlike Christmas cakes, this traditional farmhouse fruit loaf doesn’t use soaked fruit and there’s now alcohol in it. It doesn’t need any forward planning so it’s a quick easy option compared to a Christmas fruit cake! It is a fantastic everyday bake to make for any occasion or no reason at all.

What fruit do you use in an easy fruit loaf?

For a fruit loaf you can pretty much use any dried mixed fruits you have in the cupboard. For this recipe I used a ready made dried fruit mixture – the cheap bags you get in the supermarket that have raisins, sultanas and dried mixed peel in them as well as golden raisins, glace cherries and apricots. You can also add candied mixed peel or dried pineapple if you want as well.

You could add candied cherries, dried cranberries, prunes, or any other candied fruit or dried fruits you can think of or have to use up. You could even add some nuts if you like them in your old fashioned farmhouse fruit cakes to give a whole new texture to the mix.

If you want to create a simple currant loaf cake then you could use all currants instead of a mix of dry fruits. This is such a simple recipe to vary and tweak easily to use whatever you have at home.

Is this a crumbly fruit cake recipe?

A lot of traditional fruit cakes are crumbly, like a traditional Genoa Cake or but this one holds together really well, with just the right amount of cake mix and fruit. It’s delicious, light, moist fruit cake and such a lovely treat as well as being just really easy to make.

How do you keep the cake from being too crumbly?

The secret to a super moist fruit loaf recipe is to make sure there’s enough liquid in the mix for all the dried fruit to soak up whilst it’s baking. If there’s not enough liquid it will turn out too dry and crumble easily. We tend to use medium eggs for this bake but you can use large eggs if that’s what you have in the kitchen.

We always use self raising flour for this recipe as we always have it in the cupboard but if you only ever use all purpose flour or plain flour – feel free. just make sure you add a teaspoon baking powder or baking soda to give the bake that little boost it needs!

If you like to add vanilla extract to your cakes then feel free – just replace a teaspoon of milk with a teaspoon of vanilla. You could also add a teaspoon of mixed spice if you like your home made fruitcakes to have that musky, traditional flavour.

For this English fruit loaf cake we always use caster sugar but if you didn’t have any you could use soft brown sugar, light brown sugar or even granulated sugar if you wanted. Both work well with the fruit in the bake.

Is this light fruitcake recipe a fruit bread recipe?

If you’re looking for fruit bread, like a fruit loaf you can toast and smear with butter, then this isn’t for you. This is definitely a home made fruit cake rather than fruit bread – there’s no dough here – and definitely a sweet bake rather than savoury.

How to make this simple fruit cake recipe

This mixed fruit loaf couldn’t be easier to make. You just need to make sure that you grease the tin you’re using really well or use loaf cake liners. I love using liners as they present the cake really well – perfect if you’re taking it to a friends’ house for afternoon tea! You could also line the tin with baking parchment paper.

I also use a stand mixer to mix this old fashioned fruit cake. Like with all homemade fruit cakes, it takes a lot of arm power to mix it thoroughly so I love to take the hard work out of it by using my trusty mixer instead! You don’t need a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, just a standard mixer attachment will do.

This easy fruit cake loaf stores well in an airtight container for a few days although it doesn’t often last that long! It’s one of our favourite bakes to make when friends or family visit and everyone always really enjoys it. Who doesn’t love fruit cake?!

If you’re looking for other recipes to try here’s our banana bread, lemon madeira cake, cherry bakewell fairy cakes, gingerbread rocky road and blueberry fairy cake recipes. You can see all our recipes to date here – and includes plenty more bakes and dessert recipes as well as lots of slow cooker dishes too!

What equipment do you need for this easy fruit loaf cake recipe?

You can make this fruitcake loaf cake recipe simply with things you already have in your kitchen but here are the things we use in case there’s something you don’t already have:

As you can see, it’s all things you probably have already. We use loaf tin liners to guarantee that bakes come out of the tin easily and they’re great when baking as gifts too.

So here’s our easy Light Fruit Loaf Cake Recipe – happy baking!

Ingredients for a fruit cake

185g low fat spread or unsalted butter at room temperature
115g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
185g self raising flour
60g plain flour
260g mixed dried fruit
60g dried apricots, chopped
100g glace cherries, halved
125ml milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 160C/315F/Gas 3. Grease a loaf tin using a little butter or spread or add a loaf tin liner.
Beat spread and caster sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.
In the large mixing bowl, gradually beat in the eggs until combined, then fold in the flour, fruit mixture and milk. Mix everything together well.
Spoon the cake batter into a loaf pan and bake for 80-90 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Cool in the cake tin for 15 mins then remove from tin and cool completely on a wire rack.

If you’d like to print or pin the Light Fruit Loaf Cake Recipe for later you can do so below. Enjoy!

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