Instant Pot Grandma Marie's Fruitcake
This Instant Pot Fruitcake Recipe has been in my family for almost 100 years! Chock full of delicious nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans with plenty of dried fruit this is truly a labor of love during the holiday season. A perfect dessert to follow up some Instant Pot Ham at the holidays!
Where does fruitcake come from?
Fruitcake dates back to Ancient Rome where it was made with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins mixed into a barley mash. It survived into the Middle Ages when it was common to add in honey, spices, and preserved fruits. Further still, Victorian England added spirits to the already decadent dessert.
Truman Capote even wrote about it in his 1956 short story "A Christmas Memory". Capote's aunt was dubbed "The Fruitcake Lady" as he wrote about her making the cake once "Fruitcake weather" had arrived. The ancient dessert is a traditional wedding cake served in Britain, and there is even an annual fruitcake toss in Colorado.
The cake began to be mass produced in 1913 by Collins Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas which is still sold today. They began selling via mail order in 1947. If you would like to read more about the history of fruitcake head over to Smithsonian Magazine.
A Family Tradition
The recipe this is based on one that has been in my family for at least the last couple of generations. My soon-to-be 98-year-old Grandma Marie passed this on to me, and she recalls maybe getting it from her mother-in-law back in the day.
My grandmother would make this every year for the Christmas. My grandfather would give it away as gifts at work, and my Grandma Marie would sell it to neighbors during the holidays. As a girl I was convinced the green cherries tasted way different from the red ones. Of course, I thought the red ones tasted far superior! LOL It really wasn't Christmas without it!
Prepping the fruits & nuts
In a large glass mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients below.
- 1 cup walnuts
- ¾ cup pecan halves
- ½ cup almonds, slivered
- 1 cup hazelnuts
Next add in the candied and dried fruit.
- ½ cup each red and green candied cherries
- ½ cup dried or candied pineapple
- ½ cup candied lemon peel
- 1 ¾ cup raisins
Add ½ cup of dark rum and marinate overnight. The original recipe called for sherry, but I prefer dark rum so I used this. I have also had fruitcake made with tequila which is also delicious. Mix well with a spoon, or gloved hands. You can marinate for up to one week. If you marinate longer than add another ½ cup of rum half way through the week.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight, or up to one week.
Making the cake batter
In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg then set aside. In another large mixing bowl, cream together with a hand mixer the sugar, softened butter, and vanilla. If you only have a stand mixer then prepare the cake batter, but use a larger bowl later when adding in the fruit/nut mixture.
Add the eggs in one at a time with the had mixer.
Fold in the marinated fruit and nut mixture with a spoon or spatula until well combined.
What kind of pan should I use?
Grandma Marie's original recipe has no less than five options for baking pans with five different cooking times. She used rectangular pans, shortening cans, and muffins pans for example. I wanted to share the same type of flexibility so I used three different things to cook my fruitcake in.
- Mini loaf pans (roughly 5.7 x 3.3 x 1.8)
- Fluted bundt pan
- Silicone egg bite tray (can be stacked off set, do not overfill)
Cooking the fruitcake
I cooked my fruitcake in my 6-quart Instant Pot Duo. I cooked three batches, and in each I used two cups of water in my inner liner with the rack. Spray the inside of each cooking vessel with PAM or oil. See cooking times below.
- Mini loaf pans - filled with 1 ½ cups of batter or within ½ inch from top of the pan. Cooking Time: 60 minutes High Pressure (normal) with a 10 minute NPR
- Bundt pan - fill normally. Cooking Time: 60 minutes High Pressure (normal) with a full NPR
- Silicone egg bite trays - fill almost to top leaving a short amount of space. Cooking Time: 40 minutes High Pressure (normal) with 10 minute NPR.
Can I bake this in the oven?
Of course, you can! Grease your pan, and line with parchment paper.
10x4 pan - 3 hours at 275-degrees
8.5x4.5x2.5 loaf pan - 2 hours 275-degrees
4.5x3x2 loaf pan - 1 ½ hours 300-degrees
1 pound shortening can - 2 hours 300-degrees
2-21/2 inch muffin pan cups - 1 hour 300-degrees
Once finished, cool completely on a wire rack. Soak cheesecloth in dark rum. Remove from baking trays, cover in cheesecloth and aluminum foil. Store in a cool place for one week.
Open and sprinkle with additional rum. At this point you can call it done then give away as gifts, store in a cool place, or store in the freezer. Or, you can continue to marinate with rum by sprinkling once per week for a few weeks more.
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Recipe
Instant Pot Grandma Marie's Fruitcake Recipe
Ingredients
Fruit and Nut Mixture
- 1 cup candied cherries red and green
- ½ cup dried or candied pineapple
- ½ cup candied lemon peel
- 1 ¾ cup raisins
- 1 cup walnuts
- ¾ cup pecan halves
- ½ cup almonds slivered
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- ½ cup dark rum original recipe calls for sherry, can also use tequila
Cake Batter (wet and dry ingredients)
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 eggs
Marinating the Fruitcake
- Dark Rum or whichever alcohol was used as needed
Instructions
Fruit and nut mixture
- Combine all the dried/candied fruit and nuts in large mixing bowl. Add rum, and mix.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to one week.
Cake Batter
- Sift together all ingredients for the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Cream together the sugar, softened butter, and vanilla.
- Add eggs one at a time until combined.
- Fold in marinated fruit and nut mixture, combine well.
Baking the Fruitcake
- Grease your cooking vessel. Please reference the cooking times below for your cooking vessel of choice. This recipe will cook several batches of fruitcake.
- If using something other than what is listed than a good rule of thumb is to cook for 60 minutes on high pressure (normal) for 60 minutes with a full NPR.
- Oven baking instructions in the notes below.
- Cool completely on a wire rack, and then remove from baking pans.
Marinating the fruitcake
- Soak cheesecloth in dark rum or alcohol of choice. Cover the fruitcakes with the cheesecloth and foil. Store in a cool place for one week. Sprinkle with additional rum after one week.
- If desired, this can be repeated for several weeks.
Notes
- Mini loaf pans - filled with 1 ½ cups of batter or within ½ inch from the top of the pan. Cooking Time: 60 minutes High Pressure (normal) with a 10-minute natural pressure release
- Bundt pan - fill normally. Cooking Time: 60 minutes High Pressure with a full natural pressure release.
- Silicone egg bite trays - fill almost to the top leaving a short amount of space. Cooking Time: 40 minutes High Pressure (normal) with 10-minute natural pressure release.
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Excellent! Made in my 3 qt.
I wanted to post a pic but it would not allow I.
Thank you! I'm so glad it turned out well. You're welcome to post in our Instant Pot and Air Fryer Facebook group or tag me on Instagram @mondayismeatloaf to share. I don't think pictures work in the comments though.
Thank you for this! I have made traditional Xmas cakes for years so I look forward to trying this!
I will let you know how it works out. I will do a marzipan icing
You're so welcome! I am so excited for you to try it, and the Marzipan icing sounds delightful!
Just getting my list together of what I need. I have the instant pot Bundt pan (6 qt duo) how many cakes does 1 recipe make? Also thinking of trying it in my Mini, same cooking time? How many do you think it will make?
Btw love your pics it’s a nice touch!
Thanks so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the pictures! This makes several cakes. I typically get one Bundt cake, one egg bite tray, and like 2-3 mini loaf pans. I would follow the guidelines for time for the mini the same as for a 6-quart. Happy holidays!