My family loves fruit and nuts so when we received our first fruitcake gift -- packaged in a holiday tin, we were so tickled by the festive presentation and the flavors. It was fifty years ago in 1975. We'd recently arrived in America and finding our way in a new culture and society. Many Americans kindly introduced us to old-fashioned ways of celebrating the holidays with baked goods, whether they were homemade or purchased. We ate the fruitcake and thought it to be wonderful, with flavors that reminded us a bit of moon cakes (banh Trung Thu) that are enjoyed during the Mid-Autumn festival. Moon cakes -- the fancy kind, involves a filling of candied sweetmeats, nuts and seeds plus aromatic Chinese sorghum and rose petal liquor (Mei Kwei Lu Chiu). So we thought that fruitcake was very special, the American equivalent.

My husband's aunt, Helen, made fruitcake annually and boozed up her cake for weeks before we arrived for Christmas dinner. Helen's fruitcake was well soaked in liquor with lots of commercial candied fruit in all their glorious artificial holiday colors. It was tender and flavorful. I looked forward to it annually, until Helen aged out of holiday baking and eventually passed away in 2010 at the age of 90.

A hybrid Christmas fruitcake

I started making fruitcakes for a couple reasons. Helen was gone and I missed it. Additionally, my thrifty mother often bought fruitcake mix after the holiday season when it went on steep reduction at the supermarket. She used it for mooncakes come the following September. To mesh our family's love for fruitcake and moon cakes, I took to crafting a Vietnamese-style fruitcake with homemade candied citrus peels, lots of citrus zest, slivered lime leaf, roasted nuts, and seeds -- plus booze. It's basically like a Mid-Autumn festival mooncake but baked up in a loaf or bundt pan. There's also more liquor in my fruitcake than in moon cake because there's more material to absorb the liquid. I age my fruitcakes for a minimum of 5 days (when I'm in rush and don't get baking until a week before Christmas) but better is letting it mellow for weeks, which is why I start it in late November. Then one holiday bake is done! (Below is this year's double batch, fresh from the oven and cooling.)

My recipe had changed over the years and 2025 is very good, thanks to a more tender cake batter and homemade candied citron and citrus peels. Fruitcake is traditionally a way to preserve the fruits of the season, explained Edna Lewis in The Taste of Country Cooking. Her Christmas fruitcake recipe got me going on using homemade candied citrus peels for fruitcake.

Many people dislike fruitcake because they've never had well crafted fruitcake, which can be quite pricey to buy. Make a single batch and then if you're like me, double it annually. It ages well, travels well as a special gift, and lasts for a year (I freeze mine).

Creating your own fruitcake flavors

You can bake fruitcake many ways and I hope this recipe gets you where you want to. When you consider how little fat, carbs, and refined sugar is involved in making so much cake, you realize that fruitcake is relatively healthy. It's not complicated and there's plenty of room to play.

Fruit and sweetmeat mixture: Always freestyle it, depending on what's on hand and what you enjoy eating. I always include homemade candied citrus peels because they are superior to store bought, easy to prepare, and affordable. Recipes on this website include diced Candied Buddha's Hand Citron and Candied Orange Peels (you can use those recipes as blueprints for other citrus, so long as the citrus has enough pith to candy). Candied Pomelo or Grapefruit Peels and Candied Kumquats would work well through I wouldn't use too much because they can be strong tasting. Addcandied ginger for zippy Asian sweet heat.
Add citrus edge: If you have a lemon or lime handy, grate it into the fruit and sweetmeat mixture. Use the juice to replace some of orange juice or water involved in macerating fruit and sweetmeats. Below, I'm grating makrut lime zest into the fruit mixture.
Nut mixture: Roasted nuts are best and after decades of fruitcake making, I favor walnuts and pecans because they are softer than others so slices cut beautifully. You can use slivered almonds and pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Pistachios would be good too.
Sourcing fruit and nuts: Head to a health food store with bulk bins and places like Trader Joe's. Also glean your kitchen cabinet for end-of-the year dried fruits and such that you want to use up.
Flour: Use all-purpose or for a deeper flavor, use a 1:1 blend of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Try a favorite gluten-free blend, if you like.
Booze: Liquor is where it's at for my family. I've used Chinese rose petal wine, Armagnac (a type of French brandy), rye, whiskey, rum, tequila, and triple sec. You can blend liquor if your short or have a preference.

Extra fruitcake pointers

Batch baking: Fruitcake is best made in a big batch because you have to gather ingredients so why not gather a decent amount instead of piddly quantities? Bake a lot and make family and friends happy with a gift of awesome fruitcake. My recipe below has two options for you: the main recipe is for a single batch and Notes offers ingredient measurements for a double batch. The method is the same but you'll just be making more!
Plan ahead: Unlike most other cakes, fruitcake needs time to age and ripen. Plan ahead so the addition of booze and time is built in and your fruitcake will be moist and very flavorful once the holidays season is in full swing.
Fruitcake aging boxes: I put them in large food storage containers or generic storage containers. The ones below are from Costco and they seal about 90% well so I add foil. The boxes allow me to gradually add the liquor with little fuss.

Print Recipe

Vietnamese Family Fruitcake

One batch yields 5 to 6 mini-loaves or 2 large loaf or bundt cakes. When baking a double batch, use the quantities in the Notes, which also contains links to candied citrus recipes and other tips.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian American, Vietnamese-ish

Ingredients

Fruit and Nuts

800 g to 900kg | 4 cups mixed dried fruit and candied sweetmeats, such as raisin, dried sweetened cranberries, dried cherries, goji berries, candied ginger, candied citron, or orange peels (see Note for bonus recipes)
1 tablespoon grated orange or lime zest
½ tablespoon minced tender makrut or Persian lime leaves minced (optional)
120 ml | ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
60 ml | ¼ cup water or strong brewed black tea
200 ml | ⅓ plus ½ cup brandy, such as Chinese sorghum and rose petal liquor (Mei Kwei Lu Chiu), brandy, rum, or whiskey, divided
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
360 g | 2 ½ cups roasted or toasted mixed nuts and seeds, such as pecans, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and pistachios

Batter

355 g | 2 ½ cups all-purpose bleached flour or a 1:1 combo or all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoons fine sea salt
¾ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
¼ teaspoon ground clove or allspice
100 to 150 g | ½ to ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar (use maximum if the fruit and sweetmeat mixture is not overly sweet)
70g g | 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or virgin coconut oil, melted
4 large eggs, at room temperature
Pecan or walnut halves, for garnishing

Instructions

Soak overnight: As needed, coarsely chop the dried fruit and sweetmeats into pieces no bigger than ⅓ inch (1cm). Put all dried fruit and sweetmeats in a large bowl. Add the zest, lime leaf, juice, water (or tea), and ⅓ cup (80ml) of the liquor, and vanilla extract. Combine well with a spatula, separating any large chunks. Cover and set aside to plump up and macerate overnight or up to 3 days, stirring a couple times to ensure even exposure to the liquid.
Prep your pans: Butter your pans. If using loaf pans, line the bottom and two sides with parchment so there's some overhang (like a sling), and then butter the parchment and exposed pan wals. If using bundt pans, smear softened butter to coat well then flour and tap against the sink to remove excess flour. Set the prepared pans aside. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300ºF.
Make the batter: As needed, coarsely chop the nuts to pieces no bigger than ½-inch (1.25cm). Add all the nuts and seeds to the bowl of dried fruit and sweetmeats. Stir to combine well. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground spices (Chinese five spice, ginger, nutmeg, and clove) directly into the bowl. Add the sugar, then mix to coat well.
In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients onto the batter ingredients. Fold, stir and mix the ingredients together to combine well. Divide the batter among the prepared pans, stopping about two-third from the top. Level the surface.
Bake then age: Bake for 1 ¼ to 1 ¾ hours, depending on the size of the pan, switching directions mid-way for even baking. The fruitcake is done when a cake tester or skewer insert comes out clean, and the top is slightly cracked and rounded.
Cool and age: Let cool in the pan on a rack; keep the fruitcakes in their pans for easier storage, if desired. Let cool 15 minutes. While the cakes are still warm, poke holes into the cakes then pour about ¼ cup of the remaining liquor onto the cakes. Put in airtight container sand let age for 3 to 4 days before repeating with remaining liquor. Your can repeat the aging and add more liquor, if you like.
To store, wrap in plastic wrap (or in parchment paper and wrap in foil). Keep at room temperature for up to 3 weeks or refrigerate for up to 6 weeks. Freeze for up to 1 year. Serve sliced at room temperature or slightly warmed.

Notes

Related recipes:

Extra moist cake: Add ⅓ to ½ cup (120ml) dark molasses to each single batch by combining it with the butter and eggs then adding it to the mixture. The cake will be darker and sweeter but more moist.

Double it! To make a double batch, use these quantities of ingredients.

Fruit and nuts

1.6 to 1.8kg | 8 cups mixed dried fruit and candied sweetmeats (such as raisin, dried sweetened cranberries, dried cherries, candied ginger, candied citron, orange peels)
2 tablespoons grated tangerine, orange, and/or lime zest
6 tender kaffir/makrut or regular lime leaves, minced (optional)
240ml | 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
120ml | ½ cup water or strong brewed black tea
400ml | 1 ⅔ cup brandy, Chinese sorghum and rose petal liquor (mei kwei Lu chiu) or orange-flavored liquor (e.g., triple sec, Cointreau), divided
1 tablespoon vanilla
620g | 5 cups roasted or toasted mixed nuts and seeds (such as pecans, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, or pistachios), coarsely chopped if needed

Batter:

710g | 5 cups all-purpose unbleached flour or a 1:1 combo or all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
½ teaspoon ground clove or allspice
170g | ¾ cup unsalted butter or virgin coconut oil, melted
200 to 300g | 1 to 1 ½ cups light or dark brown sugar (use maximum if the fruit and sweetmeat mixture is not overly sweet)
8 large eggs, at room temperature
Pecan or walnut halves, for garnishing