The family all time favorite fruitcake/bread is this one...I copied and pasted this from a thread from 2013 that recently reran here a few days ago. I am on my way to the kitchen right now to prep the cranberries for daughter to mix up the recipe. It is too labor intensive for me to do it all.

Cranberry Fruit Bread
12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries cut in half
2 cups pecan halves
1 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup golden raisins
1 TBL grated orange peel
4 cups flour, divided
2 cups sugar
1 TBL baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted Crisco
1/4 cup warm water
Combine cranberries, pecans, fruit, dates, raisins, and orange peel with 1/4 cup of the flour. Set aside.
In another bowl combine sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining 3 3/4 cups of flour. Set aside.
In very large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add orange juice, melted Crisco and water. Mix well. Add flour mixture and stir just till combined. Fold in cranberry mixture.

Spoon into 3 greased and wax paper lined 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 60 to 65 minutes. Test with toothpick.
I usually bake this in 7 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.
(If I could only make one kind of bread for Christmas to give away and for our own consumption, it would be this one.)

I just posted my mother in laws on another thread.

My husband loves this . It's his mother's recipe and she would make it every year for him . I guess I need to step up and make him some now . I made it once but we tried to double the recipe I don't recommend that .

This is a copy of my mother in laws no bake fruit cake

Lucille’s Unbaked Fruit Cake:

1lb. graham crakers(or box of crumbs)

1/2lb. raisins

1/2lb. chopped dates

1 lb. mixed candied fruit

1/2 cup candied orange rind(optional)

1or2 sm.cont.maraschino cherries(if you really like cherries add 2)

2 cups nuts(or more if you have it and no need to chop)

1 tsp.cinnamon

1 tsp.allspice

1 large can evaporated milk

1lb. mini marshmellows(1bag)

Crush crackers and add chopped fruits.

Heat milk and add marshmellows. Do not allow to melt completely.

Pour this over dry ingredients.

Mix well and pack firmly into loaf pans.

Store in refrigerator a few days before serving.

*If you want to flavor with rum or bourbon poke holes in top with toothpick and slowly pour a jigger over top(just one!). These do have to "age" in the fridge so don't rush it. And they freeze well.

Raven, I think I will make this. I don't care for raisins but will leave them out. I bought a lot of pineapple and cherries....more than I can use, and I will candy some orange rind because I like it better than the store bought. I will also add extra nuts, because I have them. My mother made this every year.

Just give me this and I'm happy!

In all of my years, I have never bought a fruit cake, :)

Sue

Well, my dad loved Claxton's and it was a must to give him his treat at Christmas. Grandmother always made fruitcake, but Claxton's was my dad's favorite.

I've bought the Collin Street Bakery fruitcakes, out of Corsicana, Texas. The fruitcake I make is very similar but without the dates. I can't remember if they put raisins in theirs. If they did, I must have ate around them.

ick, Not a fan of fruitcake at all.

I usually make a no-bake fruitcake since DH likes that so well, but this year, I am making Marilyn-C's cake. I went to Walmart today and bought the pineapple and cherries. I was surprised to find that the prices are about a third higher than last year.

I make a fruitcake similar to this recipe using the best jarred mincemeat I can find and I add extra fruit, nuts and a little rum or whiskey. I make mine in 2 loaf pans. So good. I love fruitcake any way I can get it. Fruitcake http://www.food.com/recipe/cant-fail-holiday-fruitcake-80050

WOW your recipes surprise me. I have heard tales of fruit cakes but they have never been a part of our holidays. What surprises me is how non-alcoholic these are. I always got the impression they were soaked in some sort of booze. I also thought they were a "do ahead" thing due to the soaking in alcohol so I was interested to hear if it were really possible to start now and have fruitcake for Christmas. The bread by lgmd_gaz sounds great. We love fruit breads for breakfast during the holidays.

arcy_gw, my cranberry fruit bread is not only a family favorite, but every neighbor/friend that I have given a selection of usually 3 kinds of nut breads to over the holidays always mentions that the cranberry one is their favorite too.

We are not fans of fruitcake. I got one as a present one year from my sister at Christmas, that was homemade and reeked of booze. I sent it to my brother who gave it to another brother and after making the rounds of my family, it wound up back at my sister's the following Christmas. It still had the original gift tag attached so she was really mad at me for a long time, but never sent me another fruitcake.

I have made this a few times and I really like it. You can take out and add whatever kinds of fruit you like.

Carrot Fruitcake
12-16 Servings
Prep: 20 min. Bake: 1 hour 20 min. + cooling

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups chopped nuts
• 1 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups finely shredded carrots
• Confectioners' sugar icing, optional

Directions

• Combine nuts, fruit, dates and raisins with 1/2 cup flour; set aside.

• In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil; mix well. Add eggs, one at a
  time, beating well after each addition. Combine the baking powder,
  baking soda, cinnamon, salt and remaining flour; gradually add to sugar
  mixture, beating until smooth. (Batter will be stiff.) Fold in carrots
  and fruit mixture. Spoon into a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan.

• Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes
  out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack
  to cool completely. If desired, drizzle with icing. Yield: 12-16 servings.

• Sue

I was raised by Quakers. They didn't drink alcohol, so never put booze in fruitcake, or anything else.

I'd rather eat rabbit poopies than that candied fruit, but I do enjoy a heavy fruit cake with assorted dried fruits. Rum, added at intervals over several days, enhances the flavors.

This recipe by Alton Brown looks good, to me.

Would someone please post the recipe for Marilyn_C's fruitcake. I have searched and searched and cannot find it.. TIA

I just posted the link to it, because I didn't copy it down. Here it is. Also, I have made this probably a dozen times, in both an oven and a Nesco. It takes longer to bake than listed, so just bake until it tests done. Hope you like it. I buy 16 oz of cherries and 16 oz of pineapple, rather than the mixed. I like when I can find some that is green....as in the cherries or the pineapple. It makes it more colorful.

.Cherry Pineapple Fruitcake

Last time I made one, was Alton Browns "free-range" fruit cake recipe. LOTS of dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, currants, dates, etc) and NOT cheap to make. Fruit was all steeped in booze before it went into batter. Cake was like a spice cake... not a "door stop". As a kid, I think I was the only grandkid who enjoyed fruit cake... with my grandmother... one of those with tons of mystery fruit in them.

Thanks, Marilyn-C. That looks delicious. And what we like - we don't care for citron.

Igmd, that looks like a great recipe!! Have you baked it in a bundt pan before, or just in loaf pans?

^^Thanks! I might try to bake it in a small bundt pan, that would make for a really nice presentation.

Gumdrop Cake

Note: Do not use "Spice Drops" Even though large gumdrops can be hard to find. Do not use black or purple gumdrops as the flavor is too strong.

1 C. butter

2 C. granulated sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

4 C flour

2 C colored gumdrops, chopped roughly ( omit black or purple )

1½ C white raisins

¼ t.salt

1 t cinnamon

½ t. ground nutmeg

1 C. walnuts, finely chopped

1 t. baking soda ( dissolved in 1 T water )

1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a 10" bundt pan

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix in soda mixture and spices. Stir in flour, nuts, raisins, salt and gumdrops. ( Sprinkle a little of the measured flour onto chopped gumdrops in advance to help them not stick together ) Batter will be very thick. Put mixture into Bundt pan and bake 1½ hours.

* I had to modify this recipe over the years as it is so old that the original recipe gave no pan size and said "mix like any other cake" and then to "bake".

rhizo, I've made that recipe by Alton and it is really good.

ElizabethR, the directions in the Gumdrop Cake state to "mix applesauce, soda mixture, and spices." Do not see applesauce in the ingredients list. Would you mind sharing how much applesauce, please.

ElizabethR - the list of ingredients includes 1 tsp water (dissolved in 1 Tbsp water). Should that be 1 tsp baking soda?

Do the gum drops melt? Or are they still gummy? I love gum drops but for some reason I can't swollow them.

My apologies for the typos. I have corrected it. It is a delicious, very light cake. Not as sweet as it might sound. The gumdrops keep their shape. It reminds me of stained glass windows when sliced,

One more question, Elizabeth. The ingredients list indicates 1 1/2 cups white raisins. Are they added at the same time as the gumdrops?