Beautiful mini fruit cakes that are coated in chocolate and topped with candied cherries. This fruit cake recipe has no shortcuts and it is packed with holiday flavors.
If you love fruit cake then you love it, if you hate it you hate it. There is no in between. I can’t imagine a Christmas without serving fruit cake. I have a unique recipe to serve fruite cake. It’s coated in chocolate and still very festive looking. I think these look like petit fours!
How to make mini fruit cakes
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients and spices – Flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
- Wet ingredients – Softened butter, eggs, orange juice, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Fruits, nuts and flavorings – Green and red candied cherrys, pecans, dates, raisins.
- Chocolate coating – Melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Step-by-step directions:
Step One – Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cloves and set aside.
Step Two – In a separate large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add in the eggs and egg yolks and mix to combine.
Step Three – Whisk in the orange juice, milk, vanilla and orange zest until fully incorporated.
Step Four – Mix the flour mixture in just until combined.
Step Five and Six – Fold in the dates, raisins, green cherries, red cherries and pecans. Whisk in the orange juice, milk, vanilla and orange zest until fully incorporated.
Step Seven – Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Step Eight – Place into the preheated oven to bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Once the fruit cake has baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Step Nine – Once cooled, remove the fruit cake from the pan and slice into 35 – 1 inch squares. Dip each square into the melted chocolate to coat ensuring that any excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Place onto a sheet of parchment paper to set up.
Step Ten – If desired top each square with a half slice of red and green cherry before letting set up. Place the chocolate-covered bites into the fridge to set up more quickly.
Recipes FAQs
Place in airtight containers for two days or in the fridge for up to 6 days. These are best served chilled.
You can freeze fruit cake bites if desired, though the chocolate will look different after being thawed.
I always though fruitcake was a tradition at Christmas because of the red and green candied cherries. Fruitcake has been around for hundreds of years, dating back to roman times. Some say this dish was invented to preserve fruit.
Dates/raisins – Currants and figs are a great substitute for dates and raisins.
Red cherries – If you cannot find candied red cherries, you can use maraschino cherries instead.
Soft, spiced cake is filled with the delicious flavors and textures of various fruits such as chewy raisins, leathery dates and crunchy pecans. Each bite is dipped in chocolate which forms a shell around these individual cake pieces.
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Fruit Cake Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 10 Tbsp. butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 3 Tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- zest of one orange
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped green cherries
- 1 cup chopped red cherries
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cloves and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the eggs and egg yolks and mix to combine. Whisk in the orange juice, milk, vanilla and orange zest until fully incorporated. Mix the flour mixture in just until combined. When making this bread, it is very cake-like so do not over mix the batter once you have added the flour as this will cause the gluten to over develop which can cause the cake to become rubbery instead of tender.
- Fold in the dates, raisins, green cherries, red cherries and pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Place into the preheated oven to bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Once the fruit cake has baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, remove the fruit cake from the pan and slice into 35 – 1 inch squares. Dip each square into the melted chocolate to coat ensuring that any excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Place onto a sheet of parchment paper to set up. Top each square with a half slice of red and green cherry. Place the chocolate-covered bites into the fridge to set up more quickly.
Recipe Notes:
- Dates/raisins – Currants and figs are a great substitute for dates and raisins.
- Red cherries – If you cannot find candied red cherries, you can use maraschino cherries instead.
Nutrition:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
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