Amish Friendship Bread Fruitcake

You can’t herald in the holidays without fruitcake (or fruit cake or fruit bread — whatever you’d like to call it, LOL), and I’ve got a great recipe for you that uses 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter or sourdough starter. This comes by way of Tammy Basile, owner of the lovely food blog, Basile Limeade.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, the Friendship Bread Kitchen may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Tammy is a seasoned foodie and no stranger to the kitchen. Her mother used to make Amish Friendship Bread when Tammy was a little girl, so when a co-worker gave her a starter, she made about a dozen loaves with it because she had forgotten how wonderful it was.

I think the hardest part of making Amish Friendship Bread is the waiting. I started this recipe 9 days ago and basically had to do nothing for 8 days! Oh, the agony! Seeing that lovely, bubbly, yeasty starter sitting on the counter and not being able to do anything other than mush it once a day was pure torture.”

Tammy Basile

I think I speak for everyone who has ever made Amish Friendship Bread: we’ve been there. Boy, have we been there! (And some good news: you can freeze or refrigerate your starter so you won’t have to wait anymore!)

Fruitcake sometimes gets a bad rap, so Tammy was determined to make hers different. She drew inspiration from several different recipes including Alton Brown’s recipe for free-range fruitcake to create this one for the Friendship Bread Kitchen. The result was a flavorful, spicy, rum-soaked delight using 1 cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter or sourdough starter discard.

Amish Friendship Bread Fruitcake

Tammy Basile

The holidays wouldn’t be completed without this rum-soaked Amish Friendship Bread Fruitcake.

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 15 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
• 2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup butter 1 stick
• ¼ cup orange juice 1 medium orange
• 1 cup rum or enough to soak the dry fruit
• 1 cup dried fruit I used blueberries, cranberries, cherries, raisins, goji berries, pumpkin seeds
• ¾ cup apple sauce
• ½ cup candied ginger chopped
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

 

• Combine the dried fruit with rum and allow to sit overnight (24 hours is best). If you are short on time, microwave the fruit and rum for 1 minute and allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
• Spray a large loaf pan with non-stick spray.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper to the line the bottom and two sides of the pan.
• Preheat oven to 325° F (165° C).
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and baking powder, set aside.
• In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, butter, orange juice, vanilla, apple sauce and ⅓ cup of the rum from the dried fruit.
• Pour starter over the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
• Add drained fruit and candied ginger, stir until just combined.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake at 350° F for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
• ENJOY!

Notes

Pick up a dried fruit and nut mix from Costco or any grocery store to help save time.
The longer you can soak your dried fruit in rum, the better! Try from a minimum of one day.

Have you made this?Mention @friendshipbreadkitchen or tag #friendshipbreadkitchen!

Resources

• The Secret History of Fruitcake: A quick and easy guide to understanding the holiday’s most misrepresented favorite.
• Fruitcake Making Tips: What’s Cooking America has some great tips on helping you make the perfect fruitcake.
• King Arthur Flour’s Favorite Fruitcake: A non-starter-based recipe if you’re in a pinch.

>> Have you tried this recipe? Give the recipe some stars and leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!