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.

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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

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 15 mins

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!