Baileys Fruit Cake is a fun, festive recipe. Using simple ingredients and a no overnight soak method this cake comes together easily. The rich buttery fruit base gets cooked with the liquids and then we simply to stir to combine before placing into a lined cake tin then oven baking.
Recipes like the Slow Cooker Baileys Fudge, Baileys Cheesecake Balls, Baileys Pudding and the Baileys Cheesecake Brownies each use this popular Irish cream as the star of the recipe.
The Orange Polenta Cake and Lemon Polenta Cake offer other types of fruit themed baked cakes.
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🤍 Bailey's Fruit Cake Recipe
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:
- Quick method: some fruit cake recipes call for soaking the fruit in the liquids overnight. That means you need to be ready a day in advance to make the cake. It also means that you can't make it on the day if you choose to. This recipe uses a quick technique also done in the Fruit Mince recipe where we cook the fruit allowing it to absorb the liquids as it cooks.
- Homemade: store bought is great and convenient but making your own means you can tweak things your way. Add nuts if you please, leave them out, add cherries, do the things with the cake that you will want to.
- Nostalgic: some people love fruit cake, some hate it and some couldn't conceive of Christmas without a piece. You my friend do you!
- Unique: adding Baileys Irish Cream is a unique way to do something different to making a traditional Christmas cake.
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Vanilla.
- Butter.
- Bailey's.
- Glace cherries: you will find these in a packet in the supermarket aisle where the other dried fruit like pears and apricots are. They will be sold as whole cherries, so we give them a rough chop before adding them to the cake batter.
- Iced coffee: this is store bought coffee flavored milk. It is not a strong coffee rather a sweet milky drink.
- Slivered almonds: optional, but good as you don't have to chop them as the pieces are small enough already.
- Self raising flour.
- Dried fruit: a mixed bag or assortment of your favorites.
😉 Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- Cherries and nuts: the glace cherries and slivered almonds are fun extras. You can make a more basic fruit cake by simply sticking to the dried fruit if you wish to. Or use maraschino cherries that you drain, pat dry and roll in flour before adding to the cake mix.
- Rum: you can add a shot (30ml) of rum whilst cooking the dried fruits in the liquids if you wish to. The will add a little oomph.
- Other dried fruit: you can use a mixed bag of dried fruit or experiment with your favorite fruit like sultanas, raisins, dried apricots (chopped into small pieces) or cranberries.
- Coffee flavored milk: you can use chocolate milk in place of the coffee flavored milk if you wish to.
👩🍳 How to Make Bailey's Fruit Cake
To make the Bailey's fruit cake we start by cooking the fruit. You will see what this will look like in the photos below.
🍳 Instructions
- Add the butter to a large sauce pan (Photo 1)
- Then add the dried fruit (Photo 2)
- Pour in the Bailey's (Photo 3)
- Add the iced coffee and vanilla (Photo 4)
Place a large sauce pan onto the stove top, turn the heat to high and then add the butter and dried fruit. As the butter melts the fruit will start to soften as it absorbs the liquid.
Next pour in the Bailey's and follow this by the iced coffee and vanilla.
- Cook until the liquids are absorbed (Photo 5)
- Transfer to a large bowl (Photo 6)
- Add the flour (Photo 7)
- Stir to combine (Photo 8)
Stir the fruit continually as it cooks. You will notice when doing so that the mixture changes consistency as it starts to reduce.
Once the liquids have fully been absorbed (8-10 minutes) a spatula run through the mix will see it go back together again in than 5 seconds. Check the video to see visually how your fruit will look at this point.
Next you can turn the heat off and transfer the boiled fruit to a large mixing bowl.
To that we then whisk in the self raising flour and stir to combine.
- Add nuts and cherries (Photo 9)
- Stir to combine (Photo 10)
- Line the cake tin (Photo 11)
- Add the combined batter to tin (Photo 12)
Next we add the slivered almonds and chopped cherries to the bowl and stir again to combine. This bit only takes a second or so.
Once done line your cake tin with 2 overlapping sheets of parchment paper with overhang on each side.
Then transfer the combined batter into the cake tin like shown in the photos above.
- Push to flatten the cake mixture (Photo 13)
Next either use a rubber spatula or small glass like you see me doing to flatten the top of the cake.
Once done it will look like the photo below and you are ready to put it into the preheated oven.
We want to bake the cake for around 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. This will depend on your oven. At the 1 hour mark insert a tooth pick into the centre and if it comes out with moist sticky crumbs the cake is cooked. If there is wet batter on the tooth pick cook for an additional 10 minutes and then test again.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
When it comes time to serving your fruit cake some people won't be able to go past smothering it with vanilla custard.
I hear you! This combination literally melts in your mouth and you can serve the cake warm with the cold custard over the top. Its melt in your mouth delicious.
Some other ideas are serving it with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
Transfer the cake into a sealed, airtight container. You can also wrap it in baking paper, cling wrap and or aluminum foil before doing so if you wish to.
Fruit cake is best left at in a cool place, or a dark spot at room temperature as it can harden too much in the fridge.
You can choose to feed the cake where you add extra alcohol to it as this will extend its shelf life. If you want to do this, baste leftovers with your choice of alcohol using a basting brush. Wrap the cake again after you have brushed it with the alcohol.
How to Freeze
To freeze the fruit cake you are best wrapping individual slices in cling wrap and aluminum foil Then stack these in the freezer. They can be frozen for up to 3 months. Frozen portions of the cake are then best heated to warm them through for serving.
How to Reheat
Place a piece of the fruit cake into a bowl and in the microwave. Heat for 1-2 minutes until warmed through.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- Cake tin: I find the best type of cake tin to use for the recipe is a square one with removable insert. This makes it super straight forward to remove the cooked cake from the pan once cooled.
- Baking paper: I also line the cake tin with 2 overlapping sheets of baking paper. The overhang of this can then be grabbed to help pull the cooked cake up and out of the cake tin.
- Covered baking: I like to cover the cake with tin foil after about 40 minutes of cooking. This is so that the top surface doesn't get 'too dark/brown' as it cooks. This is a dark fruit cake as it is due to the combination of the Irish cream and iced coffee however, covering it will stop the surface darkening too much.
🤓 Bailey's Fruit Cake FAQ's
Over cooking or cooking a fruit cake for too long is 1 reason it will end up dry. Another reason is if you store the cake in the fridge. The cooler temperature will see the cake firm up.
Fruit cake can be eaten both hot or cold. Some people will love to serve it warm with custard over the top and some will simply want a small portion popped into their lunch box throughout the festive season.
Yes by all means. Nuts are a great choice when thinking about the fruit cake fillings. They add a great texture to the cake and give it a little crunch. These are best either roughly chopped or broken into pieces.
😍 More Easy Bake Or No Bake Recipes
If getting your bake on during the festive season is your favorite thing to do then I have some more ideas you might like to try. These suggestions have a variety of ingredients, cook times and methods.
- Fudge recipes: Mint Aero Fudge, Vanilla Fudge Recipe, Rum And Raisin Fudge, Turkish Delight Fudge, Coconut Fudge, Candy Cane Fudge, Chocolate Orange Fudge.
- Blondies recipes: Butter Pecan Blondies, Oreo Blondies, Raspberry And White Chocolate Blondies, Birthday Cake Blondies and White Chocolate Macadamia Blondies.
- Savory delights: Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Bites, Caramelised Onion Tarts, Egg And Croissant Bake, Mini Croissant Sandwiches, Slow Cooker Cheese And Bacon Bread.
- Cheese festive ideas: Baked Brie With Red Pepper Jelly, Spinach And Bacon Cob Loaf, Air Fryer Cob Loaf, Cream Cheese Pepper Jelly, French Onion Cob Loaf.
- Festive recipes: Fruit Mince Tarts, Fruit Mince, Apple Crumble Tartlets, Apple Cinnamon Blondies, Apple Custard Tarts, Christmas Rocky Road.
It is time to get our Bailey's fruit cake on my friend. You can also find all of my Christmas recipes or dessert recipes in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Baileys Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 125 grams/1/2 stick butter unsalted
- 1 cup dried fruit Note 1
- 2 cups/500ml Baileys Irish Cream
- 1 cup/250 ml iced coffee flavoured milk Note 2
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups self raising flour sifted
- 1 cup glace cherries roughly chopped, Note 3
- ½ cup slivered almonds optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Cake tin: line a 24 cm/9 inch square cake tin with 2 overlapping sheets of baking paper with overhang on each side.
- Cook the fruit: place a large saucepan onto the stove top and turn the heat to high. Add in the butter and dried fruit. Next pour in the Baileys, followed by the iced coffee and vanilla extract. Now cook the fruit, stirring regularly as it heats through and the liquids get absorbed. This step is complete when the mixture has a jam like consistently and there is not remaining liquid in the base of the saucepan. It will take 8-10 minutes to do this.
- Combine: once the fruit has absorbed all of the liquids transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Then sift in the 2 cups of self raising flour and use a long rubber spatula to stir and combine.
- Optional extras: next add the chopped glace cherries and the slivered almonds and gently stir to fold these in.
- Transfer: transfer the combined fruit cake batter into the prepared cake tin and then use a rubber spatula to spread across the base of the tin. Once done either use the spatula or a small glass to gently flatten the top of the cake.
- Oven bake: place the cake tin into the preheated oven (uncovered for 1st 40 minutes then covered for the rest of the cook time) on the middle shelf. Bake the cake for 1 hour then use oven mitts and remove to test doneness. If the cake still has wet crumbs on a skewer inserted into it, cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Note 5
- To serve: allow the cake to fully cool in the tin. Once it has, use the overhanging baking paper and lift it up and out of the pan. Set it on a cutting board and then discard the 2 sheets of paper. Use a sharp knife and slice into portions. Serve warm (heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes) with custard or ice cream.
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Dried fruit: a mixed bag or assortment of your favorites.
- Note 2 - Iced coffee: this is store bought coffee flavored milk. It is not a strong coffee rather a sweet milky drink.
- Note 3 - Glace cherries: you will find these in a packet in the supermarket aisle where the other dried fruit like pears and apricots are. They will be sold as whole cherries, so we give them a rough chop before adding them to the cake batter.
- Note 4 - Slivered almonds: optional, but good as you don't have to chop them as the pieces are small enough already.
- Note 5 - Covered baking: I like to cover the cake for the 1st 40 minutes of cook time and then cover it with tin foil for the rest of the bake time. This is so that it doesn't get too browned looking on the surface.
Nutrition
Music credit for video: https://www.audiocoffee.net/
Rebecca says
I love this idea! Will have to give it a go.
Adrianne Jamieson says
Thanks Rebecca 😊.