This Fruit Cake Cheesecake is the perfect union between a traditional Holiday favorite and a timeless classic – A match made in heaven!
It’s been a while since I’ve been so excited with a recipe as I am about this Fruit Cake Cheesecake! Seriously, you’re looking at 2 of my ultimate favorite desserts combined into one. Why I never thought of doing that before, I can’t even begin to comprehend. And even less is how it can be that idea didn’t even originate from me!
Indeed, it was Melody, one of my readers, who contacted me a couple of months ago, asking me if I’d consider creating a Christmas Fruit Cake inspired Cheesecake for her family, whose members had recently developed a serious gluten intolerance but to whom Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without their beloved brandy infused fruit cake. She also specified that, if I had to include minimal amounts of gluten in my recipe, that she’d have no problem adapting it to suit their needs… (still, I tried to keep it at a minimum)
And then she said that she believed if anyone could do it, it was me – but not to feel pressured in any way! Ha!
Needless to say I was totally inspired and immediately started wracking my brains as to how I was going to make this heavenly union happen. Much to my surprise, I thought about it for weeks, wrote and rewrote the recipe on paper numerous times, and even tweaked it as I was making it, but in the end I only needed one try to succeed.
This Fruit Cake Cheesecake it’s the perfect union between your traditional Christmas fruit cake and the richest of cheesecakes, with a bit of an appearance by special guest gingerbread house. Everything about it is pure perfection: from the creamy, rich texture of the cake, to the generous amount of candied fruits, and the distinctive aromas and spices of traditional Christmas treats.
Even its appearance totally rivals with that of the most luxurious fruit cakes out there. I can guarantee you that this heavenly dessert will, from now on, be a part of the Holiday tradition in this household!
Ideally, this cake needs to be made over the course of several days, so do plan accordingly if you intend on making it for Christmas this year. On day one, you bake the actual cake; on day 2, you garnish it; and on day 3, you serve it!
Although just like any good traditional fruit cake, this cheesecake version also benefits from a little bit of “aging”, so you could very well make it a few days ahead of time, it that worked better for you…
One thing’s for sure, though. If you too are a fan of fruit cake and can never have too much cheesecake in your life, you totally want to give this special Holiday treat a try!
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS & PICTURES
TO MAKE THE CRUST
Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. To do that, remove the ring and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Fold the excess paper back under the plate and, while holding it in place with one hand, put the ring back in its position with the other hand. Bring the excess paper back from under the pan but do not cut it off.
Place the ginger snap cookies in the bowl of your food processor; process until reduced to fine crumbs. Add the melted butter, brown sugar and molasses…
If you wanted to keep this gluten free, I suppose you could try and get your hands on gluten-free ginger snap cookies? I’m pretty sure they exist somewhere, in some kind of health store. Or maybe you could try baking your own from scratch. That, I’m certain you could find a recipe for on the Net!
…and resume processing until well combined;
Press the mixture firmly at the bottom and all the way up the sides of the prepared baking pan.
I know I must sound like a broken record, but the best tool for this job is a flat bottomed glass. Works wonders!
TO MAKE THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
Now preheat your oven to 350°F and bring about 4 cups of water to the boil; you’ll be using it later to make a water bath for your cake.
Combine the candied fruits, currants, chopped dates and pecans together in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Next, combine the cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt and clove in the bowl of your food processor. Process until the mixture is super smooth and creamy and completely lump free, about 3 minutes. Stop the motor to scrape the sides once or twice to make sure every last bit gets incorporated.
Add the brandy, molasses, vanilla extract and orange extract and resume processing until well incorporated.
Now in go the eggs, flour and cornstarch, all at once…
Again, if you wanted to stay away from gluten, I suppose you could replace the flour with your favorite gluten free flour. Its main purpose is simply to thicken the batter so the fruits don’t all sink straight to the bottom, and also to minimize the risks of cracking.
Resume processing until well combined, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the sides once or twice if necessary.
Remove the S blade from the bowl and carefully stir in the reserved candied fruits…
…then pour the batter into the prepared crust and spread evenly.
Place the pan over a piece of aluminum foil and fold the foil over the pan so the exterior is completely covered; this will prevent water from seeping into the pan while the cake is baking.
Now place this rig into a roasting pan and delicately pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan so it goes up about 3/4 of the way up the side of said roasting pan. Place that rig onto the middle rack of your oven and bake your cake for 25 minutes at 350°F. Then, decrease the temperature to 250°F and continue baking your cake for another 65-70 minutes, or until the cake is set.
Turn off the oven and crack the door open. Leave the cake in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, or until it’s cool enough to be handled with your bare hands, and then slide it out of the oven and let it cool down to room temperature.
This slow cooling process will greatly help prevent cracking.
When the cheesecake is down to room temperature, place it in the refrigerator uncovered until completely chilled, at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
TO GARNISH THE CAKE
Combine the candied fruits and pecans together in a bowl; Mix well and pour over the chilled cheesecake…
…then spread and distribute them evenly across the top, pressing down delicately with a rubber spatula to make them all nice and flat.
Technically, you could serve the cake immediately, but to help the candied fruits stay in place better when you slice the cake, you might want to weigh them down a bit.
What I did is I covered the cake with a piece of aluminum foil, placed an 8″ cake board over the foil and then placed a stack of small plates over the board. You might not be able to recreate that exact same set-up, but I’m sure you can come up with something fairly equivalent!
Once that’s done, put the cake back in the fridge for as long as your schedule will allow, preferably until the next day.
When ready to serve, take the cake out of the fridge, carefully remove it from the pan and place it onto a cake plate or board.
Serve chilled and slice with a sharp chef knife; store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about a week.
I’m not sure yet about freezability, I’ll be testing over the course of the next few weeks and report back as soon as I know…
Ingredients
- 50 ginger snap cookies (350g | 12.35oz)
- 1/2 cup (120g | 4oz) butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (40g |1.4oz) light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 3- (227g | 8oz) packages full fat cream cheese
- 3/4 cup (150g | 5.3oz) light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt (I use Himalayan salt)
- pinch ground clove
- 1/4 cup (60ml) brandy
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract, (store-bought or homemade)
- 3-4 drops pure orange extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (180g | 2.3oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- 1-1/2 cups (240g | 8.5oz) candied diced fruit mix
- 1-1/2 cup (270g | 9.5oz) candied cherry pineapple mix
- 1 cup (135g | 4.75oz) currants
- 1 cup (100g | 3.5oz) pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup (135g | 4.75oz) pitted dates, coarsely chopped
- 1-1/2 cup (270g | 9.5oz) candied cherry pineapple mix
- 1/2 cup (80g | 2.8oz) candied diced fruit mix
- 1/2 cup (50g | 1.75oz) pecan halves
Instructions
- Line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. To do that, remove the ring and cover the bottom with parchment paper. Fold the excess paper back under the plate and, while holding it in place with one hand, put the ring back in its position with the other hand. Bring the excess paper back from under the pan but do not cut it off.
- Place the ginger snap cookies in the bowl of your food processor; process until reduced to fine crumbs. Add the melted butter, brown sugar and molasses and resume processing until well combined.
- Press the mixture firmly at the bottom and all the way up the sides of the prepared baking pan. Set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and bring about 4 cups of water to the boil; you'll be using it later to make a bain-marie for your cake.
- Combine the candied fruits, currants, dates and pecans together in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
- Combine the cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt and clove in the bowl of your food processor. Process until the mixture is super smooth and creamy and completely lump free, about 3 minutes. Stop the motor to scrape the sides once or twice to make sure every last bit gets incorporated.
- Add the brandy, molasses, vanilla extract and orange extract and resume processing until well incorporated.
- Add the eggs, flour and cornstarch all at once and resume processing until well combined, about 30 seconds. Stop to scrape the sides once or twice if necessary.
- Remove the S blade from the bowl and carefully stir in the reserved candied fruits, then pour this batter into the prepared crust and spread evenly.
- Place the pan over a piece of aluminum foil and fold the foil over the pan so the exterior is completely covered; this will prevent water from seeping into the pan. Now place this rig into a roasting pan and delicately pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan so it goes up about 3/4 of the way up the side of said roasting pan. Place that rig onto the middle rack of your oven and bake your cake for 25 minutes at 350°F. Then, decrease the temperature to 250°F and continue baking your cake for another 65-70 minutes, or until the cake is set.
- Turn off the oven and crack the door open. Leave the cake in the oven, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, or until it's cool enough to be handled with your bare hands, and then slide it out of the oven.
- When the cheesecake is completely cooled, place it in the refrigerator uncovered until completely chilled, at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.
- Combine the candied fruits and pecans together in a bowl. Mix well and pour over the chilled cheesecake, then spread and distribute them evenly across the top, pressing down delicately with a rubber spatula to make them all nice and flat.
- Technically, you could serve the cake immediately, but to help the candied fruits stay in place better, it's best to weigh them down for a bit. To do that, cover the cake with a piece of aluminum foil, place an 8" cake board over the foil and then place a weight over that board, such as a stack of small plates. Put the cake back in the fridge, preferably until the next day.
- When ready to serve, take the cake out of the fridge, carefully remove it from the pan and place it onto a cake plate or board.
- Serve chilled and slice with a sharp chef knife. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to about a week.
Marlene says
OMG…. I too absolutely love fruit cake and now combined with your cheese cake, this will be a winner for Christmas. Making my grocery list now! One question, can the fruit be dried fruit or does it have to be “candied”?
Evil Twin says
The fruits really make the cake, so if you were to use dried fruit, it would be a completely different experience, and I can’t guarantee the results either. I would definitely stick with candied!
Marlene says
You are the expert so going with your recommendation… Wish me luck but I have a feeling this is going to be another keeper…as are all your creations!!!!
Evil Twin says
You are too kind, Marlene! Thanks much for your vote of confidence! I’m wishing you all the luck in the world and the best Holidays!
Please be sure to let me know how the cake turned out! 🙂
Marlene says
The cake looked beautiful but overall too sweet for my liking. I feel the candied fruit was either the wrong brand or not sure but I think the syrup the candy was in added too much sweetness. I am sure it was me and not the recipe.
Evil Twin says
I’m real sorry to hear, Marlene; I was so hoping that it would be a smashing success! I’m not sure what you mean by “syrup” though… the fruits shouldn’t be soaking in any syrup. There’s usually maaaaaybe a tablespoon at the bottom of the container, but that’s it?! Were yours soaking in syrup?
Marlene says
Well, that has to be the reason for it being soooo sweet. It definitely had more than a tablespoon. More like 2-4 tbs I may take another swing at it next year. For now I am planning on your wonderfully successful “white chocolate lime cheesecake” for Easter. My family wants it now as our traditional Easter dessert.
Melody says
Oh Sonia! This looks absolutely glorious! Thank you *so* much for all the work you put into creating this and making it easily adaptable for all the gluten-free people out there. You are phenomenal! My whole family is super-excited and grateful!
Christmas is going be deliciously memorable this year – hugs to you!!
Evil Twin says
Aw but Melody, seriously, thank YOU for inspiring such an amazing creation… like I said, I’ve no idea why I’d never thought of it before, they are 2 of my ultimate favorite things in the world all rolled into one! Up until the very last minute, I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to pull it off, so if it hadn’t been for the fact that you were counting on me, I’d have probably given up on the idea. So really. I owe you one, big time!!!
And I hope that you fall in love with this cake just as hard as I have! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts. <3
Ronette says
your cakes looks delicious and I’m going to try bake it too I’m just wondering how are you going to remove the parchment paper underneath the cheesecake without destroying it?
Connie Cantu says
Hi, Sonia! I am getting things ready for my grandfather’s wedding cake and found your Cream Cheese frosting which allows for piping. Thank God! Was concerned about the piping. Is it necessary to keep cake(s) in refrigerator after frosting cause the cake will be ready the night before or early the next day of the wedding. Would appreciate any ideas you may have. Also, do you have an easy Carrot Cake recipe? That is what she wants for her wedding cake. Grandma will do whatever to make her DAY! Thanks. 🙏
Evil Twin says
Yes, like I’d mentioned in my previous comment, you must keep the cake refrigerated after it’s finished and keep it chilled for as long as you can before taking it out of the fridge. As for a carrot cake recipe, I have one here: https://eviltwin.kitchen/naked-carrot-cake/
Best of luck!
Connie Cantu says
My message reads “grandfather” which should read “granddaughter. Have no idea why my phone changes the wording sometimes.
Roberts says
Do you have to put the brandy in this cheese cake?
Evil Twin says
It really does a lot for the flavor, frankly the cake just wouldn’t be the same without it.