Fruitcake is a beloved and traditional treat for the holiday season. Every fruitcake is unique to the baker making it, and everyone has their preference for the kinds of fruit, level of spiciness, overall crumb, and addition of alcohol that make for the perfect fruitcake. But, a few ingredients are consistent in almost every recipe.Most of the time, fruitcakes include cherries, dried fruit, pineapple, raisins, and candied citrus. If you've never had a fruitcake before, visions of dense, dry, or cloyingly sweet cakes might come to mind. But the good ones should never be dry or dense enough to throw like a rock. The best fruitcakes are just as moist and flavorful as your favorite banana bread. With traditional fruitcakes available from all over the world, there's bound to be one you enjoy. Whether you're an enthusiast or testing the waters for the first time, here's a roundup of the best fruitcake options available for delivery during the holidays. Christmas Shipping Looking to send a gourmet food gift basket for Christmas? Here are our favorites that can still be shipped in time: Our Top Picks Best with Brandy: The Nuns of New Skete Brandied Fruitcake at Goldbelly.com ($50) Best Organic Fruit: Frog Hollow Farm Holiday Fruitcake at Froghollow.com (See Price) Best for Gifting: Harry & David Grand Traditional Fruitcake at Harry & David ($75) Best Panettone: In This Article Our Picks What to Look for FAQs Why Trust The Spruce Eats? What We Like Available in 3 different sizes Come in attractive gift tin Super moist classic recipe What We Don't Like No Sunday or Monday delivery Eilenberger's Bakery, located in Palestine, Texas, claims to be the oldest in the Lone Star state. Its nationally renowned fruitcake is said to be the same recipe that the founder, Fred H. Eilenberger, brought to the states from Germany—and it's still working for them after more than 120 years in business. This particular fruitcake includes pecans, glacéed cherries, tropical pineapple, and golden raisins. It also arrives in a keepsake gift tin, illustrated with a classic Eilenberger's vignette. Sizes Available: 2, 3, 4.5-pound cakes | Key Ingredients: Pineapples, pecans, cherries, raisins, malt, spices | Shipping Information: Fruitcakes are available year-round. Delivery Tuesday through Saturday. What We Like Simple fruitcake ingredients Attractive cherry and pecan decoration Czech-style recipe What We Don't Like Pricey In the United States, most fruitcakes are also made with pecans, as pecans are native to the South. Not surprisingly, the fruitcake tradition is strongest in the South and throughout Texas. Cakes made with less fruit or at times of the year other than the holidays are often called "pecan cakes" instead of fruitcakes. The cakes are typically decorated with more fruit and nuts and generally don't need icing. Gladys Farek founded her eponymous Texas bakery in 1972, initially baking as a hobby. Everything changed when she introduced her Czech Pecan Fruitcake, which is now the bakery's main attraction. The 2-pound loaf comes in a reasonable size to slice and share. It's also baked as a decorative round cake in multiple sizes or shaped like the state of Texas. The inventory of these fruitcakes rotates often, so occasionally, one size may be out of stock while other sizes are available. Sizes Available: 2, 3, 5, 10, and 25-pound cakes | Key Ingredients: Cherries, pineapple, pecans, rum flavoring, apricot glaze | Shipping Information: The price of shipping ranges from free to $10 when ordering a Gladys' fruitcake through Goldbelly. Deliveries are made weekly, Tuesday through Friday. What We Like Walnuts instead of pecans Packed with a wide variety of fruits A touch boozy What We Don't Like Not especially attractive Yes, actual nuns make these fruitcakes. The nuns of the New Skete Monasteries in Cambridge, New York, are famous for their New York cheesecake, but their fruitcakes aren't to be missed either. While maybe not as flashy as the other fruitcakes, the nuns' fruitcake is known for its exceptional moistness and traditional ingredients. These classic fruitcakes are packed with raisins, pineapple, dates, Seville orange peels, cherries, currants, and walnuts. The cakes have also been baked with brandy for a little extra flavor without soaking the cake in raw alcohol. Sizes Available: 2-pound cake | Key Ingredients: Raisins (golden and dark), pineapple, dates, Seville orange peel, walnuts, cherries, currants, brandy, spices | Shipping Information: Fruitcakes are available for delivery Tuesday through Friday. Free shipping to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. What Is Brandy? What We Like Great for people who don't like cake Still includes pecans, dates, cherries, and pineapple Arrives in a gift box What We Don't Like Number of cookies vary by weight Maybe a cake just isn't your thing. You can still enjoy the festive flavors of fruitcake incookie form. These fruit cake cookies also hail from Texas like so many other popular fruitcakes. Just like the cakes, these cookies are made with cherries, dates, pineapple, and pecans. Each buttery cookie is baked until perfectly chewy and lightly golden brown. Also much like fruitcakes, these cookies are sold by the pound. Size Available: 2 or 3-pound boxes | Key Ingredients: Pecans, dates, cherries, pineapple | Shipping Information:Cookies shipped directly from Eilenberger's Bakery. Orders arrive between Tuesdays and Saturdays. The 14 Best Sympathy Baskets of 2024 What We Like Completely organic Baked with beautiful dried plums and peaches Nicely wrapped in cheesecloth and a reusable tin What We Don't Like Expensive for small size Frog Hollow Farms is beloved by chefs and fruit lovers alike for the incredible flavors and nearly perfect organic fruits it produces throughout the year. Frog Hollow Farms is known for the highest-quality organic fruits, from deeply-hued stone fruits in summer to vibrant citrus in winter. You won't find any brightly-colored candied cherries here. This holiday fruitcake is filled with Frog Hollow Farm's own organic dried plums and peaches, candied orange peel, and walnuts. Finally, the cake is soaked in rum for an extra kick. Made almost entirely of organic ingredients, this 5.5-inch fruitcake comes at a premium but is well worth it for those who want the most naturally delicious fruitcake on the market. Frog Hollow Farm also suggests aging your fruitcake for up to two years. If you decide to age it for next year's holiday season to deepen the flavor, it's suggested that you leave the fruitcake wrapped in the rum-soaked cheesecloth and tin that it's packaged in, and store it in a cool, dry place. Size Available: 1 pound 6.5-ounce cake | Key Ingredients: Plums, peaches, orange peel, walnuts, molasses, rum, spices | Shipping Information: Frog Hollow Farm ships nationwide via UPS on Mondays and Tuesdays. Orders arrive within 1 to 2 business days. Orders may be placed on Wednesday for the same week if shipping is upgraded to Next Day Air. The 15 Best Food Gifts That Will Still Arrive By Christmas What We Like Four fruitcake flavors to choose from Each cake is individually wrapped Great for a family or office holiday party What We Don't Like Pricey By now, you've realized that there are about as many unique fruitcakes out there as there are people creating them. With such a wide selection inevitably comes a wide range of preferences. Jane Parker's Triple Delight variety fruitcake boxes are the answer to satisfying everyone's fruitcake desires. The company bakes fruitcakes in four styles, including classic, dark (which is made with molasses), chocolate, and bourbon & rum. The Triple Delight gift boxes include your choice of three fruitcake flavors. Each fruitcake is one pound and individually wrapped. While they claim that one of these fruitcakes will stay fresh for a year at room temperature and 18 months in the refrigerator, the cakes are baked fresh year-round — so you don't need to save one for springtime. Size Available: Three 1-pound loaves | Key Ingredients: Plump juicy raisins, glace red cherries, glace golden pineapple, and crunchy pecans | Shipping Information: Free economy shipping is available, or 3 to 4-day standard business shipping for an additional price What We Like Beautiful old-world packaging Great as a gift or special treat Ideal with coffee or champagne What We Don't Like Dries out faster than fruitcake You'll recognize theclassic stollenby the powdery white confectioner's sugar that coats this German holiday loaf. Unlike American fruitcakes, the stollen is a yeast-leavened sweet dough studded with rum-soaked dried fruits and nuts. It also has a log of marzipan rolled into the center of the bread for a luxuriously nutty treat. The freeform loaf is ultra buttery and served in slices. It pairs perfectly with amulled wine, warmcoffee, or bottle of bubbly. The Kreutzkamm raisin stollen is only produced seasonally and is currently available for preorder. It's expected to be available for purchase by the middle of October, with orders arriving in early November. Size Available: 2-pound 3-ounce loaf | Key Ingredients: Rum-soaked raisins, sweet and bitter almonds, candied orange, lemon peel, marzipan | Shipping Information: Shipping varies depending on the retailer. What We Like Comes in a festive tin Artful arrangement of pecans and candied fruits Dense and moist What We Don't Like A little crumbly Fruitcakes are a traditional gift around the holidays. If you plan on giving a fruitcake to a loved one, then you'll need a nice container. This two-pound fruitcake from Harry & David comes in a wonderfully festive (and reusable) tin. The design is inspired by folk art and features a fox, deer, bird, and flowers. As for the fruitcake, it's filled with pineapple, raisins, walnuts, pecans, and more, with flavorful notes of cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and ginger. Size Available: 2 pounds | Key Ingredients: Pecans, walnuts, pineapple, raisins, glazed cherries, warm spices | Shipping Information: Standard, 3-day, 2-day, and overnight shipping available. $3 peak season surcharge from 11/20 through 12/24 What We Like Hand-picked and hand-crafted Filled with Texas pecans Comes with collector's tin What We Don't Like Light on fruit Pricey Collin Street Bakery has been making its iconic deluxe fruitcake for over 125 years. The southern recipe is chock-full of fresh hand-shelled pecans for a dense and nutty flavor. It's definitely the choice for those who prefer a nuttier and crunchier cake. Of course, it can't be a fruitcake without some fruit. There are pineapple chunks from Costa Rica, ripe glacéedcherries from Oregon and Washington, and some clover honey for a touch of sweetness. Size: 7-inch ring (1 pound, 14 ounces) | Key Ingredients: Pecans, pineapple, glacéed cherries, clover honey | Shipping Information: Shipping costs and times vary depending on the retailer What We Like Traditional Italian recipe Lighter than classic fruitcake Multiple flavors and sizes available What We Don't Like No nuts If you prefer a lighter cake, try the Italian panettone. It's a fluffy and buttery cake filled with small bits of fruit, including raisins, orange, papaya, and citrus. The cake comes ready-to-eat and you'll definitely want to dig right in. There are a few different sizes available, as well as a number of flavors (though we think the classic fruitcake is definitely the way to go). Size Available: 26.2 ounces, 17.5 ounces, 24 ounces | Key Ingredients: Raisins, orange, papaya, citrus | Shipping Information: Shipping costs and times vary depending on the retailer What We Like Many candied fruits available Vibrant colors What We Don't Like 1 pound minimum If you want to take a slightly more DIY approach to fruitcakes, Nuts.com has plenty of candied fruits to get you started. The bright red glazed cherries are both eye-catching and delicious. Made in Italy, the cherries are incredibly sweet and perfect for topping a fruitcake (or other Christmassy dessert). In addition to the cherries, there are also other fruitcake staples, including green glazed pineapple chunks, diced glazed orange peels, diced glazed lemon peels, and more. Size available: 1-pound bag, 30-pound case | Key Ingredients: Cherries, sugar syrup | Shipping Information: Standard, next-day, and two-day shipping available; free shipping available with orders over $59 Take a Trip to the Ocean With the Best Salt Water Taffy You Can Buy Online Final Verdict Eilenberger's Bakery World Famous Fruitcake is going to strike a nice balance for those looking for a tasty traditional fruitcake but don't necessarily want too many flavors fighting for your attention. Want something to really wow? The Harry & David Grand Traditional Fruitcake is sure to impress anyone you'd like to treat with its festive gift-ready tin. Most of the bakeries we’ve chosen for this round-up have been baking fruitcakes for decades, and many of them have become famous for a particular style of fruitcake they make. When buying fruitcakes online, we think it’s best to buy from a reputable baker instead of an industrially-produced fruitcake of unknown origins. Food items distributed through major companies, such as Harry & David, were chosen because of their high standards when sourcing, storing, and shipping food items. Since fruitcakes are typically a gift you give to a household, you want to make sure you’re ordering an appropriate size for everyone to have a taste. Most bakeries will give you an estimate for how many servings you can expect from their specific cake. Fruitcakes are also typically sold by the pound, although they may occasionally be sold by the round-cake size. Since fruitcakes are denser than many other cakes, you can assume that a 1-pound fruitcake is relatively small, not much larger than a pound of butter. The serving sizes are usually smaller slices. General guidelines for serving sizes are as follows: 1-pound loaf serves up to four people Traditional fruitcakes are made with candied dried fruits and nuts, although the combination of fruits and nuts is almost entirely up to the baker. There are a few fruitcake essentials that you can expect, though. You can reasonably expect to find candied cherries and pecans in your fruitcake. Occasionally the pecans are replaced with walnuts, and in some cases, you can find nut-free fruitcakes. The rest of the candied and dried fruits change from cake to cake but often include raisins, pineapple, and citrus. More adventurous inclusions are dates, currants, plums, peaches, and even papaya. Additionally, some fruitcakes include fruits that have been soaked in alcohol — classically rum, brandy, or sherry. Soaking the fruit in alcohol helps to keep the cake moist and preserve the fruits for even longer. It also tastes great and makes your holiday cheer a little livelier. Of course, if you’re giving the fruitcake as a gift, you’ll want to consider the alcohol content depending on your audience. Keep in mind when ordering a fruitcake that shipping and delivery dates will vary with each supplier. Most of the fruitcakes in this round-up are shipped nationwide, several days a week, although some bakeries have cutoff times for weekly shipments. Some of the larger operations ship every day during the business week and offer several different shipping speed options. It’s best to plan your delivery well in advance of when you think you’ll need it to ensure it’ll arrive on time. You can take comfort in knowing that most fruitcakes will hold for an extended time. Most fruitcakes have a shelf life of about a month. With that said, most bakers will indicate how long each fruitcake can be stored for the best experience. If you know in advance that you’ll be enjoying the fruitcake over an extended period, it might be a good idea to portion it, wrap the fruitcake tightly, and freeze or refrigerate a portion to prolong the shelf life. Citron is a type of citrus that closely resembles a lemon but is considered more fragrant and bitter before candying. The additional bitterness, low juice content, and thicker citrus peel make it much less popular for regular use, but citron is ideal for preserving and candying. The acidic nature of the citron is a great balance with the sweeter ingredients in the cake and helps brighten the flavors of the other fruits. Rum is the most popular liquor for soaking a fruitcake and can also be used for soaking the dried fruits that stud the cakes. The most common kind of rum used is dark and unspiced. But fruitcakes are also known to be soaked with brandy or sherry and even bourbon occasionally. If you buy a fruitcake that hasn’t been pre-soaked, you can easily soak it yourself by drizzling the fruitcake with your liquor of choice and letting it soak in for a few hours to a few days. The longer a fruitcake rests with the liquor, the more the flavors will meld together—although the potency will remain the same. You can also heat the liquor of your choice to boiling to cook off the alcohol and soak the fruitcake with it for a less potent but equally flavorful cake. Jenny Kellerhals has been a professional pastry chef for over a decade in New York City and loves tasting every type of dessert she can lay her hands on—and dissecting how they're made. Based in Queens, she spends most of her time thinking about what she just ate and what she’s going to eat next, with a generous serving of cheese in between. Amanda McDonaldis an editor at The Spruce Eats and has over seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing about all things food — from what new products are at the grocery store to chef-approved hacks that keep tricky leftovers fresh for days. She updated this article to include the most up-to-date information. 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Best Pecans
Collin Street Bakery DeLuxe Fruitcake
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Best Panettone
Bauducco Panettone Original Specialty Cake
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What to Look for When Buying a Fruitcake
Bakers and Distributors
Size and Servings
1.5-pound loaf serves four to six people
2-pound loaf serves eight to ten people
3-pound loaf or cake serves ten to 12 people
4-pound cake serves at least 12 to 16 people Ingredients
Shipping and Delivery Dates
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FAQs
How long does fruitcake last?
What is citron in fruitcake?
What alcohol is fruitcake typically soaked in?
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Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
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Updated by
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and
Allison Wignall
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Allison Wignall
Allison Wignall is a staff writer for The Spruce Eats who focuses on product reviews. She has also contributed to publications such as Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and Southern Living.
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