These Cream Cheese Fruitcakes with White Chocolate Frosting will make you forget that you don’t like fruitcake. Isn’t it true that there are fruitcake lovers (I don’t know too many) and fruitcake avoiders? Now, those groups will join hands and get behind this white fruitcake. This orange flavored cake bears no resemblance to traditional fruitcakes.
Specifically, this Cream Cheese Fruitcake is not dark. It is not chunky with unidentifiable objects. It does not come in a tin wrapped in rum-soaked cheesecloth. And most importantly, these delicate mini fruitcakes DO NOT GET REGIFTED. No way. No how. In fact, you will hide them to keep them all to yourself. They are that good.
Not Your Grandmother’s Recipe for Fruitcake
There is nothing wrong with traditional recipes. In fact, I love to make my mother’s and grandmother’s old fashioned dishes because they are comforting. And every bite seems like a memory of family gatherings. But, some things need to have a new modern spin. These Cream Cheese Fruitcakes with White Chocolate Frosting are just so delicious and so different from what people think of when they think of fruitcake. These are light yet dense, colorful yet not filled with weird things. And the subtle orange flavor and the poundcake texture make these a holiday game changer.
Cream Cheese Gives these Fruitcakes their Perfect Texture
When you add cream cheese to a cake batter, you get a wonderful texture that is moist and light yet has a density that holds each slice together. Of course, in my humble opinion, if you are using cream cheese it has to be Philadelphia brand. Philadelphia cream cheese has the right amount of tang and the texture is perfect. When beaten at room temperature, it’s always smooth and creamy.
Key ingredients in these Cream Cheese Fruitcakes:
- Candied cherries (red and green), golden raisins and pineapple-use the best quality dried fruit you can find. The cherries should be bright and shiny, not dry or wrinkled. The dried pineapple should also be moist and fresh looking. Do not buy the chopped mixtures of dried cherries as they are not as flavorful in my opinion.
- Grand Marnier or rum-The addition of one of these flavorful alcoholic beverages makes these holiday treats even more special. If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute a flavored syrup from Torani such as vanilla, caramel, or, best choice of all, orange.
- Philadelphia Cream Cheese-for the creamiest, smoothest batter, make sure to let the cream cheese come to room temperature before beating it with the butter.
Make these Yummy Cream Cheese Fruitcakes with White Chocolate Frosting ahead of time!
The holidays are so busy. I get it. So, for gift giving, you can make these special little fruitcakes ahead of time and freeze. Just before gifting or serving, ice them with the white chocolate ganache frosting. . I promise, promise, promise that I have saved your holiday gift-giving life because once you bake these little gems, your dilemma over what treasures to give away will be solved once and for all.
These Fruitcakes Can be Decorated to Look like a Gift
Instead of just a plain old frosted cake, each of these mini fruitcakes become their own little gift. If you don’t have mini loaf pans (they also come in disposable aluminum form) feel free to make these cakes in two 9 inch loaf pans.
To make them look extra special and festive, use your imagination and place the candied fruit in a decorative pattern when the white chocolate ganache frosting is still soft. You can add a piece of ribbon after the ganache hardens to make the cake look like a little package. The sky is the limit when it comes to decorating and wrapping these. Give them on a decorative plate, wrap them in colored cellophane and you will have a festive gift for a neighbor, friend, teacher and family members. Just making these every year makes me feel how special the holidays are.
If you like this recipe, or even better if you make them for your family and friends, please leave me a comment and pin this recipe on Pinterest. It really means a lot to me! Happy holidays to all my wonderful followers and readers.
Cream Cheese Fruitcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
Put aside all your opinions of fruitcakes. These are the most delicious, orange flavored light cakes that are full of moist pieces of candied cherries, pineapple and golden raisins. These make great gifts for neighbors and friends if you can bear to part with them. They can be wrapped in plastic wrap and foil and frozen if you want to make them ahead. Frost them with the white chocolate ganache after thawing them.
Ingredients
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup Grand Marnier or rum
- 2 ¼ c. flour plus 4 tablespoons for flouring the pans
- ½ cup candied red cherries chopped and reserving 6 for garnish
- ½ cup candied green cherries chopped and reserving 6 for garnish
- 1 cup candied pineapple chopped
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature plus 4 tablespoons for buttering the pans
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1/1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 8 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese full or reduced fat at room temperature
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- grated zest of two oranges
- 3 cups white chocolate chips divided
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12 mini-loaf pans or two 9 inch loaf pans depending on how large you want the fruitcakes.
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In a one cup heatproof glass measure, heat Grand Marnier or rum for one minute in the microwave. Add the raisins and let sit for one hour.
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In a large bowl combine the flour and all of the chopped fruit.
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In a medium sized bowl beat the butter and the sugar, adding the sugar gradually until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Add the baking powder and cream cheese and beat for two minutes.
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Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and orange zest and pour all of the mixture into the flour and fruit mixture.
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On slow speed, beat the mixture until the flour and fruit is well-combined but do not overmix. With a spatula, fold in 1 cup of white chocolate chips.
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Divide the mixture into the buttered pans, filling each one ¾ full. Do not overfill the mini-loaf pans.
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Bake the cakes on the middle rack of the oven for 50 minutes for the mini-loaf pans or 1 hour and ten minutes for the large loaf pans. Check the large loaf pans with a skewer to confirm the cakes are done. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes.
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With a knife, cut around each of the cakes, unmold and place them on a wire rack to cool.
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After the cakes are completely cool, make the white chocolate frosting. In a large, heatproof glass measuring cup, microwave the remaining 2 cups of white chocolate chips and heavy cream for one minute. Stir the mixture and heat again for 20 seconds. Stir until the chips and cream are smooth and all the chips are melted. You can microwave the mixture for 5 seconds at a time, stirring just until the chips are melted.
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Pour the frosting evenly over each of the cooled fruit cakes and decorate each one with halved red cherries and quartered green cherries to look like holly, if desired.
SO sorry I didn’t come across this recipe until AFTER the holidays! I’m not crazy about store-bought candied fruit but these look intriguing, as well as festive. The quest begins to find a recipe to try my own candy-ing at home, though, so I can try these next year – thanks for posting!
Thanks for reading the blog and commenting. This cake is so dense and delicious and the cream cheese makes a huge difference! You could always use chopped dried figs or dates if you don’t like the store bought candied fruit.
I commented too soon! It appears that the site is fixed. Thank you! I cannot wait to try this recipe.
Hello Susan! I am so glad you were able to see the photos. The site is acting a bit glitchy on mobile devices but seems to be ok for desktop. I am looking into this to avoid issues in the future and thanks so much for letting me know! Happy holidays and I hope you like my favorite Xmas treats!