Serve this Holiday Fruitcake Loaf with a cup of hot tea at your year-end bookclub meeting, with your fellow card sharp at this week's cribbage game, or enjoy a slice alone in your living room with a good book on a lazy, snowy Sunday afternoon. Prepared with dried and candied fruit which has been soaked in strong tea, this loaf is moist and delicious!
Add the mixed peel, candied pineapple, and candied cherries to a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Set aside.
Prepare one cup of strong, hot tea. Pour it into the bowl with the candied fruits. Use a spoon to stir to combine. Set that aside to cool for fifteen minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Set aside.
In a separate, small bowl, whisk the two eggs. Set aside.
Once the candied fruit and tea mixture has cooled for fifteen minutes, stir in the vanilla extract.
Pour the candied fruit and tea mixture into the bowl with the flour. Add in the whisked eggs, fresh cranberries, and chopped walnuts. With a rubber spatula, fold the ingredients together to form a batter. Set aside.
Lightly coat two loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the loaf batter equally into the prepared loaf pans. Do not fill the loaf pan more than 3/4 full with the batter.
Bake for 50 minutes or until your loaves are baked through. Be sure to test to see if the loaf is baked by inserting a clean wooden toothpick into the center of the loaf. If the toothpick comes out clean, the loaf is done and can be removed from the oven. Otherwise, bake for five minutes longer and perform the toothpick test again.
Once baked, remove from the oven and place onto a wire cooling rack. Allow the loaf to rest for fifteen minutes before turning it out of the loaf pan. Continue to cool on the cooling rack.
Optional Glaze:
Whisk together the confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth and creamy. Drizzle it over the cooled loaf. When the glaze has set, you can slice and serve the loaf. Enjoy!