Makeover Holiday Fruitcake Loaf

By Hklbrries

"This fruit and nut-filled treat serves up the essence of fruitcake, but with a better nutritional profile than the original. If your family loves fruitcake, they're sure to enjoy this recipe."

Iris Cook, Glasgow, MT

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For Iris Cook and her family, "Christmas isn't Christmas until the fruitcake arrives!" The problem? "My husband and several other family members have to watch their sugar intake," she writes from Glasgow, MT. "Could this be made over?"

Iris, for you and all our other fruitcake-loving readers, we'll do it! Our experts whipped it into shape with just a few changes.

First, they decreased the amount of raisins and replaced most of the mixed candied fruit with golden raisins and dried cherries. This small change saved 533 calories from the entire recipe!

Next, the pros replaced half the recipe's shortening with unsweetened applesauce and slightly decreased the molasses, making up the difference in liquid with fat-free milk. They also used a brown sugar blend instead of granulated sugar to eliminate calories and boost the loaf's classic caramel color.

Makeover Holiday Fruitcake Loaf serves up the essence of fruitcake with a much-improved nutritional profile. If your family loves fruitcake as much as Iris' (her sons fight over who gets it first!), they're sure to enjoy this recipe!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup golden raisins and cherries
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup brown sugar blend
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from tasteofhome.com

Preparation

Step 1

Coat a 9-inch-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with waxed paper; spray the paper and sprinkle with flour. Set aside.

Combine the golden raisins and cherries, walnuts and raisins. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat shortening and brown sugar blend until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses and applesauce (mixture will appear curdled).

Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking soda and cloves; add to shortening mixture alternately with milk. Fold in raisin mixture.

Transfer to prepared pan. Bake at 325 F for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

Editor's Note: This recipe was tested with Splenda brown sugar blend.

Nutrition Information:
Per slice
208 calories
7 g fat (1 g saturated fat)
27 mg cholesterol
164 mg sodium
32 g carbohydrates
2 g fiber
5 g protein