Light Christmas Cake Recipe: Old-Fashioned Holiday Baking

When you're searching for a Light Christmas Cake recipe that captures the nostalgic charm of vintage Holiday baking, look no further than Grandma's treasured collection. These delicate, golden fruitcakes offer a wonderful alternative to their darker, denser cousins, and they're perfect for those who prefer a lighter texture while still enjoying the festive flavors of candied fruits, nuts, and warming spices.

Unlike the heavy, molasses-darkened fruitcakes that have become the butt of countless jokes, these light Christmas cakes feature a tender, moist crumb studded with colorful candied fruits and crunchy almonds. They're beautiful to behold, with jewel-toned cherries and golden pineapple peeking through a delicate cake base.

Make one of these light fruitcakes for your holiday table, or bake several to give as gifts. They keep beautifully for weeks, actually improving in flavor as they age, and they're equally delightful when served year-round with afternoon tea or coffee.

Grandma's Collection of Light Christmas Cake Recipes

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (1920s)

The recipes in Grandma's collection have been passed down through generations of home bakers who understood that Christmas cake didn't have to be dark to be delicious. Each recipe has its own personality.

Some rely solely on egg whites for an especially delicate texture, while others incorporate whole eggs for richness, while each one a testament to the timeless appeal of homemade holiday treats.

Whether you frost them with snowy white royal icing or serve them plain to showcase their natural beauty, these cakes represent the very best of old fashioned Christmas baking.

Homemade Light Fruitcake

1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 6 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 3-1/2 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 pound seeded raisins, 1/2 pound seedless raisins, 1/2 pound dates, 1/2 pound almonds, 1/2 cup citron peel thinly sliced. Mix and bake in a slow oven (250°F).

Old Time Light Christmas Cake

4 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 pound each of crystallized orange peel, lemon peel, pineapple, and red cherries, finely cut
1 pound blanched almonds, finely cut
1 cup butter or other shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound sultana raisins
1/2 pound citron peel, finely cut
1 tablespoon lemon juice
10 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, soda, salt, and sift together three times. Sift 1 cup of this flour mixture over fruit and nuts; mix thoroughly.

Cream shortening thoroughly, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add remaining flour mixture to creamed mixture, a small amount at a time. Beat after each additional until smooth. Add lemon juice, fruits and nuts.

Fold in egg whites. Pour into a paper-lined tube pan or small bread pans. Bake in a slow oven, 250°F, 2-1/2 hours, then increase to 300°F, for 15 minutes.

This light Christmas cake recipe makes a fruit cake of particularly fine texture. Only the whites of the eggs are used, but if you also make a dark fruit cake at the same time, you can use the yolks of the eggs in the dark cake.

For instance, substitute 2 egg yolks for a whole egg in any recipe for dark fruit cake and add 1/2 tablespoonful of water to every 2 yolks. This substitution would not be satisfactory in a cake where lightness is desired, but it gives a good rich fruit cake.

Traditional Scottish Dundee Cake for Christmas

Cream 1 cup of butter with 1 of sugar, add 5 drops of oil of cinnamon, 2 of oil of cloves, and 3 of nutmeg, 5 beaten egg yolks, the grated peel of 1 lemon and 1 orange, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/4 cup of brandy, and 1-3/4 cups of flour sifted with 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Add the beaten egg whites. Dredge with flour 1/2 cup of seeded and chopped raisins, 1/2 cup of currants, 1/2 cup of shredded almonds, and 1 cup of sultana raisins.

Add the fruit, turn into paper-lined and buttered tube pan, spread a concentrically positioned layer of blanched almonds on top, brush with slightly beaten egg white, dust with salt.

Bake in a slow oven (325°F) 45 minutes. This cake will keep for weeks. —One Hundred Picnic Suggestions (1915)

Mrs. Whaley's White Fruit Cake

Miss Ewing offers this delicious Light Christmas Cake Recipe as her favorite. In her family, it is known by the name of Mrs. Whaley, the person from whom the recipe was received. —Miss Wanda M. Ewing, Charleston WV.

1 pound butter
1 pound sugar
10 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 pound candied pineapple
1/2 pound candied cherries, half red and half green
1/4 pound citron
1 package white raisins
1 cup chopped Brazil nuts
1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

1, Cream butter, sugar, and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

2. Add flour a little at a time until three cups have been added. Beat until smooth. Dust chopped fruits and nuts with remaining flour.

3. Add fruit and nuts and bake in greased and floured tube pan 2-1/2 to 3 hours in 250°F oven. —Yuletide Favorites 1950s

Perfect Royal Icing for Your Light Christmas Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Two and one-half pounds icing sugar (sifted), 4 egg whites (large), juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon glycerine, 1 tiny drop blue coloring to make the icing snowy white.

Method:

Place egg whites in a bowl and add sugar very gradually, beating continually until all sugar is added, then add lemon juice, beat again.

Add glycerine and blue coloring and continue beating until very smooth. Don't skimp on the beating.

This Royal Icing will be quite hard on the outside, but will not break or crumble when cut, and is perfect for cake decorating purposes. It will make any cake appear extra special.

Old Fashioned Baking Terms Explained

• Slow Oven: When Grandma's recipes call for a "slow oven," they mean a temperature between 250°F and 325°F. This gentle heat allows fruitcakes to bake through evenly without over-browning the exterior. Always use an oven thermometer to ensure accuracy, as vintage ovens varied greatly.
• Paper-Lined Pans: Lining your cake pans with brown paper (or today's parchment paper) prevents the fruit-heavy batter from sticking and protects the cake's exterior from becoming too dark during the long baking time. Grease the paper well before adding batter.
• Dredge with Flour: This simply means to toss the fruits and nuts in flour before adding them to the batter. This coating helps suspend them throughout the cake instead of letting them sink to the bottom during baking.
• Cream Thoroughly: Creaming butter and sugar until "light and fluffy" incorporates air into the batter, which is essential for a tender cake. This process should take only 3 to 5 minutes with an electric mixer, or longer by hand. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color and increased in volume.

Tips for Perfect Light Christmas Cakes

• Preparing Your Fruits: Candied fruits can sometimes be sticky and clump together. If this happens, separate them with your fingers and toss them in a small amount of flour before adding to the batter. This ensures an even distribution throughout the cake.
• Testing for Doneness: Because these cakes bake at low temperatures for longer periods, a toothpick test may not be reliable. Instead, gently press the center of the cake, and it should spring back when done. The cake should also pull slightly away from the pan sides.
• Storing Your Cake: Once completely cooled, wrap your light fruitcake tightly in cheesecloth that has been dampened with brandy, rum, or fruit juice. Then wrap in aluminum foil and store in an airtight container. The cake will keep for several weeks and will actually improve with age as the flavors meld.
• Preventing Dry Cake: The most common problem with fruitcakes is dryness. Ensure you measure flour accurately (spoon it into the measuring cup instead of scooping), don't over-bake, and store the cake properly. If your cake does become dry, brush it with fruit juice before serving.
• Substituting Ingredients: If you can't find certain candied fruits, feel free to substitute. Candied ginger, dried apricots, or dried cranberries all work beautifully in these light Christmas cake recipes. Just maintain the same total weight of fruit called for in the recipe.

Why These Vintage Light Christmas Cakes Deserve a Place on Your Holiday Table

Let's face it, not everyone likes the rich taste of dark fruitcakes. Comedians even joke about them, calling them boat anchors and doorstops. However, I often wonder whether those who joke have ever tasted a genuine Old Fashioned Christmas Fruit Cake like Grandma's.

To be fair, while some enjoy the taste of fruit and almonds, they simply prefer a more delicate, lighter texture and flavor in their fruitcakes. If that describes you, the good news is, you can have your cake and eat it too. Choose a Light Christmas Cake recipe from Grandma's favorites, and the result will please almost everybody.

These vintage recipes represent a time when home bakers took pride in creating beautiful, delicious cakes from scratch, when the arrival of candied fruits in the stores signaled the beginning of the Holiday baking season. Each cake was a labor of love, carefully mixed, patiently baked, and often aged for weeks to achieve perfection.

Give your friends and family a choice this Christmas season. You can make both a light AND a dark fruitcake, offering something for every taste. Or bake several light cakes using different recipes from this collection, as each one has its own character and charm. Your kitchen will smell heavenly, and you'll create memories that last far longer than any store-bought treat ever could.