Traditional Christmas Loaf With Fruit

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I have a bit of a weakness for glacé cherries.

I can’t resist their old school grandeur and they look positively festive in this traditional Christmas Loaf.

Baked in very small loaf pans, Christmas Loaf is a quick and easy baked gift to give.

Out of all my seasonal bread recipes, baking this delicious holiday bread is the one that resolves my Christmas spirit.

I talk often about my Mom’s mom, my Grandmother Anna. She is mentioned here on Not Entirely Average many times.

But I almost never mention my Dad’s mom, my Grandmother Helen.

Both women are heroes of mine.

Both have since passed and not a day goes by that I am not missing them both for teaching me about life.

My Dad’s mom, Grandma Helen, was not too much of a cook. That is to say, she cooked, just not fancy. Nothing ostentatious.

All images and text ©Jenny DeRemer for Not Entirely Average, LLC

Do You Have What’s Needed To Make Traditional Christmas Loaf With Fruit? Check The List!

• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• All purpose flour
• Candied cherries, red or green or both
• Pecans

How This Recipe Came About…

I always liked eating meals at Grandma’s because she let me have anything I wanted.

Bacon, chocolate milk, Pepsi…everything I wasn’t allowed to eat freely at home, Grandma always managed to have on hand for my visits.

And, her food was just a good hearty sort.

The one thing she did do that was special around Christmastime was with my grandfather, they baked.

They were a two person baking operation with tremendous results.

Funny enough, they only baked one thing – Stollen Loaf, otherwise known as Christmas Loaf or Yuletide Bread.

The cakes really couldn’t be easier to make – all the ingredients are mixed in one bowl so it takes only a matter of minutes to put together.

Perfect for this time of year when we are all so busy!

Does Anyone Actually Eat Fruitcake?

Every year, it’s like playing hot potato with the proverbial Christmas fruit loaf.

It could well be a 100 year old relic because it’s been passed so many times, and it appears to get heavier in weight and denser by the day.

And yes, this is absolutely a fruit cake…of sorts. But, it’s a soft sweet crumbly crumb, and mainly a nutmeat and fruit cake.

It is my grandparents recipe for Christmas Loaf.

My Grandfather baked up MANY for the holidays.

Some he would soak in Brandy for a couple of months until they were dense and fragrant. Others he would bake up in smallish loaf pans and gift to neighbors.

Our house always received two unsoaked loaves. My Mom basically taught me how to enjoy this cake.

I watched her spread soft salted sweet cream butter atop a fresh slice. Then, she’d start the kettle…

Is It Still Okay To Give Fruit Cake As A Gift?

I enjoy both baking and eating so many seasonal varieties of holiday breads and cakes.

Banana Bread, Zucchini Bread, and Pound Cake…many of these I offer, as my Grandparents did, as a Christmas gift.

Christmas Loaf is not only a make-ahead gift, but also one of my Christmas day recipes.

I place a loaf into the oven in the morning right after I start a pot of coffee brewing.

Can I Make French Toast Or Bread Pudding Using Christmas Loaf?

Once the bread is baked and out of the oven, I allow it to cool slightly.

I slice it thick like Texas toast and submerge the slices in well beaten eggs and cream and begin a Christmas morning French toast using the Christmas Loaf as my bread.

Wanna talk EXCELLENT?

My recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding is easily followed substituting the Panettone or Challah with Christmas Loaf.

In fact, aside from enjoying this bread with a cup of hot tea or coffee, the bread pudding is my favorite way to enjoy.

If You Like This Recipe…

…you might also like:

• Southerly Pecan Dessert Bites
• Church Street Cheesecake Squares
• Pecan Tassies
• Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls

What Is The Story Behind Fruitcake?

Fruitcake, Yule Bread, and Christmas bread have a long history.

The earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into a barley mash.

In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added.

Fruitcakes soon proliferated all over Europe.

Recipes varied greatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the available ingredients as well as (in some instances) church regulations forbidding the use of butter, regarding the observance of fast.

Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) finally granted the use of butter, in a written permission known as the ‘Butter Letter’ or Butterbrief in 1490, giving permission to Saxony to use milk and butter in the Stollen fruitcakes.

A Christmas Loaf with a cup of piping hot tea will be a warming treat after a brisk walk down to the docks in the chilly December air.

I believe my Grandfather to have adopted this method from his mom.

Her name was Lizzie Sandt, my Great Grandmother.

She was of German decent, her mother’s maiden name of Dreisbach dating back in the America since well before the Revolutionary War.

My Great Grandmother Lizzie grew up in Sandt Pennsylvania.

Yes, they were the Sandt’s living in the village of Sandt, a place founded by the family a hundred years before.

I had heard stories growing up that my Great Grandmother and her mom spoke only German to one another.

Heritage, family, tradition, and keen palettes….

I imagine that this Stollen fruitcake or method for candied fruit bread was theirs. And even though I have no real way of knowing, somehow, I just do.

I have eaten it my entire adult life, not caring for it much as a kid, but it was ALWAYS there.

I never did quite understand all of the fruitcake jokes.

A recipe for Christmas bread is clearly a very traditional thing.

C’mon guys, the Middle Ages?

Yeah, it’s old, it’s traditional…for me though, it’s just Grandma and Grandpa’s Christmas Bread Loaf.