With jokes about being overly sweet, super dry or overdone, fruitcake doesn’t have the best holiday food reputation. But when made with quality ingredients, the underrated cake can be downright delicious. Filled with a variety of fruit, nuts and flavor, fruitcake is a holiday party in your mouth.

Traditionally made with candied or dried fruits, slicing into a fruitcake reveals a festive pallet of colors—from cranberries and cherries to dates and oranges. They also can have extra holiday flavor if you add a dash of spirits.

 
And if you’re not sure what to give someone this holiday season, or don’t know what to make for dessert, skip the store-bought fruitcake and try your hand at a homemade holiday staple.

Sugar Plum Cake

¾ cup butter
1¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
4 cups flour
¾ pound candy orange slices, chopped
1½ cup pecans, chopped
½ pound dates, chopped
3½ ounces flaked coconut
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 teaspoons grated orange rind

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange rind

Heat oven to 300°.

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar, and then beat in eggs, one at a time.

In a bowl, sift half the flour over the orange slices, pecans, dates and coconut, toss together, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift remaining flour with the baking soda and then add alternately with buttermilk into the creamed mixture. Stir lemon juice and orange rind into the creamed mixture, then add the dredged fruit mixture and combine.

Grease and flour a tube pan or two 9-by-5 inch loaf pans, and fill with the mixture. Bake for 1½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the glaze:

In a mixing bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth. When cakes are finished, pour glaze over top.

Source: Recipe adapted from Mae Shumate, Highland County, in Country Treasures from Virginia Farm Bureau Kitchens