No-Bake Holiday Fruit Cake Recipe

fruit cake recipe

Try this easy, almost no-cooking fruit cake recipe for people who hate fruit cake.  Just tell the fruit cake haters it’s graham cracker chews.  They will taste it and fall in love. The holiday season is upon us and this is a great dish to take to parties, pot lucks, and family gatherings. This dessert recipe can be made quickly, is extremely adjustable and freezes well. Follow the recipe exactly, or use whatever nuts and dried fruit you prefer.

What You Need For A Refrigerator Fruit Cake Recipe

14 oz box of GRAHAM CRACKERS, smashed  [alternative:  VANILLA WAFERS]
10 oz bag MARSHMALLOWS
½ cup MILK
3 cups of NUTS, chopped*
4 cups of dried FRUIT, chopped*
2 Tbsp CINNAMON (optional)

*[What we used for this recipe:  2 cups walnuts, raw and 1 cup pecans, toasted; 6 oz unsweetened coconut, 5 oz dried pineapple (NOT candied like used in traditional fruit cake), 5 oz reduced sugar craisins, white raisins.  The coconut adds some moisture without adding a strong coconut flavor.]

How To Make This Fruit Cake Recipe

If you want to try an old-school store bought fruit cake, you can check out current prices for Claxton Fruit Cake on Amazon.

fruit cake recipe
  • In a large bowl, crush an entire box of graham crackers (or vanilla wafers). You can do this by hand or use a food processor, but crush crackers as small as possible.
  • Add in the dried fruit and nuts. There are no wrong fruits and nuts, whatever YOU LIKE will work.   Candied ginger? Dried cherries? Follow my ingredients exactly or use your own, it’s an extremely adjustable recipe, which is one of the reasons the recipe is so great!
  • Add in the cinnamon, and toss all the ingredients together well. Maybe a little cardamon, too? Added sugar? I think adding more sugar is crazy, but it’s an option. Brown sugar? Maybe.
  • On the stove top, heat a pot on low heat and add in the milk and marshmallows.
  • Stir milk and marshmallows together for about two minutes until they melt into a gooey liquid-like state. Stick to low heat, because using higher heat and getting in a hurry is just an invitation to disaster. it’ll only take a couple of minutes on low heat.
  • Once the marshmallows are melted, as quickly as possible–while the warm marshmallow mixture is at it’s “gooeyest”–pour the melted marshmallow in with the dry ingredients and mix everything together very well.
  • Then add the mixed ingredients into an ungreased dish and compress the mixture down into a dense loaf. You can do this with a spoon or spatula, or wax paper works very well, too. Use whatever size dish you like. The size of the dish will determine the shape of the cake. I generally use a flat dish, like an 8″ X 10″, then I cut the fruitcake pieces into nice cubes. My mother-in-law likes to use a loaf pan, and then cut the cake pieces into larger slices.
  • Put the dish in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours, and then it’ll be ready to slice and serve.

This cake recipe is so simple to make, and it stores and travels very well, which makes it perfect for parties and gatherings and gifts. Fruit cake is the perfect gift for someone you like, but don’t really love, so definitely give this refrigerator fruit cake a try.

If you want a fancier cake that’s crazy delicious and still pretty easy to make, try this Chocolate Cherry Cake Recipe.

chocolate cherry cake

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Pupusa Recipe for a Sweet Easy Dessert

pupusa recipe

Try this sweet twist on a pupusa recipe that turns gluten-free corn flour into a quick dessert treat. Pupusas are a traditional Latin American dish of corn tortilla filled with cheese, beans, peppers and meat, but you can use any combo of ingredients you like to cook pupusas, including sweet ingredients to make a variety of delicious dessert pupusas.

What you need for Dessert Pupusas

CORN FLOUR and warm water to create the dough
CINNAMON
BROWN SUGAR and/or POWDERED SUGAR
PEANUT BUTTER crunchy or creamy
CHOCOLATE CHIPS plus whatever other sweet filling you like!
OIL for cooking

for the creamy topping:
plain GREEK YOGURT
MAPLE SYRUP

and top the dessert pupusa with a sprinkling of
POWDERED SUGAR and
FRESH FRUIT

pupusa recipe

How to make a Dessert Pupusa Recipe

This pupusa dessert is super easy and almost foolproof. I’m not going to use ingredient amounts, because it’s really all to taste. Check here for current Corn Flour pricing on Amazon.

  • In a bowl, combine corn flour, sugar, and cinnamon. For measurements, it will be hard to make a bad ratio, just follow your heart. If you must have something to work with, try 1 cup of flour with 2 Tbsp of sugar and 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, but really, you can use twice as much sugar and cinnamon and it will still taste great. It’s dessert! Nobody wants to do math! The dough is easy to make, and the pupusas can be any size you like.
  • To make the corn dough you simply combine the corn flour mixture with warm water and mix by hand until you achieve a doughy consistency. If the dough is too dry, add more water, and if it’s too wet, add more flour.
  • Mix in a large ball and then divide into smaller golf ball sizes.
  • Flatten each ball into a flat disc shape and spread lightly with peanut butter.
  • Add chocolate chips, or any flavor chips, or meltable candies. Marshmallows? Sure! Although I find it to chewy with marshmallow, but you might love it!
  • Close the flat flour disc around the peanut butter and fillings and shape into a ball again.
  • Now flatten the ball, but with the fillings now inside. If some of the filling peeks through, it’s no big deal. A little leakage is fine.
  • Heat a skillet and about 1 Tbsp of coconut oil on medium low heat.
  • When the oil is heated, add each pupusa to the skillet and cook 1-2 minutes on each side. The longer they cook the crunchier the pupusa will get, because it’s corn flour just the same as used to make tortillas. Cook lightly to make a soft cookie consistency, or cook longer for a crunch.
  • After cooking, set pupusas aside on a paper towel.
  • For the creamy topping, I simply combine a rich Greek yogurt with Maple syrup, and sometimes I even use maple syrup to make the pupusa dough instead of sugar. Mix the yogurt and syrup well, and that’s it. Or simply use whipped cream!
  • To serve, place a dollop of cream on each pupusa. If desired, top with sliced fruit and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. This will make the desert look extra fancy pants with very little effort.

Give this sweet dessert pupusas recipe a try and let me know what you think, and bon appétit! And for a savory version, check out this Traditional Pupusa Recipe.

pupusas recipe
A pupusas recipe can be cooked quickly on a lightly greased skillet or griddle.

Thanks for checking out the pupusa recipe. Be sure and sign up for our mailing list so you’ll never miss a Chef Buck cooking video, and click a button below and share the dishes with your friends. We appreciate all the kind comments and support, and we’ll see you next time in the kitchen!
–Chef Buck

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