Best Fruitcake In The Bay Area
(credit: Laurie Jo Miller Farr)
Love 'em or hate 'em, the best traditional fruitcakes are fairly boozy concoctions saturated with brandy or liqueur. Rising and falling in popularity since Roman times, variations by country differ in their seasonal availability, ingredients and icing, if any. A fruitcake can last for ages wrapped in alcohol-soaked linen for storing on the pantry shelf. Preparation for the dried fruit takes months; these are the Bay Area pros.
Schubert's Bakery
521 Clement St.
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 752-1580
www.schuberts-bakery.com
Tiramisu, mango mousse and Swedish princess cake ... you name it. The highest quality crafted cakes have been produced by this Bay Area landmark since 1911. Order beautifully decorated cakes ahead of time, up to the mega-sized 18" x 36" to serve 75 to 100. Their German-inspired traditional fruit cake is a seasonal selection that comes highly recommended. With always friendly staff behind the counter, they've been serving generations of loyal customers from local families for generations.
2207 4th St.
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 548-2236
www.junetaylorjams.com
It's not everybody who gets their fruitcake described by the New York Times as "An elegant organic one-pound fruit cake, perfumed with port and brandy." Stoned fruit preserved from summer harvests includes Bing cherries, apricots and plums before she gets to the autumn candied citrus peel. A private reserve port from Alameda-based St. George Spirits is the booze of choice. In addition to Berkeley and other Bay Area locations seen on the website, June Taylor is also at an outdoor stall at the Ferry Plaza farmers market (near the Gandhi statue) on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
1010 University Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 324-7700
www.draegers.com
Robert Lambert Fruitcake, aged one year, in both dark and white, is available at Draeger's four Bay Area locations or via online orders at Bi-Rite. Robert can often be found in person at the farmers markets at Grand Lake, Oakland on Saturdays and at San Rafael Civic Center on Sundays. Grandma's recipe features cherries, pineapple, Brazil nuts, local pecans, walnuts and whole blanched toasted almonds. Don't overlook handpicked candied young ginger, bergamot, Rangpur lime, Meyer lemon and blood orange peels. There's more...every cake is soaked in French Cognac before being topped with a California bay leaf and a candied white grapefruit peel star. It's wrapped in cheesecloth dipped in booze. Delivery by Instacart? Of course.
Frog Hollow Farm At The Ferry Building
Store #46, One Ferry Building
The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 445-0990
www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com
Direct from Brentwood in Contra Costa County, one of the Bay Area's best-loved fruitcakes is produced weekly in small batches at family-run Al Courchesne's 120-acre CCOF-certified organic farm. Some say the moist, walnut-rich fruit cake filled with organic dried peaches, orange peels and cherries sourced at the farm and soaked in rum is the best you'll ever find. In this variation on the traditional loaf, Chef Becky Courchesne's presentation is round, packaged in a reusable tin.
1331 9th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 566-3117
www.arizmendibakery.com
Described as a brandy-soaked customer favorite, the dark molasses-coated spice cake recipe contains dried almonds, pineapple, papaya, cherry and other dried fruits. The worker-owned cooperative has six Bay Area locations. Find them in Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville in the East Bay; San Rafael in North Bay; plus two San Francisco bakeries in the Inner Sunset and in the Mission District.
Laurie Jo Miller Farr loves walkable cities. A tourism industry professional and transplanted New Yorker by way of half-a-lifetime in London, she's writing about the best of the bay and beyond for Bay City Guide, AXS, Examiner and more. Examiner.com.
