Name: 4-ingredient fruit salad condensed milk fruit cake recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 125 min
Yield: 14
Ingredients: 2 x 410g cans fruit salad in juice; 500g mixed dried fruit; 397g can sweetened condensed milk; 500.00 ml self-raising flour

by Greer Worsley Last updated on 12/12/2025

It takes just 4 common pantry ingredients to make this deliciously moist fruit cake recipe that looks and tastes like a classic fruit cake. And yet, it’s simpler, speedier and more budget-friendly than most. Best of all, it’ll store for several weeks well-wrapped. Whether it’s a Christmas dessert offering or a morning tea at any time of year, this fruit cake is destined to impress.

How to make my 4-ingredient fruit salad condensed milk fruit cake

The key to perfecting this easy fruit cake is ensuring you start it the night before. Don’t worry, you’re not baking overnight – it’s just a matter of placing the canned fruit salad in a large bowl with their juices and mixing in the dried fruit. Then you cover it and pop it in the fridge to rest overnight. Easy! Then, once you’ve lined your cake pan and preheated the oven, you’ll mix the condensed milk and flour through the fruit mixture, pour it into your pan and bake. Et voila! If the cake is browning too quickly in your oven, you can cover it with foil.

What goes into this easy fruit cake recipe?

Not much at all! We use canned fruit salad in juice, which brings extra moisture to the cake, mixed dried fruit (because it’s still a proper fruit cake, after all), sweetened condensed milk, which acts as both a binder and sweetener, and self-raising flour for structural integrity. You can add 2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon for some extra zing, if you like.

Love this pantry fruit cake recipe? Try more easy fruit cake recipes from our selection.

Recipe and photography by recipe developer Greer Worsley.

- Australia's Best Recipes Team

Ingredients

2 x 410g cans Woolworths fruit salad in juice
500g mixed dried fruit
397g can Woolworths sweetened condensed milk
2 cups self-raising flour

Method

Step 1

Place fruit salad into a large bowl with their juices. Add mixed dried fruit and stir well to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Step 2

Preheat oven to 150°C/130°C fan forced. Line a 20cm cake pan with 2 layers of baking paper, ensuring the baking paper extends 5cm higher than the top of the pan.
Step 3

Remove fruit mix from fridge and stir in condensed milk, then flour. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 2 hours until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cake in pan and serve.