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Not soaking the fruit long enough - Soaking the dried or candied fruits that you want to use in the cake in brandy, rum, or wine will help keep the cake from becoming too dry. During the baking process the fruits will release all the alcohol they have soaked up into the cake which will give the cake the moisture it needs and add a nice bit of spice to the flavor of the cake. Expert cooks recommend that you let the fruit you are going to put in the fruitcake soak for at least two weeks in alcohol before you bake the cake. 

 

Making the cake too heavy - The cake itself should be light and there should be just enough cake to hold the fruits and nuts in place and act as a binder. The real flavor of the cake should come from the fruits and nuts that are baked into the cake. Use a light batter and stay away from heavy flavorings for the cake portion of the fruitcake. A simple cake made from great ingredients is the perfect backdrop for the candied fruits and nuts that really make the fruitcake.

 

Not protecting the fruitcake - Fruitcake will last for a long time, even years, but only if it's properly wrapped and kept.  Wrapping a fruitcake in an alcohol soaked cloth is a good way to protect the fruitcake and keep it fresh but experts recommend that you ice the fruitcake with a thin layer of marzipan and then cover that with traditional frosting. The marzipan and frosting will keep the cake moist by sealing in the liquid inside the cake. Frosted fruit cakes are often served as wedding cakes. 

 

Freezing the fruitcake too early - Freezing fruitcakes is fine, but don't ever freeze the fruitcake until it's had a chance to sit and ripen for awhile. Experts say that a  finished fruitcake should sit for at least a month before being frozen to allow the cake time to develop the rich flavors that fruitcakes are famous for.  When a fruitcake is frozen and then defrosted it will have all the flavor it had when it was frozen but it will not develop any new flavor during the defrosting process. So make sure that you let the cake sit for a good long time before you freeze it.