I think the secret to delicious fruitcake is to use high quality candied fruit, plus booze. I make my own candied fruit, use lots of nuts, and brush the cake with bourbon whiskey. Let it sit for a few weeks if you have the time. Last year I added black walnuts to the nut mix. I really liked the way they added a tone in the background that plays down the sweetness of the candied fruit.

For recipes, I like two especially - one is a white fruitcake, the second a traditional. First one is in a cookbook by Camille Glenn, The Heritage of Southern Cooking. This is overall an excellent cookbook, by the way. Name of recipe is "The Jewel Box Cake." Very light, and delicious. Author advises you to make your own candied pineapple chunks (worth the small effort). Skip the frosting. This cake is best eaten while fresh. Second recipe is by Alton Brown, "Free Range Fruitcake." While the recipe calls for boiling the dried fruit, I don't do that. I soak the dried fruit in rum for a day or two. I use my scratch made candied fruit, and substitute almond meal for some of the flour. I stuck to the traditional fruit (skipped the blueberries and strawberries, but added dates, etc). I played with the recipe over a few years to get it to where I liked it.

I’m making the recipe from King Arthur Flour.

I feel in love with fruitcake when I had one that was basically gingerbread stuffed with candied fruit. The recipe (which I lost) had coffee, some OJ, molasses, and then a lot of booze. I like cognac personally. I have tried to recreate it with some success over the years. I also made the Eudora Welty fruitcake last year and it was amazing:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.eatdrinkmississippi.com/eudora-welty-white-fruit-cake&ved=2ahUKEwip8-mu2Z77AhU1EFkFHSPCBbkQFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0j9mqpOI8AglZ-7dULItHz