Eggless Fruit Cake
Dec 01, 2017, Updated May 07, 2023
Eggless Fruit Cake for Christmas! This cake is packed with loads of dried fruits, nuts and warm spices!
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Just in time for the holidays, this spiced eggless fruit cake is studded with lots of dried fruits, nuts and warm holidays spices. Grab a coffee and enjoy a slice this festive season!
Didn’t I promise you guys a festive recipe very soon? So excited to be sharing Christmas Fruit Cake recipe which is not only eggless but also non-alcoholic. I have been meaning to make a fruit cake for so long. And yes, I wanted to make one with rum and soak my fruits and nuts for weeks. Every year I would plan to make this cake and somehow it never got made – sometimes I forgot to soak the fruits and sometimes I just didn’t have the ingredients at home. Well, this time I had everything at home except the rum so I ditched the idea and made this cake non-alcoholic. This cake turned out really soft and packed with so much flavor!
Dried fruits & nuts used in this cake
✓apricots
✓dates & raisins
✓tutti frutti (candied dried papaya)
✓peaches & plums
✓cherries & apples
✓nuts like almonds and cashews
I soaked all these fruits and nuts in apple juice overnight. Now you may soak them for 24-48 hours but just keep it refrigerated. You may also use orange juice in place of apple juice. And you may also use any fruits and nuts of your choice but I have to say that cherries, apricots, dates and tutti frutti are my favorite in this cake and I don’t recommend skipping them. Once the fruits are soaked and done, it’s fairly easy to put together this cake.
Spices used in this eggless fruit cake
For this Eggless Fruit Cake, I have used spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and all spice. In case you don’t have the all spice – use additional 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg powder and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves. You may also add some ground ginger to the cake. I also used lemon extract and orange extract in the recipe. Candied orange peel/lemon peel or orange/lemon zest would also work very well, in fact they would impart more flavor to the cake.
Size of the cake pan
I baked this eggless fruit cake in a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan. It was okay but I would have preferred a taller pan, like a 9 x 3 inch. The pan that I used was filled almost to the top, so if you can, bake this cake in a 9 x 3 inch pan! You may also bake this cake in two 6 inches pans.
This cake gets it softness from the use of buttermilk in the recipe. Like most of you, I never have buttermilk in my refrigerator. A fairly easy way to make buttermilk at home is by combining milk with vinegar, let it curdle and then use in the recipe. This is exactly what I did in this recipe and it turned out pretty well. I hope you guys would give this eggless fruit cake a try this festive season. It would also make for a wonderful gift to friends and family.
Method
Toss together all the dried fruits and nuts in a large bowl. Add apple juice, mix well and refrigerate overnight.
Next morning, the fruits and nuts would have soaked some of the apple juice. Drain the juice (drink it later) and set the soaked fruits & nuts aside and start working on the cake. Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 9 x 2 inch cake pan with parchment paper and then spray with a non-stick spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add the spices – cinnamon powder, all spice powder, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.
Mix to combine all the spices with the flour.
Sift the flour once so that everything is well combined and set aside.
In a bowl mix together 1.5 cups milk with 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar and set aside for 5-10 minutes. The milk will curdle and that’s what we want before using in the recipe.
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, beat the oil with sugar on medium speed till well combined.
Add vanilla extract, lemon extract, orange extract and whisk to combine.
Add honey (if using) and whisk to combine.
Start adding the flour mix and milk-vinegar mix in parts, starting and ending with the flour mix. So add the flour mix in 3 parts and the milk-vinegar mix in 2 parts, mixing well after each addition.
Mix till everything is just combined and remember not to over-beat the mixture.
Fold in the soaked & drained dried fruits & nuts.
The batter is now ready to be baked.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake at 350 F degrees for 60-65 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. At around 30-35 minute mark, you can cover the cake with a sheet of aluminium foil to prevent excessive browning.
Once done, remove the cake carefully from the oven. Wait for 5-10 minutes and then flip the cake on a wire rack.
Peel the parchment paper and let the cake cool down completely.
Dust the eggless fruit cake with powdered sugar and enjoy!
* The prep time doesn’t include the time taken to soak the dried fruits & nuts – which is 12-15 hours.
* I haven’t tried but this recipe may work with soy milk as well – if you want to make it vegan.
Eggless Fruit Cake
Ingredients
dried fruits & nuts
- 10 dried apricots chopped
- 10 dates chopped
- 1/4 cup tutti frutti
- 1/4 cup raisins I used a mix of golden and black
- 1/2 cup almonds cashews
- 1/2 cup dried fruit
- 3 tbsp cherries I used maraschino cherries red & green
- 1.5 cups apple juice or you may use rum or orange juice
Cake - dry ingredients
- 2.25 cups all purpose flour 288 grams
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch 48 grams
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon all spice
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
Cake- wet ingredients
- 1.5 cup milk 12 oz
- 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar
- 3/4 cup canola oil 180 ml, or use vegetable oil or any flavorless oil
- 1.25 cup brown sugar 256 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract or use 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon orange extract or use 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon honey optional
Instructions
- Toss together all the dried fruits and nuts in a large bowl. Add apple juice, mix well and refrigerate overnight.
- Next morning, the fruits and nuts would have soaked some of the apple juice. Drain the juice (you can drink it later) and set the soaked fruits & nuts aside and start working on the cake.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 9 x 2 inch cake pan with parchment paper and then spray with a non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- Add the spices - cinnamon powder, all spice powder, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder. Mix to combine all the spices with the flour.
- Sift the flour once so that everything is well combined and set aside.
- In a bowl mix together 1.5 cups milk with 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar and set aside for 5-10 minutes. The milk will curdle and that's what we want before using in the recipe.
- Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, beat the oil with sugar on medium speed till well combined.
- Add vanilla extract, lemon extract, orange extract and whisk to combine.
- Add honey (if using) and whisk to combine.
- Start adding the flour mix and milk-vinegar mix in parts, starting and ending with the flour mix. So add the flour mix in 3 parts and the milk-vinegar mix in 2 parts, mixing well after each addition.
- Mix till everything is just combined and remember not to over-beat the mixture.
- Fold in the soaked & drained dried fruits & nuts.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake at 350 F degrees for 60-65 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. At around 30-35 minute mark, you can cover the cake with a sheet of aluminium foil to prevent excessive browning.
- Once done, remove the cake carefully from the oven. Wait for 5-10 minutes and then flip the cake on a wire rack.
- Peel the parchment paper and let the cake cool down completely.
- Dust the eggless fruit cake with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Eggless Fruit Cake
