EGGLESS CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE with whole wheat flour! Step-wise recipe to make this soft and moist egg free Christmas cake with no soaking of fruits as traditional cakes demand!

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Come Christmas and everyone is busy baking cakes and cookies to celebrate with family and friends! Although I love baking, because my kids are all grown up and have flown the coop, my baking has been restricted to just a few bakes a year!

But this year, as I am in my younger son’s house in San Diego and he and my daughter-in-law (Preeti) love to celebrate Christmas by decorating a Christmas tree and adorning them with ornaments which they have collected in their travels, I decided to make this easy and scrumptious Christmas bake which we all love to add to the festive atmosphere!

WHAT IS A CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE?

In India, we know fruit cake as plum cake chock full of dried plums, nuts and with a heady aroma of spices like cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. These cakes are more famous in the southern state of Kerala and I love their version of plum cake!

They normally have rum soaked dry fruits (which sometimes are soaked for at least a month!) and then mixed into a spice infused batter.

Recently, Preeti had bought a wooden basket online which came with a bunch of dry fruits (dried bananas, apricots, apples, kiwi, prunes,mango etc.) which were lying around. So, to make this cake, I decided to not purchase any fresh dry fruits but make do with the ones I had!

This soft and moist cake is an easy one with no eggs, no alcohol (you can add if you want) and with whole wheat flour instead of plain maida/all-purpose flour!

Just boil the dried fruits with some orange juice (freshly squeezed homemade and from homegrown oranges), water (or rum) and some lemon juice (again I used homegrown lemons) and then mix into the cake batter and then bake. Do check out our home garden with orange tree on the left and lemon and lime trees on the right below! We have been feasting on fresh oranges, lemons and juices ever since we came here!

This cake turned out absolutely delicious, moist and dense like the ones we used to get in stores and the whole house was wafting in the aroma of spices, fruits and freshly baked cake!

Why, Preeti even mentioned that this cake tasted like the one they had got as a gift for their anniversasy from my other son and daughter in law from Boston! That compliment was enough for me to save this recipe on my blog!

EGGLES CHRISTMAS CAKE – INGREDIENTS:

Dry fruits and nuts – like I mentioned above, I used leftover chopped up dried kiwi, mango, apricots prunes, raisins, etc. along with some nuts –chopped up almonds and walnuts. You can use any mix of dried fruits and nuts you like or have.
Spices and flavorings (the key ingredients in a Christmas plum cake) – I added powdered nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and dried ginger along with some zest of one orange for a more citrusy kick.
Flour – traditionally, they use all-purpose flour or plain flour. But I always try and use a healthier option, so whole wheat flour it was. You can use plain flour instead if you prefer.
Yogurt – as this is an eggless version, my favorite substitute is yogurt or buttermilk/sour milk which adds moisture to bakes especially when making cakes.
Other basic ingredients –dark brown sugar, oil (yes oil which makes the cake ultra moist as compared to butter), baking powder, baking soda, vanilla essence and a dash of cocoa powder to add to the dark color of the cake. Cocoa powder again is optional.

KEY STEPS TO MAKE A PERFECTLY BAKED FRUIT CAKE:

Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature including the boiled dry fruits.
Dry fruits should be chopped into small bits and not large chunks.
While mixing, do not overbeat; this can make for a dense cake. Once you have beaten the oil and sugar with yogurt, stir in rest of the dry ingredients by hand using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
Unlike other regular cakes, you will have to bake this cake at a lower temperature (160 C or 320 F) for at least 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. This prevents the cake from drying out too fast before the inside gets baked.
Once the cake is baked, resist cutting into it. It needs to be completely, completely cooled before you can slice up a piece to feast on!
If you want to make it vegan, just substitute yogurt with sour plant based room temperature milk. Just stir in 1 tbsp vinegar(or lemon juice) to plant based milk to make a total of 1 cup of liquid; set aside for 10 minutes and then use.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Well, it is a Christmas cake after all, so serve it as a dessert at your Christmas meal or as a snack with your chai/coffee any day.

Our family loved it so much, I am making this all year round!

This stores well at room temperature for a couple of days but if storing longer, refrigerate in an airtight container.

Enjoy Foodies! Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

If you are a huge cake lover like me, then you will absolutely be thrilled by these too:

Now, let's see how to bake this gorgeous and delicious Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake:

Step-wise Instructions to make Scrumptuous, Eggless Christmas Fruitcake:

SOAKING THE DRIED FRUITS:

In a small saucepan, mix the dried chopped up fruits, orange juice, water and lemon juice. If you are adding alcohol, at this stage, you can add some rum instead of water.

Bring to a boil and simmer on medium low heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, let us prepare the batter.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 160 C or 320 F.

Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper and grease the paper too; set aside.

In a mortar or pestle or spice grinder, blend 4 to 5 whole cloves, 1 small nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder and 1/2 tsp ginger powder.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir in orange zest and spice mixture.

If using, stir in 1 tbsp cocoa powder.

In another large mixing bowl, beat oil and brown sugar using a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer until homogenous for a couple of minutes.

Add the yogurt and vanilla essence/extract and beat well for another minute or so.

Now, stir in the dry flour mixture and using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently mix using the cut and fold method until you see no more dry flour pockets. DO NOT OVER MIX TO AVOID A DENSE CAKE!

Add the soaked dried fruits (leave some to top the cake) and nuts and gently fold it in.

Pour into the prepared pan and level using an offset spatula.

Sprinkle the remaining dried fruits on top and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes.

Then, remove from pan and let cool COMPLETELY before cutting into slices.

Enjoy this soft, moist, slightly dense, scrumptious, spice infused Christmas Fruit Cake especially during Christmas or any time you crave and fancy biting into this delicious cake!

Happy Baking Foodies!

5 from 1 vote

EGGLESS CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE (with whole wheat flour)

Learn how to make this soft and moist, egg free Christmas cake with no soaking of fruits as traditional cakes demand! Enjoy it as a Christmas bake or even for any other special occasion like New Year, Diwali etc.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour you can use plain flour too
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
4 to 5 cloves (or use 1/4 to 1/2 tsp clove powder)
1 nutmeg (or use 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder)
1 tbsp cocoa powder optional
½ cup odorless oil
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence

FOR FRUIT MIXTURE:

¼ cup dried mango
¼ cup dried kiwi fruit
¼ cup dried apricots
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup chopped prunes
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice you can use canned or bottled too
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup chopped almonds
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

SOAKING THE DRIED FRUITS:

In a small saucepan, mix the dried chopped up fruits, orange juice, water and lemon juice. If you are adding alcohol, at this stage, you can add some rum instead of water.
Bring to a boil and simmer on medium low heat for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, let us prepare the batter.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

Preheat oven to 160 C or 320 F.
Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper and grease the paper too; set aside.
In a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, blend the whole spices and spice powders. Sieve if you have some nutmeg bits if using whole nutmeg.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Stir in orange zest and the spice powder mixture.
Add cocoa powder if using. Mix well.
In another large mixing bowl, beat oil and brown sugar using a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer until homogenous for a couple of minutes.
Add the yogurt and vanilla essence/extract and beat well for another minute or so.
Now, stir in the dry flour mixture and using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently mix using the cut and fold method until you see no more dry flour pockets. DO NOT OVER MIX TO AVOID A DENSE CAKE!
Add the soaked dried fruits (leave some to top the cake) and nuts and gently fold it in.
Pour into the prepared pan and level using an offset spatula.
Sprinkle the remaining dried fruits on top and place in preheated oven.
Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes or until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
Then, remove from pan and let cool COMPLETELY before cutting into slices.
Enjoy this soft, moist, slightly dense, scrumptious, spice infused Christmas Fruit Cake especially during Christmas or any time you crave and fancy biting into this delicious cake!
Happy Baking Foodies!

Recipe Notes

As the cake is baked at a lower temperature, it may take at least one hour. Check at 55 minutes and bake accordingly depending upon your oven. Mine took 65 minutes to bake.
Adjust the amount of spices according to taste and preference.
While making the batter, try not to over mix or beat too much.
Instead of orange juice, you can use grape juice too and rum instead of water if you want an alcohol based Christmas cake!
If you have time or love planning your cake ahead, soak the dried fruits in the juice, water/rum and lemon juice for at least a few hours or even a few days in the fridge instead of boiling it.
Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing into it.
To make a vegan cake, just substitute the yogurt with sour plant based room temperature milk. Just stir in 1 tbsp vinegar (or lemon juice) to plant based milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Set aside 10 minutes and then use.
Inspired by BakewithShivesh