EGGLESS CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE
Ingredients
- 340 g (12 oz) mixed dried fruit your favourite; I've used: apricot, papaya, golden raisins, candied cherries, candied ginger
- 130 g (1/2 cup) Rum or Brandy or your favorite liquor for an alcohol-free version use apple juice or orange juice
- 70 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 70 g (1/3 cup) dark brown sugar
- 125 g (1/2 cup) unsweetened applesauce made cooking apples and smashing it until get a smooth puree
- 20 g (1 tbsp) honey or molasses if you prefer a darker color and a more intense flavor
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 160 g (1+1/3 cup) all purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/8 tsp ginger powder
- 1/8 tsp cloves powder
- 5 g (1+1/4 tsp) baking powder
- 45 g (3 tbsp) Rum or the other liquor/juice you've used for soaking the fruits
- 45 g (1/3 cup) almonds chopped; or your favorite nuts
- 45 g (1/2 cup) walnuts chopped; or your favorite nuts
Instructions
- Chop the dried and candied fruit in medium chunks, transfer them into a medium size bowl, soak into 130 g of Rum (or apple/orange juice), close with plastic wrap and let it soak for at least 12-24 hours for up to 1 week.
- Drain the fruits and set aside: do not throw the Rum used for soaking away!
- In a large bowl, place butter, brown sugar and mix with a hand mixer for many minutes, until pale and fluffy and a lot of air is incorporated.
- Add applesauce, honey, vanilla and mix just until combined without overmixing: don't worry if lumps a bit.
- Sift in 3 times flour, baking powder, the spices, salt and use a spatula to gently combine; alternate the flour with 40 g of the Rum or apple/orange juice used for soaking the fruits. Do not overmix.
- Fold in the strained fruits, chopped almonds and walnuts.
- Place into a greased and lined loaf pan mold (26x10x7cm/10x4x3inch - 1 kg/2 pounds).
- Bake in preheated oven (no fan, upper+lower heat) at 160°C-320°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- After cooled down, you can brush the leftover Rum (or apple/orange juice) on top and on the sides, then wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 1 week or in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.I suggest to slice and serve it at least the day after when the crumsb are more firm and for a better flavor.
Video
Notes
Hello, I am Valentina! Welcome to How Tasty!
I am an Italian girl in love with baking and cooking. I’ve been raised in a cooking family, baking since I was a little girl and learning from my mom and my professional chef grandma.
I created the Youtube channel How Tasty in 2017 to share with you my passion.
You don’t need to be a professional cook to follow all my recipes thanks to the video tutorials and the tips & hints you can find here.
Let’s cook!
Tips:
For this recipe you can use the dried or candied fruit that you prefer: Tutti Frutti, pineapple, orange, raisins…
I’ve used walnuts and almonds, but you can choose other nuts like peanuts, pecans…it’s up to your taste!
More days you store the cake after baking, the more this cake becomes delicious!
I suggest to slice and serve it the day after you bake it, so the cake will be more compact.
I soaked the fruits in Rum for 12 hours, but you can soak it for up to 1 week for the best flavor.
You can choose your favorite alcoholic beverage like Grand Marnier, Brandy…or make an alcohol-free version.
In this case I suggest to use apple or orange juice: soak the fruits for up to 24 hours if you don’t use alcohol and store it for less days, about 10 days.
