Bursting with cozy spices, soaked dried fruits, and festive flavors, this homemade eggless Christmas fruit cake is a tender, perfectly moist, and rich cake you’ll love to enjoy all holiday season. No Alcohol is needed!
It is super easy, quick, and welcome to the holiday table. Not only are these types of bread/ cake delicious, but they’re great for gifting too!
Let’s learn to make Eggless Christmas fruit cake without alcohol with a step-by-step process and video.
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Christmas isn’t Christmas without fruit cake!
Traditional Christmas fruit cake is made by soaking dried fruits and nuts in rum, wine, or whiskey.
But not everyone, especially kids, can enjoy that cake.
So this Christmas, Make the kids feel like a part of the festivities with this Non-Alcoholic Christmas fruit cake recipe.
This fruit cake recipe is all about dried fruit. We’ll be using only unsweetened dried for this recipe.
To cut the sweetness and add unique flavor, we’ll soak the dried fruit mixture in orange juice for a minimum of 20 hours before baking. Of course, you can use apple juice instead of orange juice.
The dried fruit will hydrate, plump up, and soak up all of the orange juice during this time. So take advantage of this step!
The soaked dried fruit is folded into the fruit cake batter the following day.
For added flavor, we’ll add orange zest and warm spices like nutmeg powder, ginger powder, cloves powder, and cinnamon powder.
The dark brown color you see is from molasses and brown sugar.
Why Do I love this recipe?
- It is easy to make and packed with rich and cozy ingredients.
- It is alcohol-free, rich, eggless, moist, and so easy to make.
- Adults, as well as kids, can enjoy this version of eggless fruit cake.
- It can be served as Christmas brunch, for dessert, or make loaves to give to your friends and family as a gift.
- Not only is this bread festive and perfect for the holiday season, but it is delicious!
Ingredients required to make Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake
Cake Base
- Flour: All-purpose flour is used to make this bread. It gives the cake structure.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: A combination of both is necessary for a fruit cake that raises appropriately.
- Salted Butter: Make sure to use melted (room temperature) butter. It will mix into the batter perfectly and add a rich flavor. If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the flour.
- Brown Sugar: I like using brown sugar for a deeper flavor. They’ll give you the best-caramelized taste when baked. It can be substituted with regular sugar – which will make the cake lighter.
- Molasses: adds to the richness of flavor and color of the cake. You can use caramel instead of molasses.
- Curd/plain yogurt: to keep the cake moist cake! Make sure it is room temperature.
- Orange Zest: I love adding citrus zest to balance out the sweetness. It’s pleasant and aromatic, too!
- Spices: Ground nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger powder!
- Rum extract: To give that rum flavor, I have used extract. It is readily available in any grocery store and even on Amazon. But, of course, you can use vanilla extract, too, instead of rum extract.
To soak
- Dried fruits: I have used dates, golden raisins, figs, cranberries, and candid fruit (tutti fruity). Feel free to use your choice of dried fruits.
- Orange juice: Traditionally, dark rum or brandy is used. But to make the fruit cake with no alcohol, I used orange juice. You can use apple juice instead of orange juice.
Step-by-step process
Soak the fruit
- Take all the dried fruit in a bowl and add orange juice. Mix everything with a spoon, cover the bowl and keep it aside for 20 to 24 hours at room temperature.
- Note – If you are not going to bake the cake the next day, keep the soaked fruits in the fridge. Soaked fruit can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Pre-prep
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper. Keep it aside.
- Preheat your oven to @350 degrees F.
Cake batter
- Take melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well.
- Now add yogurt, rum extract, molasses, and orange zest. Mix very well until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Now sift the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder, and dry ginger powder – over the wet ingredients.
- Also, add soaked fruits.
- Now mix everything until no flour pockets are seen. Don’t over-mix.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan.
Bake the cake
- Bake this cake/bread in preheated oven at @350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean (Check after 50 minutes).
- Note – Different loaf pans conduct heat differently. Cooking time also varies depending on the size of the pan.
- Let the cake cool down completely in the pan.
- Then de-mold it on a board. It will come out quickly as we have used parchment paper.
- Then take a sharp knife and slice it.
- Enjoy a Moist and flavorful Eggless Christmas Fruit cake.
Notes, pro tips, and quick FAQs
- Any fruit of choice can be used. Make sure it’s finely chopped.
- A store-bought mix of pre-chopped dried fruit is acceptable to use too.
- You can use apple juice instead of orange juice.
- If the top of the cake browns quickly, then cover the top with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Since this cake has a large ratio of dried fruit, allow the fruit cake to cool completely in the loaf pans before removing them.
- As with all quick bread, keep the batter the same. It will cause the bread to become tough.
- Slice quick bread with a long serrated knife to get the clean slices.
- You can swap butter with the neutral-tasting oil of your choice.
- Always let the cake bake for a total amount of time. Wait to open the oven before time. Air drafts can make bread fall.
- Bake the cake right away after the batter is mixed. It needs to go in the oven quickly.
- For easy removal of bread, always line your baking pan with parchment paper. It helps the bread come out cleanly.
This Christmas Fruit Cake is rich and moist, with a ton of flavor from the fruit, so it’s delicious and eaten plain. No frosting, no fondant – nothing needed.
Yes, you can add any nuts of your choice. Make sure to chop them before adding them to the batter.
The most common reason for dry bread is too much flour. First, make sure to spoon the flour into the measuring cup lightly instead of Scooping the flour. Then, use the back of a knife to level the top. Or use a weighing scale to measure the flour.
First, rinse the orange. Then, using a grater, grate the skin of your orange well. Try not to get any white pith underneath the skin because it is bitter.
I kept it in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, which was good as it was freshly made.
This eggless fruit cake freezes well as a loaf or individual slices. Wrap the cooled loaf or single piece well in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. It will stay fresh for about three months.
To thaw the frozen cake, place it in the refrigerator overnight. Then, reheat it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds or until the desired temperature is reached. This cake is best served slightly warm or at room temperature.
More Christmas Recipes
- Mexican stromboli bread wreath
- Orange cranberry bread
- Bread wreath with baked brie
- Cranberry orange shortbread cookies
- 5 compound butter for dinner rolls
- Antipasto cheese ball Christmas tree
- Peppermint fudge
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Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake (No Alcohol)
Ingredients
For soaking the Fruit
- ½ cup Raisins
- ½ cup Fig finely chopped
- ½ cup Candied fruit mix also Known as tutti fruity
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup dates finely chopped
- ¾ cup orange juice
For cake batter
- 1 ½ cup All-purpose flour
- 1 cup Curd / Plain yogurt room temperature
- ¾ cup Brown sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoon Molasses you can substitute with caramel
- 113 grams (½ cup) Melted salted Butter You can use Unsalted butter too. Just add ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter)
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Ground clove
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Rum extract optional
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
Soak the fruit
- Take all the dried fruit in a bowl and add orange juice. Mix everything with a spoon, cover the bowl and keep it aside for 20 to 24 hours at room temperature.
- Note – If you are not going to bake the cake the next day, keep the soaked fruits in the fridge. Soaked fruit can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Pre-prep
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper. Keep it aside.
- Preheat your oven to @350 degrees F.
Cake batter
- Take melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well.
- Now add yogurt, rum extract, molasses, and orange zest. Mix very well until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Now sift the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder, and dry ginger powder – over the wet ingredients.
- Then add soaked fruits.
- Now mix everything until no flour pockets are seen. Don’t over-mix.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan.
Bake the cake
- Bake this cake/bread in preheated oven at @350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.) for about 50 to 55 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean (Check after 50 minutes).
- Note – Different loaf pans conduct heat differently. Cooking time also varies depending on the size of the pan.
- Let the cake cool down completely in the pan.
- Then de-mold it on a board. It will come out quickly as we have used parchment paper.
- Then take a sharp knife and slice it.
- Enjoy a Moist and flavorful Eggless Fruit cake.
Video
Notes
- Any fruit of choice can be used. Make sure it’s finely chopped.
- A store-bought mix of pre-chopped dried fruit is acceptable to use too.
- You can use apple juice instead of orange juice.
- If the top of the cake browns quickly, then cover the top with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Since this cake has a large ratio of dried fruit, allow the fruit cake to cool completely in the loaf pans before removing them.
- As with all quick bread, keep the batter the same. It will cause the bread to become tough.
- Slice quick bread with a long serrated knife to get the clean slices.
- You can swap butter with the neutral-tasting oil of your choice.
- Always let the cake bake for a total amount of time. Wait to open the oven before time. Air drafts can make bread fall.
- Bake the cake right away after the batter is mixed. It needs to go in the oven quickly.
- For easy removal of bread, always line your baking pan with parchment paper. It helps the bread come out cleanly.
Nutrition
Warm regards,
Dhwani.
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