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Christmas Fruit Cake (Non Alcoholic) - Pepper Delight #pepperdelightblog #recipe #cake #thanksgiving #newyear #fruitcake #cake #dryfruitcake #christmas #holidayrecipes #nonalcoholic #party #festivals
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Christmas Fruit Cake (Non Alcoholic)
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 35 mins
Total Time
2 hrs 5 mins
 

Indulge your family & friends with this flavor packed, Fruity n Nutty, Sweet n Moist Cake…!! A Non-Alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cake. 

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: christmas fruit cake, fruit cake, kerala plum cake, plum cake
Servings: 12
Author: Akhila
Ingredients
For soaked dry fruits
  • 1 cup raisins
  • ½ cup apricots
  • ½ cup dates (seedless)
  • 1½ cup orange juice or more
For caramel syrup
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp + 4 tbsp water
For cake
  • 1½ cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
  • 1¾ cup brown sugar
  • 4 eggs (at room temperature)
  • Juice of one orange
  • 1 orange zest
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup cashews
Instructions
Preparation of fruits
  1. Chop dry fruits into bite size pieces. Place them into a dry glass container along with the soaking liquid. Ensure that the fruits are completely immersed in the soaking liquid.
  2. For soaking instructions and other tips, refer the notes section below.
Preparation of caramel syrup
  1. Add the sugar and 1 tbsp water into a pan and heat on a medium flame.
  2. As the sugar melts and starts turning golden brown, lower the flame and keep stirring till it turns a bit darker and thicker.
  3. Now add the remaining 4 tbsp of water, switch of the flame and keep stirring till the syrup cools down.
Preparation of cake

  1. Prepare the dry ingredients by sifting flour, baking powder, allspice and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.

  2. Drain the soaked dry fruits in to a separate bowl and add 3-4 tbsp of the above prepared dry mixture. Mix to flour coat the fruits, this helps preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the cake while baking.
  3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

  4. Line parchment paper on the bottom of a 9 inch nonstick springform pan and also along the sides extending 2 inches above the rim of the pan. Butter the paper throughout and set aside.

  5. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat butter on high speed until smooth and creamy.
  6. Add brown sugar and beat until light and mixed well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, which helps to mix it evenly.
  7. Add eggs one at a time followed by grated orange zest, and mix.
  8. Meanwhile prepare the caramel syrup as instructed above, and add the cooled syrup to the cake batter and mix.
  9. Add the dry ingredients alternating with orange juice, and mix till blended well.
  10. Now fold in the flour coated dry fruits, and nuts (slivered almonds and cashews) into the batter. Optionally you can reserve some nuts to garnish later.
  11. Pour the batter carefully into the prepared pan and garnish on top with nuts (optional). Bake for 1 hour and 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with little or no moist crumbs.
  12. If the cake looks to be sticky, bake for another 5 minutes and repeat the skewer test. Once done, remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool.
  13. Gently run a knife around the edges of the pan and then unlock it. Move the cake to a wire rack keeping the lined parchment paper intact and let it cool completely.
  14. Once cooled you can remove the paper, and the cake is now ready to be served.
  15. To store, you can wrap the cake in an aluminum foil and keep in an air tight container at room temperature for a week. Refrigerate thereafter.
Notes
  • Soak dry fruits in either an alcohol or a non-alcoholic liquid to enhance the flavour. If using non-alcoholic, I recommend soaking for at least a day but you may do so for a few days up to a week. Refrigerate it after 24 hours. If using alcohol, you can soak it at room temperature for up to 6 months.
  • The fruits to be soaked should be chopped into bite sized pieces. Use a clean air tight glass container to soak the fruits. Stirring it periodically or at least once a day helps it to rehydrate and not to dry out.
  • After draining the soaked dry fruits, coat them in a few spoons of the dry flour mixture. This helps the fruits to stick on to the batter preventing it from setting down to the bottom of the pan while baking.
  • While adding orange juice into the batter you might notice that it begins to curdle. This is absolutely fine and it happens due to the citrus nature of the orange.
  • After removing the baked cake from the pan, allow it sit on a wire rack to cool down at room temperature. Do not remove the parchment paper from the pan when the cake is hot, it might crumble.
  • Wrapping the cake in an aluminum foil helps it to retain moisture and prevent drying out.
  • You can keep the cake in an air tight container at room temperature for a week. Refrigerate thereafter.