Last Minute Christmas Cake – Eggless
An easy to make fruit cake with mixed dry fruit, nuts and orange juice. This fruit cake is not a traditional christmas fruit cake but a rendition of traditional and authentic Christmas cake. It is a last minute Christmas cake recipe which requires no soaking and no alcohol.
Not soaked your dry fruits in alcohol or fruit juice? No worries you have landed at the right place. This last minute christmas cake recipe is here for you. This turns out just like the classic Christmas fruit cake. You just gonna love it! Today in this post I’ll show you a quick and cheat version of soaking your dry fruits for Christmas cake! Simply cook the orange juice and the dry fruits together until the dry fruits absorb the juice and become juicy and nicely plumped up just like the soaked dry fruits.
A christmas fruit without alcohol is what we mommies look for when it comes to feeding kids. This is a perfect kids friendly christmas cake recipe. I am 100% sure this recipe won’t disappoint you.
I am so glad I created this delicious and easy fruit cake recipe, using no alcohol and needs no soaking time. An instant plum cake recipe, just gather the ingredients, prepare the batter and start baking!
This non-alcoholic eggless christmas cake turned out no less than the classic christmas cake. I haven’t used exotic dry fruits except some few black berries and no alcohol at all but still there was no compromise on taste. The crumb was perfect, the cake was not overly sweet with right amount of sugar, the dried fruit and nuts were just perfect, not overloaded but perfectly embedded and you can feel the juicy dry fruits and crunchy nuts in every bite of the cake. The dry fruits and nuts used were easily available ones making it less expensive too. This fruit cake turned out so soft, delicious and flavorful, the perfect cake for christmas time.
INGREDIENTS USED FOR LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Let’s talk ingredients in brief before going into the process of making this easy last minute christmas cake.
Flour – I have used whole wheat flour
Leavening agents – Both baking powder and baking soda is used here to give a perfect amount of lift to the cake.
Salt – To balance out the sweetness and enhance the taste.
Spice – Cinnamon powder and ginger extract is used to spice the cake and add lovely aroma and taste to the cake.
Orange zest – For the extra flavor and zing.
Sweetener – The recipe uses light brown sugar, for healthier version and also to give it a better depth of flavor and beautiful deep color to the cake.
Fats – Used melted salted butter. You may use unsalted butter as well.
Orange juice – Freshly squeezed orange juice is used in the batter as well as in the preparation of dry fruits.
Candied fruit – Tutti frutti is colourful candied raw papaya which is commonly used in cakes, desserts in India. It is easily available in grocery stores and supermarkets.
Dry fruits – I have used a mixture of dates, yellow raisins, black raisins, cherries, cranberries and blue berries. You are free to use any dry fruits whichever you can source, not necessarily confined to the one mentioned here.
Nuts – A mixture of almonds, cashews and walnuts is used.
Vinegar – Since it’s an eggless version I have used vinegar. You can use lemon juice instead of vinegar.
Essence – Used vanilla essence.
INGREDIENTS SUBSTITUTION:
● Use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour or 50-50 ratio of both.
● You can use more spice like clove and nutmeg powder. Recommend not to use whole spice. Use in powder form or ground finely. If you have all spice mix you can use 1 teaspoon of it.
● You can use ginger powder or finely grated fresh ginger instead of ginger extract. Use which ever is available.
● You can use white sugar or jaggery or cane sugar instead of brown sugar.
● You can use oil instead of butter or use 50-50 ratio of both.
● The most commonly uses juice is orange juice for .making non-alcoholic fruit cake. But the other juices mostly used are grape juice or either mixed fruit juice.
● The recipe uses fresh orange juice but you can use store bought orange juice. But highly recommend using fresh juice.
● Tutti frutti can be substituted with any other candied fruits or candied peels.
● Use any fry fruits and nuts available to you.
● You can use ¼ cup curd/yogurt instead of vinegar.
● To make this cake with egg, you can use 1 large egg or 2 if your egg is small. Opt out the vinegar and baking soda.
PREPARATION OF DRY FRUITS FOR THIS LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Traditionally, dry fruits are soaked in rum or brandy or wine for months to even years before using them for baking a christmas fruit cake. Some even use a mixture of rum and brandy. But if you’re looking for a last minute christmas cake recipe then you’re at the right place. For this eggless christmas fruit & nut cake, I have not used any alcohol and no soaking at all. It is a quick and cheat method of making christmas fruit cake, where the dry fruits are cooked with orange juice until the orange juice is absorbed completely and the dry fruits are plump up. The dry fruits become extremely flavorful for the cake. I used a mixture of dates, yellow raisins, black raisins, cherries, cranberries and blue berries. You can use any dry fruits which is available in your pantry. From the berry family atleast try to use cranberries as they are easily available and less expensive than the other berries. They lends a nice tartness to the fruit cake.
PRO TIPS TO MAKE PERFECT CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE
● Fruit cakes are usually bake slowly at a lower temperature like 160° C to 170° C so that it becomes really flavorful and the texture comes out just right. A normal cake is baked at 180° C for 30 minutes while Christmas fruit cakes are cooked for atleast 40-45 minutes depending upon the size of the cake.
● If you’re using normal sugar i.e. white sugar and you’re not using molasses or treacle you can caramelized the sugar and add to the recipe. In a sauce pan add the sugar and heat till it starts to melt and get a nice brown colour but do not over caramalised the sugar. Turn off and add 1-2 tbsps water and stir well and let it cool down completely before using in the recipe.
● You can also make this last minute christmas soak by soaking the dry fruits for a minimum time. For a non-alcoholic christmas cake, soak the dried fruits in orange juice, grape juice or can use even mixed fruit juice. You can soak the dried fruits starting from minimum 1 hour to maximum for a week.
● Keep the soaked dry fruits in room temperature if you’re soaking for couple of hours. But store it in the refrigerator if you’re soaking for longer days.
● Possibly chop the dry fruits and nuts into equal-sized pieces.
HOW TO MAKE LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE
Eggless last minute christmas cake recipe is so much easier to make than the classic version of a Christmas fruit cake. Actually, all it takes is to prepare the dry fruits, mix the ingredients, pour them into the baking dish and bake to perfection.
I made a simple video of last minute christmas cake for my readers which I have shared below. Please do watch and SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t yet. It will mean a lot to me and motivate me to come up with more videos for my readers. As always looking forward to your feedbacks!
Last Minute Christmas Cake Video Tutorial
Here’s a step by step pictorial instructions to make last minute christmas cake
In a saucepan, add in the orange juice. Add in the mixed dry fruits to the orange juice.
Cook till the mixture thickens and the dry fruits absorb all the juices. Set aside and allow to cool down.
Pre-heat the oven at 170° C for 10 minutes with both rods on. Grease a 6″×3″ round cake pan or line the pan with parchment paper. If you dont have parchment paper simply dust some flour onto the greased pan.
In a mixing bowl add in sugar, melted butter, vanilla essence, ginger extract and orange juice. Whisk together until well combined.
In a sift add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder and sieve it. Add in the orange zest.
Now gently fold the ingredients and mix until everything is well combined without any lumps. Do not over mix at this stage.
Add in the dry fruits reserving a small portion. Add in the tutti frutti, almonds, cashews, walnuts and vinegar or lemon juice.
Give a gentle and quick mix. Do not over mix them.
Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan. Tap the cake pan to release any air bubbles trapped inside.
Top up with the reserved dry fruits and nuts.
Place the cake pan at the middle rack. Bake at 170° C for 40-45 minutes with both filaments/rods on. A toothpick or skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.
Allow the cake to stand for 5-10 minutes and demould it. Let the cake cool down completely. Cut and serve. Enjoy!
RECIPE CARD
Last Minute Christmas Cake (Eggless)
Equipment
- OTG
- Mixing bowl
- 240 ml measuring cup set
- 6"×3" cake pan
- sauce pan
Ingredients
For Drt Fruits Preparation:
- 1 cup mixed dry fruits (dates, yellow raisins, black raisins, cherries, cranberries, blue berries)
- ⅔ cup fresh orange juice (150 ml)
For Cake Batter:
- 1 cup Whole wheat flour (128 grms)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (5 geams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (2.5 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 4-5 drops ginger extract
- ½ cup brown sugar (90 grams)
- ⅓ cup butter melted (75 grams)
- ½ cup Fresh orange juice (120 ml)
- ½ cup tutti frutti
- ¼ cup almonds (35 grams)
- ¼ cup cashews (35 grams)
- ¼ cup walnuts (35 grams)
- 2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice (10 ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (5 ml)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add in the orange juice. Add in the mixed dry fruits to the orange juice.
- Cook till the mixture thickens and the dry fruits absorb all the juices. Set aside and allow to cool down.
- Pre-heat the oven to 170° C. Grease a 6 inches round cake pan or line the pan with parchment paper. If you dont have parchment paper simply dist some flour onto the greased pan.
- In a mixing bowl add in sugar, melted butter, vanilla essence, ginger extract and orange juice. Whisk together until well combined.
- Place a sift add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder and sieve it.
- Add in the orange zest.
- Now gently fold the ingredients and mix until everything is well combined without any lumps. Do not over mix at this stage.
- Add in the dry fruits reserving a small portion.
- Add in the tutti frutti, almonds, cashews, walnuts and vinegar or lemon juice.
- Give a gentle and quick mix. Do not over mix them.
- Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan. Tap the cake pan to release any air bubbles trapped inside.
- Top up with the reserved dry fruits and nuts.
- Place the cake pan at the middle rack. Bake at 170° C for 40-45 minutes with both filaments/rods on. A toothpick or skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Allow the cake to stand for 5-10 minutes and demould it. Let the cake cool down completely. Cut and serve. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour or 50-50 ratio of both.
- You can use more spice like clove and nutmeg powder. Recommend not to use whole spice. Use in powder form or ground finely. If you have all spice mix you can use 1 teaspoon of it.
- You can use ginger powder or finely grated fresh ginger instead of ginger extract. Use which ever is available.
- You can use white sugar or jaggery or cane sugar instead of brown sugar.
- You can use oil instead of butter or use 50-50 ratio of both.
- The most commonly uses juice is orange juice for .making non-alcoholic fruit cake. But the other juices mostly used are grape juice or either mixed fruit juice.
- The recipe uses fresh orange juice but you can use store bought orange juice. But highly recommend using fresh juice.
- Tutti frutti can be substituted with any other candied fruits or candied peels.
- Use any fry fruits and nuts available to you.
- You can use ¼ cup curd/yogurt instead of vinegar.
- To make this cake with egg, you can use 1 large egg or 2 if your egg is small. Opt out the vinegar and baking soda.
HOW TO MAKE THIS CHRISTMAS CAKE WITHOUT OVEN?
Don’t have an oven? No worries I’ve a solution for that too! You can make this Christmas cake in a pressure cooker or kadhai over a gas top.
Prepare the cake batter as mentioned below in the instructions.
Take the pressure cooker and place a stand at the bottom for the cake pan so that the cake pan does not directly touch the cooker bottom. If you dont have a stand you can use a steel container lid.
Preheat the cooker or kadhai or heavy bottom pan on stove on high heat uncovered for 5 mins.
Remove the gasket and whistle from the cooker cover. If using kadhai or pan use a lid to cover it well.
Carefully place the cake pan onto the pressure cooker. Cover it and bake on a low heat but not simmer for 40-50 minutes. Start checking from 40 minutes onwards. A tooth pick inserted should come out clean.
Turn off the heat, remove the lid and let the cake be in the cooker for 5 mins.
Now remove the cake from the cooker carefully and invert it. Let it cool down completely, cut and serve.
SHELF LIFE AND STORING SUGGESTIONS
This christmas fruit cake stays good for atleast 3-4 days at room temperature. The shelf life will increase depending upon the climatic conditions of the place. Places with colder weather the shelf life will go upto 5-6 days.
You can refrigerate the cake for longer shelf life. It will stay good for atleast 1 week or more in refrigerator.
You can also cling wrap, place in airtight container and freeze for upto 3 months.
FEW CHRISTMAS RECIPE
How To Soak Dry Fruits For Christmas Cake
Chocolate Wine Fruit Cake
Non-Alcoholic Christmas Cake
Rum Fruit & Nut Cake
Chocolate Strawberry Chilly Whisky Cake
Chocolate Snowballs Rum Infused
Crispy Namkee
Strawberry Pancake With Chocolate Strawberry Chilly Sauce
Here are all my Bakes & Cakes recipes if you’re craving more baking inspiration.
All of the above recipes are super easy to prepare, ready in no time, and will never disappoint you.
Well, if you make this last minute christmas cake, please do leave a feedback in the comments box below or snap a photo and tag Akum Raj Jamir on Facebook and akumrajjamir on Instagram with hashtag #atmykitchen. I would love to see your creations.
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you liked the recipe. Your valuable feedbacks are always welcome, I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you.
Happy Cooking!
Love Akum
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