Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake
Nothing smells more festive than this delicious vegan Christmas fruit cake. I found a way to make this rich, old English cake, fully vegan, incredibly flavorful, ultra moist and absolutely finger licking good. Check out my giant cinnamon roll recipe for another great holiday dessert idea.
The first time I tried the traditional fruit cake, I really liked it, but I thought it was incredibly sweet, so much so that it was difficult to truly appreciate the mix of flavors. So when I decided to recreate this recipe, it was my mission to keep the sweetness at the right level, while allowing the flavors to really coexist.
The Ingredients for the Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake
The Sweeteners
To ensure the cake has adequate sweetness, I swapped the regular cane sugar with some organic coconut sugar (which comes from the sap of the coconut palm) and molasses (a dark thick syrup which is a by-product of the sugar making process).
The Fruits in the Fruit Cake
The best thing about this fruit cake is that you can use any dried fruits you want. I mixed a variety of dried raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots as well as some candied green and red cherries.
Choice of Nuts
For this cake, it’s important to get nuts that have a mild flavor. So I went for cashews and pecans. You can opt for walnuts as well, but you have to be mindful of their flavor and maybe use a smaller portion.
Rum Syrup
The rum syrup is the x-factor in this recipe. It is in my opinion the most crucial ingredient. Because not only does it increase the cake’s shelf life due to its alcohol contain, but every time you brush it on the cake, it infuses the cake with more flavors, making it better by the day. The syrup is mixture of pineapple juice, cherry juice and rum. If you want an alcohol-free version, you can skip the rum and just use pineapple and cherry juice (orange juice is great too), but keep in mind that the alcohol increases the shelf life of the cake.
Making the Vegan Fruit Cake
In order to prevent the fruits in the cake from burning, we need to cook it at a low temperature and for much longer than any typical cake. So you’ll to preheat the oven at 300 degrees F.
How to make the rum syrup
If you have enough time, then I suggest soaking the fruits by mixing the dried raisins, cranberries, apricots and candied cherries in an airtight container. Pour in the pineapple juice, cherry juice and rum. Close the container with the lid, give it a shake and make sure the fruits are fully soaked in the liquid. Let this soak for at least 24 hours or up to a week.
If you’re short in time, then in a medium saucepan, add the dried raisins, cranberries, apricots and candied cherries. Then pour in the pineapple juice, cherry juice and rum. Let the mixture simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure not to let the juice evaporate completely. After 10 minutes, you should be left with a thin syrup-like liquid.
Strain the fruits mixture using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the rum syrup in an airtight container.
How to prepare the fruits and nuts
Add the strained fruit in a mixing bowl, followed by the chopped pecans and cashews.Then add 3 tbsp of all purpose flour and mix to incorporate. This is to prevent the fruits and nuts from sinking to the bottom of the loaf pan when baking. Then set it aside.
Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake Batter
Add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar to a small container, give it a quick mix, then set it aside.
Place a fine mesh strainer on top of a mixing bowl and add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients through so that there are no lumps, then set it aside.
In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, add in the softened (room temperature) butter, followed by the coconut sugar. Mix in the stand mixer or using an electric hand mixer for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter becomes fluffy. Then add in the molasses and give it a mix to incorporate.
Grate the lime, lemon and orange using a zester grater and give it a mix.
To the batter, add the almond milk and apple cider mix reserved earlier. You’ll notice that the batter starts to separate because of the vinegar. Use the hand or stand mixer to fully incorporate.
Add the sifted flour to the batter and mix to incorporate. The batter will not look as consistent due to the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda. This is normal and serves as replacement for eggs.
Gently fold in the fruits and nuts mixture we reserved earlier.
Baking Method
Grease a baking loaf (I used a 13×4 loaf pan) with some oil or butter, and line up every side of the loaf with parchment paper. This will prevent the fruits from burning when baking.
Add the batter to the lined loaf pan, cover it with aluminum foil, and pop it in the oven for 3 hours.
Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool down completely. Then brush the top with the reserved rum syrup. In addition to adding more flavor to the cake, the syrup also serves as a preservative because of the alcohol, helping the cake last for up to 3 weeks. This vegan fruit cake will make your home smell like Christmas. I might take a bit of time to make, but I promise you it’s all worth it in the end.
Watch the YouTube Video
Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cup All purpose flour for the cake
- 1 Cup Coconut sugar
- 1 cup Vegan Butter
- 3 Tbsp All purpose flour for the fruits and nuts
- 1 cup Dried Raisins Sun Maid (jumbo raisins)
- 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 cup Dried Apricots
- 1 cup Red Cherries Candied
- 1 cup Green Cherries Candied
- 1 cup Chopped Pecans
- 1 cup Cashews chopped
- 1 cup Pineapple Juice
- 1/2 cup Maraschino Cherries Juice
- 1/4 cup Rum
- 1/4 cup Molasses
- 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Nutmeg
- 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 1 Orange Zest
- 1 Lime Zest
- 1 Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Cup Almond Milk
- 3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 300 F.
- If you have enough time, then I suggest soaking the fruits by mixing the dried raisins, cranberries, apricots and candied cherries in an airtight container. Pour in the pineapple juice, cherry juice and rum. Close the container with the lid, give it a shake and make sure the fruits are fully soaked in the liquid. If you want an alcohol-free version, you can skip the rum and just use pineapple and cherry juice (orange juice is great too), but keep in mind that the alcohol increase the shelf life of the cake. Let this soak for at least 24 hours or up to a week. Then skip to step 4 below.
- If you're short in time, then in a medium saucepan, add the the dried raisins, cranberries, apricots and candied cherries. Then pour in the pineapple juice, cherry juice and rum. Let the mixture simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure not to let the juice evaporate completely. After 10 minutes, you should be left with a thin syrup-like liquid.
- Strain the fruits mixture using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the rum syrup in an airtight container.
- Add the strained fruit in a mixing bowl, followed by the chopped pecans and cashews.Then add 3 tbsp of all purpose flour and mix to incorporate. This is to prevent the fruits and nuts from sinking to the bottom of the loaf pan when baking. Then set it aside.
- Add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar to a small container, give it a quick mix, then set it aside.
- Place a fine mesh strainer on top of a mixing bowl and add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin spice, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients through so that there are no lumps, then set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, add in the softened (room temperature) butter, followed by the coconut sugar. Mix in the stand mixer or using an electric hand mixer for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter becomes fluffy. Then add in the molasses and give it a mix to incorporate.
- Grate the lime, lemon and orange using a zester grater and give it a mix.
- To the batter, add the almond milk and apple cider mix reserved earlier. You'll notice that the batter starts to separate because of the vinegar. Use the hand or stand mixer to fully incorporate.
- Add the sifted flour to the batter and mix to incorporate. The batter will not look as consistent due to the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda. This is normal and serves as replacement for eggs.
- Gently fold in the fruits and nuts mixture we reserved earlier.
- Grease a baking loaf (I used a 13×4 loaf pan) with some oil or butter, and line up every side of the loaf with parchment paper. This will prevent the fruits from burning when baking.
- Add the batter to the lined loaf pan, cover it with aluminum foil, and pop it in the oven for 3 hours.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool down completely. Then brush the top with the reserved rum syrup. In addition to adding more flavor to the cake, the syrup also serves as a preservative because of the alcohol, helping the cake last for up to 3 weeks.
