Christmas Fruit Cake (Eggless & No Alcohol!)

It is no secret that a good fruit cake can make or break your festivities- and so I present to you my favourite fruitcake; perfect for your festivities and sure to become your favourite as well!

This fruit cake is the best one you'll ever come across. Every bite is filled with soft, juicy fruits that have been soaked in zesty orange juice, coupled with the scent of fresh spices is sure to become your holiday staple.

Moreover, unlike traditional labor intensive fruitcakes that need to be soaked in alcohol for long periods of time, this cake needs no special attention and can be devoured straight form the oven.

What are fruitcakes?

Fruitcakes are a must have on the dinner table for Christmas. It contains loads of dried fruits, nuts and sometimes alcohol such as cognac, brandy or whiskey. It is a sign of festivals, fun and food.

There are also regional variations of a traditional English fruit cake such as Dundee cake. It is of Scottish origin and is known for being covered with blanched almonds.

Traditional fruit cakes involved making a cake that is baked with heaps of dried fruits and nuts. After baked, it was soaked with a tablespoon of liquor for a period that can range from just a month to almost half a year. This produced a great, rich and mature flavor.

                             The cake after cutting, from the inside. Filled with they dried fruits and nuts.

EQUIPMENT:

• Mixing Bowls
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Saucepan
• Micro plane/ Zester
• Chopping Board
• 8 inch round cake pan

EASY CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Total Time: 60 minutes

Author: Shreeya Sawhney

Serving: 1, 8" round cake

Ingredients:

Zest and juice of 1 orange

2 cups of dried fruits, chopped in small pieces (dried cherries, raisins, sultanas, dried apricot, figs, dates, cranberries, ginger, orange/lemon peel)

1/3 cup of nuts, roughly chopped (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, cashews)

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg

2 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of ginger powder

1/4 tsp of ground cloves

1/2 cup of salted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar

1 cup of buttermilk

Procedure:

Grease the cake pan with butter/ oil and preheat the oven.

In a saucepan, add all the dried fruits and orange juice. Let simmer until the fruits are plump and juicy.

Take off from heat and cool down.

In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves.

Add in the soaked fruits and chopped nuts to the dry ingredients with any leftover orange juice and coat thoroughly.

In a another bowl, rub the orange zest into the brown sugar. Add the butter, buttermilk and mix until homogenous.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until incorporated.

Do not over mix.

Transfer the batter to the greased cake pan. 

Bake for 55- 60 minutes.

Spin it!

• Use sour cream or yoghurt instead of buttermilk
• Use regular white sugar, or light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar
• Use any dried fruits you love instead of the above mentioned fruits
• Use any nuts you like or none if you don't prefer them
• Add any other spices or none if you don't prefer them