Christmas fruit cake (Eggless and alcohol free)

Christmas is nearing and here is the cake recipe for the festive season! A fruit cake that is alcohol free and also eggless :) I am a big fan of fruit cakes/plum cakes/tea cakes. Traditionally fruit cakes are made by soaking dry fruits in rum for many days but when I came across this recipe is Maria's menu, I was so excited to try it out and very happy with the way it turned out :) 

The original recipe uses apple juice to soak the fruits, I have replaced it with orange juice. You could use try with either. 

You could also check out my other eggless cake recipes for the holiday season!

• Eggless glossy lemon cake
• Whole-wheat orange cupcakes with caramelized orange zest (Eggless and butterless)
• Eggless vanilla sponge cake in pressure cooker
• Eggless Sticky Date Pudding

INGREDIENTS:

• Mix of dry fruits - 1 and 1/4 cup (I used dates, tutti fruti, apricots and raisins)
• Fresh orange juice - 1 cup (Juice from 2 oranges with a teaspoon of sugar. You could even use store bought apple juice)
• Cardamom - 4
• Cinnamon - a small stick
• Clove - 1
• Butter - 85 grams, softened
• Sugar - 1 cup (I used light brown sugar)
• Hot milk - 1/4 cup
• Whisked curd - 1/2 cup
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon
• Maida - 1 and 1/4 cup (You could even use half whole wheat flour and half maida)
• Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Chop the dates and apricots, if using. Soak all the dry fruits in orange juice overnight
2. Powder the cardamom, clove and cinnamon along with a teaspoon of sugar. Keep aside
3. Sieve together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside
4. Grease a cake pan of your choice with butter/margarine and preferably line the bottom of the pan with a butter paper. Pre-heat oven to 180C
5. Soften the butter and add sugar to it. Beat the mixture very well until light and fluffy
6. Now add the hot milk, whisked curd/yogurt and beat well
7. Fold in the sieved flour to the wet ingredients, in two batches. Do not over beat
8. Drain the soaked dry fruits and coat them with 2-3 tablespoons of maida (This is to avoid the fruits from sinking into the batter)
9. Add the dry fruits and spice powder to the cake batter and mix very gently
10. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (If you are using an 8" round pan, then it should get baked in 30-40 minutes. I used a deep star shaped pan, so mine took almost 55 minutes to bake, with the temperature reduced to 160C for the last 10 minutes) 
    
11. You can check if your cake is done by inserting a knife/skewer/toothpick. If it comes out clean, without any batter sticking on to it, then your cake is done!
12. Keep the cake with the pan on a wire rack and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Then de-mold the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely
13. Slice the cake only after it is cooled down completely. It can be stored in air tight container at room temperature for 2 days and later be refrigerated for a week

My cake is now ready to be shared :) How about yours?

Linking this recipe to Bake Fest event #37