Festive and flavorful homemade Eggless Fruit Cake is bursting with cheerful holiday spices and delicious rum-soaked fruits and nuts. It’s a classic Christmas recipe that makes a light, crumbly, and perfectly moist Christmas Cake that you’ll love to enjoy and share all season. No eggs needed!
About Eggless Fruit Cake Recipe
Traditional Christmas fruit cake is a yummy treat made by soaking dried fruits and nuts in rum or wine, and mixing with fragrant spices in a simple from-scratch batter.
To make my eggless version I use a blend of whole wheat flour (atta) and all-purpose flour (maida). This helps to create a wonderfully tender and fluffy cake every time!
Although most of the alcohol will bake out of the cake, it’s easy to adapt this as an alcohol-free recipe if you choose. Substitute rum with Orange Juice or apple juice.
I soak the dry fruits and nuts in rum for 3 days at room temperature before using to bake. However, if you want you can soak in rum for as little as 12 hours or 24 hours, or for even as long as one full year in the fridge.
Table of Contents
Place the dried fruit and rum in an airtight container with a secure lid. If soaking in apple juice or orange juice, then soak in the fridge for 1 to 2 days.
Here are two other Christmas cakes you should try after you make this easy fruit cake recipe:
- Plum Cake (made with whole wheat flour, apple juice and caramel)
- Wine Cake (made with red wine and mix of dried fruits and nuts)
Fruit cakes take more time to bake. The exact time will vary from oven to oven, but it took my eggless fruit cake about 1 hour to bake at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
I use my favorite dried fruits and nuts in this recipe, but feel free to substitute or add whatever you like for your Christmas cake!
How to Make Eggless Fruit Cake
Soak Dry Fruits and Nuts
1: In a large bowl combine the following nuts and dried fruits:
- ¼ cup of golden raisins
- ¼ cup black raisins (seedless)
- ¼ cup cashews
- 2 tablespoons of dried cherries
- 8 apricots
- 8 to 9 dates, small to medium-sized
Rinse them well and drain thoroughly.
2: Finely chop everything with a knife, or use a food processor to roughly chop.
Keep in mind to finely chop the nuts and dried fruits as larger chunks will cause the cake to crumble while cutting it.
3: Transfer the chopped dried fruits and nuts to a bowl.
4. Now add ¼ cup of tutti frutti and ¼ cup chopped candied orange peel.
You can skip these ingredients if you don’t have them. But candied orange peels, gives a lovely citrusy, bitter-sweet notes in the cake.
5: Pour in one cup of rum, wine, or apple juice.
6. Mix very well and let the dried fruits and nuts soak in the rum for at least 12 hours, or for 2 to 3 days. You can keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Tip 1: If soaking in rum for more than 3 days then transfer to a sealed container and keep in the fridge for up to one year.
Tip 2: If soaking in apple or orange juice, then refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
7. Here is what the mixture will look like after soaking for 3 days.
Prepare Spice Mix
8: The spice blend in this fruit cake smells and tastes just like the holidays.
For this recipe you need to gather 2 inches of cinnamon, 2 green cardamoms, 2 allspice, ⅛ teaspoon of grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg powder.
You can also add 2 cloves for an extra festive boost of flavor.
9: Add the spices in a spice grinder or a small grinder jar.
10: Grind the spices to a fine powder, and set aside.
11. At this point you want to go ahead and prepare your Christmas cake pan. To do so grease a 7 to 8.5 inches round pan very well with a neutral oil.
Since this is a moist cake, you can also line the cake pan with butter paper or parchment paper.
Also preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes to get perfectly hot.
Sift Dry Ingredients
12: To make the batter, combine 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour in a sieve over a large bowl.
13: Then add the ground spice powder and ½ teaspoon of baking powder.
14: Sift the ingredients together into the bowl.
Make Fruit Cake Batter
15: Next add the soaked dried fruits and nuts – including the leftover rum – to the sifted dry ingredients.
16: Add 1.5 cups of demerara sugar. You can also use powdered sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, palm or coconut sugar – whatever you prefer!
17: Then add 1 cup of oil and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
18: Gently mix together the ingredients until just combined, making sure to not over-mix.
19: Next, in the same bowl in which dried fruits and nuts were soaked, add 1 cup of soy milk.
Feel free to use dairy milk – or almond milk, cashew milk, lite coconut milk, to make an eggless fruitcake that’s also vegan-friendly.
20: Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) to the milk.
21: Mix well. Do not worry if the milk curdles a bit.
22: Now sprinkle 1 teaspoon of baking soda all over the milk.
23: Stir gently. The mixture will rise a bit.
24: Pour this milk mixture into the fruit cake batter.
25: Working quickly, use a spatula to combine the mixtures together.
26: It should form a wet batter that is smooth except for the lumps of dried fruits and nuts.
27: Pour the eggless fruit cake batter into the greased pan.
28: Give the pan a gentle shake and tap to level out the batter, using a spatula if necessary to even the top of the cake.
29: As you do not want the batter to reach the very top of the pan, you might need a second pan, like I used here. This is like an extra mini cake for you to enjoy!
Bake Christmas Cake
30: Now bake the fruit cake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on oven size.
31: The eggless fruit cake will have a beautiful golden brown color. Test the doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center – it should come out clean.
Allow the cake pan to cool completely on a wired rack or stand before flipping the cake out onto a plate.
Storage
32: Wrap the fruit cake in a cling film or store in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
The flavors mature over a period of time and this eggless fruit cake tastes very good after some days. If you stay in a warm climate then keep Christmas fruit cake in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
33: Once cool to the touch, slice and serve the eggless fruit cake with a glass of dairy or plant-based milk, or a cup of Hot Chocolate. You can also serve the fruit cake as a sweet snack.
Expert Tips
- Baking: Remember to preheat the oven for 20 minutes before you bake. The baking time will vary with the type of oven, size and pans you use. Open the oven door after ¾ of the cake is baked. Opening it many times may cause the cake to sunk. If the top of the cake browns quickly, then cover the top with a parchment paper or aluminium foil.
- Milk and fats: I have used soy milk in the recipe. But you can sub it with almond milk, cashew milk, lite coconut milk or dairy milk. Instead of oil you can use butter.
- Candied orange peels: Do add the candied peels (orange or lemon) as they really add some bitter notes to the cake which is otherwise sweet and this is what makes the Christmas fruit cake different from a regular fruit cake. Candied ginger peels also taste good.
- Nuts: Almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans are some nuts you can include instead of cashews. You can also use a mix of these nuts.
- Alcohol: The nuts and dry fruits mixture can be soaked in apple juice, orange juice instead of rum. You can also use equal proportions of rum and wine if you want. For orange juice and apple juice keep the bowl in the fridge. If kept outside even for a few hours in a warm climate like that of India, the juices will get spoiled.
- Flour: You can make this eggless fruit cake entirely with whole wheat flour or with all-purpose flour or pastry flour. You can also use whole wheat pastry flour.
FAQs
Yes, you can do that. So, add 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of buttermilk along with 1 teaspoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon baking soda.
Vinegar is important as in combination with the baking soda, it helps in leavening the cake and makes it softer.
For a 1 kg pan, an 8.5 to 9 inches square or round pan should be good enough.
Yes, it is absolutely possible to make this Fruit Cake entirely with all-purpose flour (maida).
Usually, the baking soda is added to the dry mixture. However, in this recipe, I have added it in the milk mixture as vinegar is also added.
Vinegar reacts with baking soda and forms carbon dioxide which aerates the batter. The reaction is profound and effective this way, than the baking soda being added in the dry ingredients mixture.
You can use milk, if making a vegetarian cake. For more vegan options, you can use plant based ingredients like cashew milk, almond milk or even lite coconut milk. But remember, with each of these, there will be a change in the taste.
More Eggless Cake Recipes To Try!
Cake Recipes
Cake Recipes
Cake Recipes
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Eggless Fruit Cake | Christmas Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For soaking
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup black raisins (seedless)
- ¼ cup cashews
- ¼ cup chopped candied orange peels or candied citrus peels
- 8 dried apricots
- 8 to 9 dates – small to medium-sized
- ¼ cup tutti frutti – optional
- 2 tablespoons dried cherries or glazed cherries
- 1 cup rum or 1 cup fresh orange juice or apple juice
For cake batter
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour – 187 grams
- 1 cup whole wheat flour – 120 grams
- 1.5 cups demerara sugar – 250 grams – can also add instead 250 grams brown sugar or 250 grams white sugar or 250 grams powdered sugar/confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup oil or melted butter, use any neutral flavored oil
- 1 cup soy milk or any nut milk or dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or regular white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
For ground spice mix
- 2 inches cinnamon
- 2 green cardamoms
- 2 allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder, about 2 to 3 pinches of nutmeg powder
- 2 cloves – optional
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger (ginger powder) – optional
Instructions
Soaking nuts and dry fruits
- Firstly chop all the nuts and dry fruits and take them in a bowl or a jar. Pour rum in the bowl or jar.
- Cover and let the dry fruits soak for 12 or 24 hours or for 3 days. If you have used apple juice or orange juice to soak the dry fruits, then cover the bowl with an air-tight lid or a tightly with a clingfilm wrap and keep in the refrigerator.
- After some hours or every day stir or shake the bowl or jar, so that all the nuts and dry fruits get soaked properly.
Other preparations
- In a spice-grinder or dry grinder, grind the spices listed above, under the heading "for ground spice mix" except for ginger powder. Set aside.
- Prepare a loaf pan or a round cake pan by greasing it very well with oil. You can also line the cake pan with butter paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit)for 20 minutes.
Making cake batter
- Sieve the flours, baking powder and the the ground powdered spice mix. You can also add ginger powder at this step. Note that ginger powder is optional.
- Add the soaked dry fruits together with the leftover rum or apple juice/orange juice.
- Add the oil and demerara sugar or your choice of brown sugar or regular white sugar. Also add vanilla extract. Gently mix together the ingredients until just combined, making sure to not over-mix.
- In a bowl or mug add soy milk. Now add apple cider vinegar and stir gently.
- Add baking soda and stir thoroughly. Add this frothing mixture to the cake batter.
- Stir and mix quickly but evenly.
Baking
- Pour in the cake pan.
- Shake the pan lightly so that the cake batter is spread evenly throughout the whole pan.
- Use a spatula to even the top of the cake.
- Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 50 minutes to 60 minutes or more or less depending on your type of oven.
- The eggless fruit cake will have a lovely golden brown color. Test the doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center and it should come out clean.
- Let the cake pan cool completely on a wired rack or stand before flipping the cake out onto a plate.
Storage
- Wrap the Christmas fruit cake in a cling film or store in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.
- The flavors mature over a period of time and thus the eggless fruit cake tastes very good after some days. If you stay in a warm climate then keep Christmas fruit cake in the fridge.
Serving suggestions
- Later, slice and serve the eggless fruit cake with a glass of dairy or plant-based milk, or a hot cup of cocoa. You can also serve it as a sweet snack.
Notes
- Baking: If the top of the cake browns quickly, then cover the top with parchment paper or aluminium foil.
- Milk and fats: Instead of soy milk you can use dairy milk or almond milk, cashew milk or lite coconut milk. Instead of oil you can use butter.
- Nuts: Feel free to add nuts like almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios instead of cashews. You can also opt to add a mix of these nuts. Also, make sure that these nuts are not salted.
- Candied peels: Do add the candied peels as they really add some bitter notes to the cake which is otherwise sweet and this is what makes the Christmas fruit cake different from a regular fruit cake.
- Soaking: The nuts and dry fruits can be soaked in orange juice or apple juice instead of rum. You can also use equal proportions of rum and wine if you want. If soaking in apple or orange juice then keep the bowl in the fridge. If kept outside even for a few hours in a warm climate like that of India, the juices will get spoiled.
- Flours: This christmas cake can also be entirely made with whole wheat flour (atta) or all purpose flour (maida). You can also use pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
- The approximate nutrition info is per slice of eggless fruit cake.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Eggless Fruit Cake recipe from the archives first published in December 2012 has been updated and republished on December 2023.
Hi,
Can I substitute sugar with honey? Wat shud b the ratio?
Thanks
Anshika
Welcome Anshika. I won’t suggest to use honey as it becomes toxic on heating.
Hello dear. I always land up to your blog for something vegetarian. A big thanks for lovely pictures and wonderful recipes. Tried this cake for a tea party. Everybody loved it and it vanished in no time. Was so happy. Keep posting such amazing recipes!
thanks huner. glad to know that everyone liked the cake. happy cooking and baking ????
Hi Dassana, Thx for the recipe… i make alot of fruit cake but never tried eggless… pls.tell me do we feed this also after baking with juice…
I am thinking of making use of your recipe without eggs, orange juice to soak the fruits but need advise on feeding (if at all its to be done) … if not done at all woun’t the cake be too dry?
Welcome Kamal. No need to feed the cake after baking. The cake is not dry.
Great recipe. Tried this out and it turned out great. Made only a few tweaks like – added a bit of salt, skipped the tutty fruity and added some pistachios and some nuts.
thank you vini. nice to know that the tweaks or variations you made turned out fine. tutti fruity can can be given a skip.
Hi, I have tried your cake twice in microwave and this time I will make on OTG. Need to know whether both rods should be on or only the lower one
Nishi, you can use either. But if you have a small oven then heat the lower rod. If you have a medium to large oven then use both the rods.
Today I tried the cake in OTG for the first time. It came out perfectly golden brown. Taste is awesome as always though there were few cracks. Probably some issue at my end.
Thanks Nishi for the feedback. The cracks can be due to temperature fluctuations in the oven which happens when the oven door is opened many time. The cake should be checked only after it is ¾ baked.
Hey I have a doubt since I didn’t have dates when I soaked the dry fruits in orange juice can I put dates in the same bowl tomorrow or should I put it separately in 1/2 cup orange juice n let it soak for 12-15 hours n then mix the two bowls and also will not putting cherries be a problem ?
sanjna, you can add the dates in the same bowl and let it soak for more 12 hours. i have used glazed cherries, so no issues with them. i would suggest to use dried cherries and not fresh cherries. if using dried cherries, then you can soak them in orange juice.
Hello,
I am using mix fruit for the cake…how much should be the amount of fruit then?
As i am using one type of fruit mix…not including tutti fruiti, cherries and others separately.
would like to try the recipe later
Thank you
shamila, what type of fruit mix you are using. if the fruit mix has lot of fruits in it, then you can use overall use 1 cup of it. but if there is only two to three types of fruits in the fruit mix, then i would suggest to add dry fruits and candied orange peels.
Hello,
thank you…it got peeled orange skin, cherries, black raisin, golden raisin…about 5 mix of fruit. One cup is good?
fine shamila. then you can use 1.5 to 1.75 cups.
Hi Dassana, can u pls guide me how to bake it in a microwave in convection mode? Though I have soaked the nuts n all, m not quite sure how to bake it in convection mode. Kindly help. Thankyou!
pavni, you can bake in the microwave convection mode of 170 degrees celsius. preheat oven at the same temperature for 15 minutes. then bake the cake. timing will be quicker as in a convection mode the baking is quick and fast. i cannot tell the exact time as various ovens have different temperatures. since the heating element is usually on the top in a microwave convection oven, i would suggest you to cover the pan with aluminium foil after 25 to 30 minutes of baking.
Thankyou! I did that way. The cake was amazingly tasty, all thanks to you :). There was this one small thing, it was moist (slightly uncooked) at the centre-bottom. I baked it for for 2 hours, still. Can something be done?
nice to know pavni and thanks for letting me know. in this case, just baking for some more minutes, would have solved the slightly undercooked part. hope this helps.
Hi..could you please tell me if i want to add eggs..how many eggs are required and at what step shall i add them.also any good quality rum brand that u can suggest since m baking for tge first time.Thanks!
ashima, with eggs the recipe will change as some ingredients that are used as egg substitutes won”t be required. so many changes will need to be done. baking is very specific and the final result depends on the proportion of ingredients used. if even if a small element goes wrong, the cake can be a disaster. so i won’t be able to tell you how many eggs and at which step, as i feel its always better to test a recipe and then share it. also i do not want all your work to go for a toss. for rum, i always use old monk.
Hi Dassana
Thank you so much for the mouth watering recipes..
Would like to know if I can soak the dry fruits in pomegranate juice since I have a pomegranate which is little sour and we are unable to eat it.. So, it might work ..
welcome payal. if the juice is little sour and does have sweet taste, then you can use pomegranate juice.
Hi Dasanna..thank you for this recipe. planning to try this cake this season.Can I know the replacement for rum and vinegar and what quantity? Also, can this be poured as muffins?
Thanks again,
Divya
divyapriya, you can use orange juice and apple juice instead of rum. but with both these juices, soak dry fruits overnight or for 1 day in the fridge. also add the remaining leftover juice in the cake. instead of vinegar, you can use lemon/lime juice or buttermilk or a mixture of curd+water.
you can also check this eggless kerala style fruit cake recipe which does not use any alcohol and is made with apple juice – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/eggless-fruit-cake-recipe/
Will try 🙂 Thanks Dasanna. Hare Krishna.
welcome divyapriya. hare krishna.
can we use cranberries also
anita, you can add cranberries.
Hello
I have two questions
first..what should be the temperature of milk before adding vinegar ? Its room temperature or hot milk ?
secondly, whenever i bake in my otg, it sits back.I don’t know why.but I feel may be it’s due to temperature of otg.I mean my otg has two heating rods- at top and bottom.i put both of them on while baking.
is this can be the reason for everytime cake sitting back ?
it would be very kind if u could reply and suggest me something with this problem.I want to make this cake on christmas but scared because cake sits back.
palak,
1. milk can be cold or at room temperature. its not hot or warm.
2. no, this is not the reason. could be incorrect pan size or opening the oven door too many times. try not to open the oven door, unless 3/4th of the cake is done. also do not overmix or undermix the batter.
if any query, then let me know.
Can i bake this in a regular microwave or pressure cooker?
elizabeth, you can try in a pressure cooker. i feel the recipe will work. but microwave i am not sure.
Hi,
Could you advise if apple juice and rum can be mixed for soaking. I soaked for 2 batches and short on rum by 30-40 ml…
Or just let it be :).
Thanks in advance.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to you.
just let it be bhawna. better not mix. wishing the same to you 🙂
Hi Dassana,
Looks really yummmmm.. I will bake this cake for Christmas this year. I want to soak the dry fruits for around 25- 30 days. Can you please tell me if after soaking them in rum, should I keep it in the fridge or should I keep it out?
mekhala, i keep in the fridge. i do not keep outside. since i live in india and the days are warm and sunny even though we are in the winter season. if you live in a cold place where it snows, then you can keep outside.
Thanks Dassana.. will let you know after I bake it 🙂
sure mekhala.
Hi Dassana, I had soaked the dry fruits about a week back in rum. Now I see that nearly all of the rum has been soaked by the dry fruits. Should I add more rum, or 1 cup is sufficient?
no need mekhala, almost all of the rum will be soaked. if more rum is added, the cake will become more boozy 🙂
Hi Dassana,
I had baked the cake last year and it was a hit. Thank you 🙂
This year I had followed your recipe again and have soaked all the dry fruits in rum. They are soaking in it since October. As I checked the recipe now, I see that there are changes that you have made to it. Like, the previous recipe asked for 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, this recipe asks for 1 cup. Please suggest which one do I follow, as I have already soaked the dry fruits in rum. Also, can I make the cake with full maida?
mekhala, i only changed the amount of whole wheat flour to 1 cup and reduced the cashews. you can easily use 3/4th cup as in the previous recipe. yes you can easily make the cake only with maida. don’t worry. the recipe will turn out good. i have made this recipe many times and every year during christmas i bake fruit cakes.
welcome and happy baking.
Also, can you tell me the quantity of all spice powder that I should use? In your recipe you have written ‘2’, is it tsp or tbsp?
mekhala, its just 2 all spice. all spice is also known as kababchini. if using powdered, then add about 1/8th (about one to two pinches) or 1/4th teaspoon.
thanks 🙂
ohhhh Dassana.. I had baked it for Christmas and this was the best fruit cake that I ever had in my entire life 😀 everybody was in appreciation for it and I thank you soooooo much for the awesome recipe.. You made me a star 🙂
welcome mekhala. glad to know that everyone liked the cake. do try some more baking recipes.