Moist Fruit Cake For Christmas With Dry Fruits And Nuts

Super moist, easy and delicious homemade English fruit cake from scratch! This easy fruit cake without alcohol is made using dry fruits and nuts like raisins, walnuts etc and other simple ingredients and its perfect for Christmas holidays.

It's very easy to make and delicious and perfect if you are a fruit cake lover looking to make a moist fruit that is free of brandy or rum or any alcohol.

What Is Fruit Cake?

A fruit cake is one of the most popular British cakes for Christmas which is made using dry or candied fruits and nuts and flavored with alcohol.

Its also known as plum cake in Kerala, South India, where it is very popularly available for Christmas.

You can choose your favorite nuts and dry fruits to make the fruit cake like raisins, prunes, dried apricots, walnuts, cashews etc.

This moist, homemade fruit cake recipe from scratch using dried fruits and nuts is an instant fruit cake recipe without alcohol and instead of alcohol, we use fresh orange juice to soak the nuts & dried fruits.

How To Make Moist Fruit Cake Without Alcohol?

To make the super moist fruit cake without alcohol, we use fresh orange juice which is used to soak the fruits and nuts.

This is also an instant fruit cake recipe, so we only soak the fruits and nuts for a couple of hours maximum (30 minutes at least) to make this fruit cake.

The advantage of making this fruit cake without alcohol is that anyone who loves a slice of fruit cake for Christmas, but doesn't want to make it with alcohol, can use this fruit cake recipe to make an alcohol free fruit cake.

Also, its more healthy and kid friendly since we use orange juice instead of alcohol in its preparation, and this fruit cake is totally delicious!

Ingredients Needed For This Recipe

Since we do not use alcohol in this fruit cake recipe, fresh orange juice is one of the main ingredients of this recipe.

Other main ingredients include dry fruits and nuts and also spices for flavor, along with the ingredients to make cake.

I kept this fruit cake recipe simple and used raisins fro dry fruits, but feel free to add your favorite dry fruits instead for more flavor.

You may add dried fruits like dates, apricots, figs, prunes or any candied fruits cherry if you wish.

Also go for your favorite kind of nuts including walnuts, pecans, macadamia etc if you wish.

Ingredients I used in this fruit cake is as follows:

for the cake

• flour
• baking powder
• baking soda
• eggs
• butter
• brown sugar
• sugar
• fresh orange juice
• vanilla extract

spices

• cinnamon powder
• dried ginger powder
• cinnamon sticks
• cloves
• cardamom pods

fruits and nuts

• raisins
• chopped walnuts
• chopped cashews

Steps To Follow (The Process Of Making The Fruit Cake)

1. Prepare the fruits & nuts mixture

To do this, we soak the fruits and nuts in orange juice, and heat the mixture until its slightly warm.

Rest this mixture for about half an hour at least or for about a couple of hours or more for best results.

2. Prepare the flour mixture

• In a large bowl, mix together the following dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and baking powder.
• Add the cinnamon powder and ½ teaspoon of ginger powder, mix well. Keep this prepared dry flour mixture aside.

3. Prepare the butter sugar egg mixture

• In another bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar.
• Also add the white sugar and mix well.
• Beat the eggs in a different bowl, and add the beaten egg mixture to the butter sugar mixture. Mix this very well and keep this mixture aside.

4. Prepare the spice mixture

• Once the fruits and nuts are soaked enough in orange juice, filter the soaked fruits and nuts and transfer them to a separate bowl and transfer the orange juice used for soaking to a different saucepan.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar to the orange juice, mix well.
• Also add one teaspoon of dried ginger powder, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick to the saucepan, mix well.
• Heat the mixture in the saucepan in medium heat until the mixture boils and then reduce the heat and cook for another 2 more minutes. Keep this mixture in a cool place, and wait until this mixture is cooled enough.

5. Prepare the cake batter

• Once the prepared spice mixture is cooled enough, add the vanilla extract also, mix well and transfer it to the butter sugar egg mixture bowl slowly. Mix everything well.
• Transfer the wet ingredients mixture slowly to the dry flour mixture and mix well until the dry flour is well mixed with the wet ingredients mixture to form the cake batter.

6. Add the fruits and nuts to the cake batter

• Add one tablespoon of sugar to the soaked dried fruits and nuts, mix well and also add the 1 tablespoon of flour to the fruit nut mixture, mix very well.
• Add the prepared dry fruit and nut mixture to the prepared cake batter and mix well to fold in.

7. Bake the fruit cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
• Transfer the batter to a greased cake pan, top with chopped nuts and raisins.
• Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake browns early before the inside is cooked (check after about 30 minutes), cover the top of the cake pan with aluminium foil and bake for the rest of the time. Allow the cake to cool down before slicing and serving. For best results, you can wrap the cake in foil or butter paper and serve it the next day with tea or coffee or a cup of milk whichever is your preference!

Storing The Fruit Cake - How To Store This Homemade Cake

You can wrap this homemade fruit cake in foil or butter paper and store in room temperature for about a day.

If you wish to store for about a couple of weeks, you can keep the wrapped cake in refrigerator or freezer as you prefer.

I haven't tried storing this cake for longer time than two weeks so I am not sure about storing it for longer periods. If you know more about this, please share in the comments.

How Does Fruit Cake Taste Like?

Fruit cake is rich with dried fruits, nuts and spices so the flavors of the cake is from the spices added and also you will feel the texture and flavors from the added fruits and nuts.

For a best tasting fruit cake, always choose your favorite dried fruits and nuts since the taste and flavor of the cake will greatly depend on the kind of fruits and nuts you choose to add.

Also the spices impart a great, strong flavor to the cake so keep that in mind too! You may adjust the spices also slightly, based on your preferences.

If you have never tasted a fruit cake before, give it a try and find out yourself if you love the fruit cake or not!

Personally I know a lot of people & especially kids who do not love fruit cakes because of the varied flavors and textures from nuts, fruits and spices, which is rather unusual in a cake.

I believe this is an acquired taste and if you grew up with enjoying fruit cakes from your childhood itself, chances are more that you are a fruit cake lover!

I didn't enjoy the fruit cake much like a yellow cake or chocolate cake when I was a kid (though I used to eat it mostly after pulling out the dried fruits from inside the cake) as this kind of plum cake was very common in Kerala for Chrismas time.

But today, you give me a slice of fruit cake anytime, I would love to enjoy it with a cup of tea that brings back a lot of nostalgia.

More delicious & easy cake recipes in this blog:

super moist yellow cake recipe

fluffy eggless vanilla cake recipe

applesauce cake recipe

blueberry banana cake recipe

semolina yogurt cake recipe

easy banana cake recipe

easy orange cake recipe

So here is how you can make this easy, delicious and moist fruit cake without alcohol following this easy recipe.

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5 from 1 vote

Moist Fruit Cake For Christmas With Dry Fruits And Nuts

This super moist fruit cake recipe without alcohol is prepared using dried fruits and nuts (you can choose your favorite kind of dried fruits and nuts or candied fruits suitable for the fruit cake) and also orange juice.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, British, Indian

Keyword fruit cake, fruit cake for christmas, how to make dry fruit cake without alcohol, super moist fruit cake recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

soaking time for fruits & nuts 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 358kcal

Author PA

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 stick butter softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon extra flour for coating the fruits
• 1 tablespoon extra sugar for adding to the fruits
• 1 tablespoon extra sugar for adding to the spice mixture preparation

spices

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon dried ginger powder
• ½ teaspoon extra ginger powder for adding in the flour, optional
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods

fruits and nuts

• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup chopped cashews

for garnishing (may adjust the amounts and ingredients as you prefer)

• 2 tablespoons chopped nuts I used a mixture of walnuts and cashews
• 1 tablespoon raisins

Instructions

• Soak the fruits and nuts (not the one for garnishing) in orange juice, heat the mixture until its slightly warm. I used a microwave safe bowl for soaking the fruits and nuts and heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Let it sit there for about half an hour at least or if you are not in a hurry, you can soak it for about a couple of hours or even more for better results.

Preparing the flour mixture

• In a large bowl, mix together the following dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and baking powder and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Also add the cinnamon powder and ½ teaspoon of ginger powder, mix everything until they are evenly mixed with the flour. Keep this flour mixture aside.

Preparing the butter sugar egg mixture

• In another bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until they are well blended.
• Also add the white sugar and mix well until well blended.
• Beat the eggs very well in a different bowl, and add the beaten egg mixture to the butter sugar mixture. Mix this very well until the eggs are blended well with the butter and sugar mixture. Keep this mixture aside.

Preparing the spice mixture

• Once the fruits and nuts are soaked enough (at least for half an hour or one hour), filter the soaked fruits and nuts and transfer them to a separate bowl and transfer the orange juice used for soaking to a saucepan.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar also to the saucepan with orange juice, mix well.
• Also add 1 teaspoon of dried ginger powder, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick to the saucepan, mix everything well.
• Heat the mixture in the saucepan in medium heat until the mixture boils and then reduce the heat and cook for another 2 more minutes. Switch off the stove and keep this mixture away from heat, and wait until this mixture is cooled enough which will take another 10 to 15 minutes.

Preparing the cake batter

• Once the spice mixture in orange juice (in the saucepan) is cooled enough, add the vanilla essence also, mix well and transfer it to the butter sugar egg mixture bowl slowly. Mix everything well until the spice mixture is well blended with the butter sugar egg mixture.
• Transfer the wet ingredients mixture slowly to the dry flour mixture and mix everything well until the flour is well mixed with the wet mixture.

Adding the fruits and nuts to the cake batter

• Add one tablespoon of sugar to the dried fruits and nuts (soaked in orange juice), mix well and also add the 1 tablespoon of flour to the fruit nut mixture, mix very well.
• Add the prepared dry fruit and nut mixture to the prepared batter and mix well so the fruits and nuts are evenly distributed in the batter.

Baking the fruit cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
• Transfer the batter to a greased cake pan and garnish with chopped nuts and raisins.
• Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake browns early before the inside is cooked (check after about 30 minutes), cover the top of the cake pan with aluminium foil and bake for the rest of the time. Allow the cake to cool down before slicing and serving!

Nutrition

Calories: 358kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 136mg | Potassium: 274mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 328IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2mg

If you want to try a classic fruit cake recipe that uses alcohol like run or brandy, try this recipe.

Hope you found this post on moist fruit cake recipe without alcohol helpful in making easy and delicious dry fruit cake at home from scratch.