Christmas Fruit cake is the “listed must have” during Christmas. The crunch of nuts, the sweetness of raisins and tutti-frutti and the flavorful spices bring along the warmth needed. I am going to share an eggless, non-alcoholic recipe of the Christmas Cake which was appreciated in taste and flavor by one and all. As a child I remember, picking out all the tutti-fruttis out of it to gorge on first and then dig a bite in the cake slice. 😛

It has been celebrated as “Bada din” in my home in India. We always waited for this day and of course for Santa Clause, who would secretly peep in to fill our hanged stockings in night with a surprise gift.

Really ,those days before marriage are a bliss in every girl’s life, when her father would be her Santa and shower her with unprecedented love and support only to see a smile on her face. 🙂 I am lucky enough to get his blessings even when I am far away from him.

This cake would take you through your lanes of memories like it did with me. So try it and Enjoy Christmas !

INGREDIENTS:
1. Raisins golden(Indian kishmish) – 2 tbsp
2. Brown Raisins (kishmish) – 2 tbsp
3. Dried pineapple (ananas)- 3 tbsp
4. Orange zest or lemon zest – 2 tsp
5. Cooking oil (preferably safflower or olive unflavored oil) – ¹⁄₃ cup or 80 ml
6. Light brown sugar – ³⁄₄ cup or 150 gms
7. Orange juice(freshly squeezed or store-bought) – ¹⁄₂ cup or 120 ml
8. Vinegar – 1 tsp
9. Lemon juice – 1 and ¹⁄₄ tsp
10. salt – ¹⁄₄ tsp
11. Cinnamon + Cloves + nutmeg powder + dry ginger powder (all crushed in mortar pestle)- ³⁄₄ tsp
12. Baking soda – ¹⁄₂ tsp
13. Chopped nuts like cashews, sliced almonds, tutti frutti , walnuts,dates – ¹⁄₂ cup + 1 tbsp (according to your preference)
14. All purpose flour (maida) – 1 cup + ¹⁄₄ cups or 220 gms
15. Hot water – little less than 1 cup or 200 ml

METHOD:

| Preparation time : 25 mins | Baking time : 25 mins | Makes 1-1.5 lbs of cake|

1. First of all, wash all the dry-fruits like raisins, black currants and dried pineapples, cranberries etc you wish to add under cold water to remove all the preservatives’ smell and taste in a colander(chhalni).
   Please make sure to wash only dry-fruits that contains preservatives.
   

2. Now take water in a pan and boil it. When it starts boiling only dry-druits ,pineapples(except chopped nuts) etc and simmer them for 3-4 mins. Set them aside to cool.
   

3. When the water temperature has reached the room temperature , add the brown sugar and stir it . This would cool the water further.
   

4. Then add the vinegar, orange juice, lemon juice, salt and oil to the pan.
   I had added these wet ingredients in a large glass bowl for easy mixing and folding of batter.

5. Grease a baking cake pan with some oil or butter. Preheat the oven to 325 dgree F or 170 degree C.

6. Now sieve the dry ingredients flour and baking soda in a bowl. Fold this dry mix in the wet ingredients slowly and mix them.
   

7. Fold the nuts viz. cashews, almonds, walnuts , spice mix,orange zest and tutti-frutti too in the mixture. Save some to add on the top of the batter in the cake pan.
   

8. Pour this batter with a spatula in the prepared tin. Top it with some saved nuts.
   Tap it on the counter to prevent cracks on the top later on.

9. Bake it for 25-30 mins or until the tooth-pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
   

10. Cool the cake for 15- 20 mins completely and invert it on a wire rack to cool further. If it bakes properly it will come out clean from the pan .
    

11. Cool it for 30 mins and then cut out a slice from the center to prevent it from getting dried out. Instead of cutting a wedge from the corner we should always cut it from the center in such a way that ,both the pieces could be brought together to get joined again . This prevents the exposed layer of cake from drying and in every bite you will get the soft moist tutti-frutti nutty cake to relish.
    

The best thing I like about this cake is it is non-alcoholic, does not need any soaking and is eggless. Also it turns out to be moist and soft, in spite of adding spices and nuts. This is because we have used boiled water here.

Hope you all enjoy this Xmas cake with your family !!
Wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy baking !! 🙂