Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 43 Comments
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This Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake isseriously moist,beautifully fragrant andnot overly sweet! It's honestly undetectably vegan and gluten-free and has an almost melt-in-your-mouth texture reminiscent of stollen. Unlike a lot of other gluten-free cakes, this one definitely doesn't dry out quickly, as the fruit keeps it moist for a long time and the flavour actually improves over time. This means it's perfect for Christmas, gifting, or making in advance when entertaining guests.
What type of alcohol should you use to make Fruit Cake?
Commonly used alcohol types are rum, brandy or sherry, but you can use any alcohol you like.
If you need this recipe to be gluten-free, make sure to check that the alcohol you use is gluten-free.
If you need it to bevegan, you can use the website barnivore.com to make sure that your alcohol is vegan.
Can you make Fruit Cake without alcohol?
Fruit Cake traditionally contains alcohol as the dried fruits are soaked in alcohol before being added to the cake batter. To make alcohol-free fruit cake, you can replace the alcohol by soaking the dried fruit in orange juice or apple juice instead.
Can you make Fruit Cake without soaking the dried fruit a day in advance?
Yes - you can do this by placing the dried fruit and alcohol (or juice) mixture in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 1 - 1 ½ minutes. Then leave to soak for 30 minutes.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place choppeddried fruits,walnutsandspicesin a bowl and addsherry/brandyuntil covered.
Tip:Leave to soak in the fridge for at least24 hours.
- Mix together all the ingredients in aglass mixing bowl, using ameasuring jugto measure out the plant-based milk.
- Transfer the batter to aone-pound loaf tin.
Tip:Make sure to line the loaf tin with greasedbaking paper- this will make removing the bread from the tin so much easier!
- Sprinkle over flaked almonds to decorate, if desired.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the loaf tin and leave to cool on a cooling rackbefore slicing.
How long does this Fruit Cake keep for?
This Fruit Cake keeps covered in the fridgefor afew days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can useany type of dried fruit:I used a mixture of dates, cranberries, dried figs, prunes and dried apricots, but you can also use raisins, sultanas, sour cherries,mango, papaya or pineapple.
- You can replace the alcohol with orange juice or apple juice.
- You can replace thechopped walnutswithpecan nuts.
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can replace the ground almondswithground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
- You can use plain flour,wholemeal (whole wheat) flouror spelt flourinstead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- This is definitely not as sweet as a traditional fruit cake. If you prefer a sweeter cake, add 4 tablespoons of sweetener of choice, such as maple syrup.
More fruity vegan desserts
- Cherry Bakewell Cake
- Blueberry Pie
- Apple Cake
- Fig Upside Down Cake
- Chocolate Orange Cake
- Raspberry Dark Chocolate Blondies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake
This Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake isseriously moist,beautifully fragrant andnot overly sweet!
4.05 from 49 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Keyword: gluten-free fruit cake, vegan christmas cake, vegan fruit cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 317kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
- 300 g (1 ½ cup) dried fruit , finely chopped (I used a mixture of dates, dried cranberries, dried figs, prunes and dried apricots, but you can use whatever dried fruit mix you like)
- 1 tablespoon unwaxed orange zest (or sub 1 teaspoon orange extract)
- 50 g (½ cup) walnuts , finely chopped (or sub pecan nuts)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
- Generous amount brandy or sherry (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary - or sub apple or orange juice)
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
To decorate (optional):
- Flaked almonds
Instructions
Place the dried fruit, orange zest, walnuts, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice in a bowl and add a generous amount of brandy or sherry, until everything is roughly covered.
Keep covered in the fridge for around 24 hours, to allow the flavours to develop.
Before making the cake, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
Add the dried fruit mixture (along with any residual brandy), adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
Transfer mixture into a loaf tin lined with greased baking paper (I used a one-pound loaf tin).
Scatter over flaked almonds before baking, if desired.
Bake in oven for 45 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
*You can alternatively usealmond flour.
- This is definitely not as sweet as a traditional fruit cake. If you prefer a sweeter cake, add 4 tablespoons of sweetener of choice, such as maple syrup.
- You can also make this without soaking the dried fruit a day in advance - place the dried fruit and alcohol (or juice) mixture in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 1 - 1 ½ minutes. Then leave to soak for 30 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 317Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 6g30%
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 58mg2%
Potassium 274mg8%
Carbohydrates 39g13%
Fiber 6g24%
Sugar 20g22%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 8IU0%
Vitamin C 2mg2%
Calcium 139mg14%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
More Baking & Dessert Recipes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Madeleines
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Muffins
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
Reader Interactions
Comments
Rose Baptiste
Hello. In my search for a gluten free eggless cake recipe I came across your recipe.
I have a couple questions as I have never made such a cake before.
My questions are:
1. what can I substitute for gluten-free flour blend? This is difficult to find in my area.
2. Does this cake stand up well to icing/frosting?Thank you so very much for answering my questions. ~Rose~
Reply
Rhian Williams
Hi Rose! Thank you so much for your questions.
Instead of 150g gluten-free flour, you could use 140g white rice flour and 10g tapioca flour!
Yes, the cake stands up well to frosting!
Hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions.
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