Desserts

Alcohol Free Christmas Cake (Easy Fruit Cake)

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Easy Christmas Fruit Cake
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Alcohol Free Christmas Cake (Easy Fruit Cake)

This alcohol free Christmas cake gives you the dark, spiced, fruit-packed slice everyone expects at Christmas, without a drop of anything boozy in it. The dried fruit gets simmered in orange juice instead, which plumps it in eight minutes rather than three weeks.

That one change makes the whole thing doable. No soaking the fruit in October. No feeding it every fortnight. You can bake this on a Saturday and serve it the same week.

It bakes low and slow in an 8-inch tin, which is what keeps the middle moist and stops the edges going hard. The rest is a straightforward creamed cake that anyone who has made a sponge can handle.

Recipe at a Glance

DetailValue
Prep time30 minutes (plus 30 minutes for the fruit to cool)
Cook time2 hours 15 minutes
Cooling time2 hours in the tin
Total time5 hours 15 minutes
Makes16 slices
Calories355 kcal per slice (estimated)
Pan size8-inch (20 cm) round deep cake tin, greased and double-lined
Oven temperature150°C / 130°C fan / 300°F / gas mark 2

Why You’ll Love This Alcohol Free Christmas Cake

  • No weeks of soaking. Eight minutes in warm orange juice does what a long soak does, so you can decide to bake today.
  • Everyone at the table can eat it. Children, drivers, anyone avoiding alcohol for any reason at all.
  • Properly moist. The fruit goes in carrying juice, and the low oven keeps that moisture in the crumb.
  • One bowl, one tin. Cream, beat, fold, bake. No fiddly steps.
  • Makes a good gift. Wrapped in baking paper and ribbon, an 8-inch cake cuts into sixteen generous slices.
  • Flexible fruit. Whatever mix is in the cupboard will work.

Ingredients

For the fruit:

  • 320 g (2 cups) mixed dried fruit
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) glacé cherries, chopped
  • 240 ml (1 cup) orange juice

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Alcohol Free Christmas Cake (Easy Fruit Cake)

Recipe

Alcohol Free Christmas Cake (Easy Fruit Cake)

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Prep30 mins
Cook2 hrs 15 mins
Total5 hrs 15 mins
Servings16
Calories355 kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Simmer the fruit. Put the dried fruit and chopped cherries in a saucepan with the orange juice. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fruit has swelled and most of the juice has been drunk up. Take it off the heat and leave it to cool completely. This matters more than it sounds — warm fruit will melt the butter in the batter.
  2. Heat the oven and line the tin. Heat the oven to 150°C / 130°C fan / 300°F / gas mark 2. Grease an 8-inch (20 cm) deep round tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Use a double layer of paper up the sides if your tin is thin. A long bake at a low temperature is gentle, but the edges still appreciate the insulation.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the room-temperature butter and the brown sugar together until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes with an electric mixer. Cold butter will not cream properly and the cake will come out heavy. If you forgot to take it out, cut it into cubes and give it twenty minutes.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each. If the mixture starts to look split, add a spoonful of the measured flour and carry on.
  5. Add the flavourings. Mix in the vanilla sugar, the orange zest and the molasses if you are using it. Stop as soon as it is combined.
  6. Fold in the dry ingredients. ⚠️ Don’t miss the rest! The full article continues on the next page 👇📖 Tap “Next Page” to see all the details, tips... Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice and salt. Mix gently until the batter is smooth and you can no longer see dry flour. Do not beat it hard at this stage. Overworked flour makes a tough, rubbery crumb.
  7. Add the cooled fruit and nuts. Tip in the cooled fruit along with any juice left in the pan, and the chopped nuts. Fold everything through until the fruit is evenly spread. The batter will be thick. That is correct — a loose batter lets the fruit sink.
  8. Bake low and slow. Spoon the batter into the lined tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Make a very slight dip in the centre so the cake rises flat. Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Start checking at the 2-hour mark: a skewer pushed into the centre should come out clean, with no wet batter on it. If the top is browning too fast, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it after about 90 minutes.
  9. Cool it completely. Leave the cake in its tin until it is completely cold, about 2 hours. It is fragile while it is warm and it will break if you rush it. Once cold, lift it out, peel off the paper and wrap it well if you are not serving it the same day.

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