Vegan Fruit Cake Recipe with Dried Fruit

This vegan fruit cake recipe is not your typical fruit cake! It’s moist, naturally sweet, and the perfect cake for the holidays!

Fruit cake is one of those quintessential holiday recipes. It’s known for being dense and filled with either dried or candied fruit, nuts, and warm spices. Sometimes it’s soaked in liqueurs.

The very first fruit cake recipe known was made in ancient Rome. Soon after it became popular in countries across Europe. Each one provides its own unique spin on the recipe.

Since many cakes are soaked in alcohol they have been known to last for a long time! Maybe even years before going bad!

Here in the United States, the Christmas fruit cake has become somewhat of a holiday joke. A bad gift that’s inedible, due to its denseness, and long shelf life.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it can be delicious and enjoyed by all at your holiday celebrations.

This vegan version is naturally sweetened with dry fruits. It’s loaded with warm spices and chopped walnuts. This is a fruit cake for people who think they don’t like it!

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Fruit Cake

• Whole food plant-based ingredients
• Dried fruit (no candied fruit!)
• Suitable for ages (no alcohol added)
• Vegan and dairy-free
• Eggless Fruit Cake
• Perfect for the holiday season!

Ingredients and Notes

Dried Fruit: A combination of raisins, cherries, and cranberries are used in this recipe. However, feel free to use whatever dried fruit you like best, or have on hand. Using chopped apricots, or dried blueberries would make a nice substitute. Add a tablespoon of lemon zest or orange rind for a citrusy flavor.

Walnuts: It wouldn’t be a fruit cake without nuts. This recipe calls for chopped walnuts. You could also add chopped pecans or almonds if you prefer.

Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg are added to give this cake warm flavors.

All-Purpose Flour: You could also use white whole wheat flour if you want to make this recipe healthier and high in fiber.

Organic Brown Sugar: This makes this cake sweet, but feel free to reduce the amount of sugar as the dried fruit provides quite a bit of sweetness as well. Alternatively, you can use coconut sugar if you’re looking for an unrefined option.

Vegan Buttermilk: A combination of 1 cup of soy milk or almond milk, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Allow to sit and curdle for 10 minutes before adding to the batter.

Vegan Butter: My favorite vegan butter to use in baking is Earth Balance Vegan baking sticks. Instead of butter, you could use coconut oil.

Variations

• Change the dried fruit: Feel free to use apricots, blueberries, or currants in place of any of the fruits that are added.
• Soak the Fruit in Brandy: If you’d like to make this an authentic fruit cake with alcohol, soak the dried fruit in brandy overnight before adding it to the cake. Then brush the finished cake with brandy on all sides.
• Soak in Fruit Juice: If you’d like to make it moister, but don’t want to add alcohol, you can soak the fruit in orange juice or apple juice.

Vegan Fruit Cake Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare baking pan. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper down the long side of the pan leaving a few inches to hang over either side.

Step 2: In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder.

Step 3: Add the room-temperature vegan butter to the large bowl. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat together on medium-low speed for about a minute, until the mixture resembles sand.

Step 4: Add the vegan buttermilk and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined.

Step 5: Fold in the fruit mixture of raisins, cranberries, cherries, and chopped walnuts by turning to low speed, and incorporating throughout the batter, or folding into the batter using a spatula.

Step 6: Transfer the batter to the prepared 9-inch pan. Smooth over the top.

Step 7: Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.

Expert Tips

• Fruit cake is dense by nature. This one is also dense with all of the added fruit. Since it is so dense it does not spread very much in the oven. Use a spatula to evenly spread the batter in the pan for an even bake.
• It may take more time to bake your cake in the oven. This will depend on the size of your cake pan. I recommend using a deep 9 inch loaf pan. If you use a glass pan rather than a metal non-stick pan, you’ll want to reduce your heat by 25 degrees so that the bottom doesn’t burn.
• Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper to easily allow the cake to release. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before adding any additional icing or toppings.

How to Store and Keep

Store the cake at room temperature wrapped in saran wrap, and then wrapped in aluminum foil to retain moisture and keep it from drying out. Or place slices in an airtight container such as a cake tin. It will keep for 3-5 days.

How to Serve

Serve with a cup of warm coffee or tea. Dust with organic powdered sugar for decoration, or a simple drizzle of icing.

More vegan holiday recipes!