Missing the iconic Indian Christmas plum cake from your childhood? This eggless fruit cake with alcohol-soaked nuts (plus an orange juice option) is rich, moist and deeply spiced. Just like the bakery cakes you remember, but easy enough to bake at home and remind you of your childhood Christmas.
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Come December, my neighbors and friends would often show up with a foil-wrapped loaf dotted with glossy fruits and nuts. One bite was all it took for me to fall in love with it. Year later, after moving away from India, Christmas felt incomplete without that familiar slice. So I started baking this eggless cake at home and the moment it goes into the oven, it feels like we're back home all over again.
Ingredients
Here is just a gist of the ingredients, please see recipe card for quantities.
- Dried fruits: I used mixed dried fruits like raisins, black raisins, dried cranberries, cherries along with Tutti Fruti or Holiday Fruit . You can also add chopped dried plums & dried apricots.
- Dried Nuts: You will need cashews and walnuts, however you can also use pecans or almonds.
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, warm ground spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cardamom).
- Wet ingredients: Yogurt, neutral oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, milk.
- Soaking : I soaked my dried fruits and nuts for a day in Rum, however for best results if you plan better than me, soak them 3 months in advance. Sometimes when I don't want a boozy version, I swap the rum with orange juice. If baking this cake is a last minute, you can skip the soaking all together, but you wouldn't get that boozy taste.
How to make Christmas Plum Cake (Fruit Cake)
- Soak mixed dried fruits and chopped nuts in rum or brandy, or in orange juice for a non-alcoholic version, let them sit for a few hours or days, or I gently simmer in juice and cool.
- Make caramel by melting sugar with a 3 tablespoons of water until amber, carefully adding hot water, then cooling it completely.
- Preheat the oven to 320 F and grease and line your loaf or round tin with parchment paper or by dusting flour.
- Whisk together all dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- In another bowl, whisk yogurt, oil, hot milk, vanilla and cooled caramel, mixing until smooth. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet in batches.
- Dust flour on the soaked dried fruits and nuts to coat them.
- Toss soaked fruits and nuts in a bit of flour, then gently fold them into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the pan, level the top, tap out air bubbles if any and bake for 60 minutes until deep brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Depending on the type of your oven, if could either take 10 mins or less time, so I suggest keep an eye our after 50 minutes.
- Cool the cake in the pan briefly, then on a rack, and ideally rest it wrapped for 12-24 hours.
- Brush with alcohol for that authentic bakery taste before slicing and serving.
Anvita's Top Tips
- Soak ahead for deeper flavor.
- Bake low and slow to avoid a dry or burnt top.
- Fold gently once the flour goes in, don't overmix.
- Rest the cake overnight for neater slices and a richer taste.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Result | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Overbaking the cake | Dry, crumbly texture | Bake at a lower temperature, check early and use a skewer |
| Adding too much liquid | Dense, gummy or undercooked centre | Aim for a thick, pourable batter |
| Not coating fruits in flour | Fruits sink to the bottom | Toss soaked fruits and nuts with a spoonful of flour first |
| Cutting the cake too soon | Crumb falls apart, flavour seems flat | Let it rest 12–24 hours wrapped before slicing and serving |
If you've been missing that one special plum cake that made Christmas feel real back home, this eggless version is your sign to bake it in your own kitchen this year. Save this recipe, bake it for your family, and then come back to tell in the comments which memory it brought rushing back for you and who you shared the first slice with.
Related
My other favorite cake recipes? Try these:
Indian Bakery Style Eggless Plum Cake(Fruit Cake)
Servings:
slicesCalories:
Ingredients
For Soaking
- 1 cup dark rum / orange juice / apple juice if using juices, add less sugar to the batter.
Wet ingredients
- ¾ cup oil
- 1 cup yogurt
- ½ cup hot milk
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Dried Fruits & Nuts
- 16 oz fruit cake mix or tutti frutti
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
- 1 tbsp black raisins
- 2 tablespoon walnuts chopped
- 2 tablespoon cashews halved
Spices
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
Instructions
- Soak mixed dried fruits and chopped nuts in rum or brandy, or in orange juice for a non-alcoholic version, let them sit for a few hours or days, or I gently simmer in juice and cool.
- Make caramel by melting sugar with a 3 tablespoons of water until amber, carefully adding hot water, then cooling it completely.
- Preheat the oven to 320 F and grease and line your loaf or round tin with parchment paper or by dusting flour.
- Whisk together all dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- In another bowl, whisk yogurt, oil, hot milk, vanilla and cooled caramel, mixing until smooth. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet in batches.
- Dust flour on the soaked dried fruits and nuts to coat them.
- Toss soaked fruits and nuts in a bit of flour, then gently fold them into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the pan, level the top, tap out air bubbles if any and bake for 60 minutes until deep brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Depending on the type of your oven, if could either take 10 mins or less time, so I suggest keep an eye our after 50 minutes.
- Cool the cake in the pan briefly, then on a rack, and ideally rest it wrapped for 12-24 hours.
- Brush with alcohol for that authentic bakery taste before slicing and serving.
Marie says
1/2 of what for the candied fruit mix.
Anvita says
Marie,
It’s 1/2 a cup of fruit mix
Marie says
Thank you!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Happy to help 🙂
Leslie says
If I use all purpose flour, how much additional liquid would be needed?
Anvita says
Hi Leslie, if you are using APF you will end up using same or less orange juice.Reserve few Tbep and add it gradually if need to achieve th desired consistency.
Luci Cook says
I never understood why fruit cake had a bad rep. This looks really good and easy to make.
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Luci, I guess it's because traditionally the fruits were soaked in alcohol to preserve the fruit for winter. Later commercially they were being soaked in sugar for preservation. Hope you consider trying it
fearlessdining says
I love that this cake is gluten free. Can't wait to try!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Thanks. Hope you try it for the holidays.
Rae says
This fruitcake doesn't look like the fruitcake my great grandmother made—this one doesn't look like a brick! I'll need to try this recipe before it's Christmastime.
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Hope you get around trying it Rae. It's egg-free so it';s not the most moist cake, but for an egg-free cake it's pretty good.
Erin says
I LOVE fruit cake! I like that you use gluten-free mix to make this too. Great holiday recipe!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Thanks Erin. I try to eliminate gluten to the extent I can, whenever possible.
Annissa says
This cake looks so festive! Love that it's also an easy and healthy recipe!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Yup Annissa, it's an easy holiday recipe plus you get to control the ingredients. The candied fruit is store bought but you could soak your own fruits and make it even more healthier. Hope you get around trying it.
Andrea Metlika says
This looks great. Love all the tips and variation ideas.
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Thanks Andrea, hope you consider making it.
confettiandbliss says
I love this homemade recipe for fruit cake. Usually we purchase a number of fruit cakes at bakeries, but this year I'd love to make them at home. Thank you so much for this inspiration!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Hoep you get around making this. So much more economical than the store bought version plus you get to control the ingredients you add. When you make it, do let us know what did you think of it.
Chelsea says
I really want to try this recipe. It looks so simple and very delicious! I’ve never had a fruit cake, but after looking at the ingredients, it doesn’t look so scary as what you see at the stores!!!
Anvita says
Go for it Chelsea. It’s the easiest fruit cake recipe ever. You can’t ho wrong with this one.
Shannah Holt -Mastering Mom Chaos says
I’ve actually never tried fruit cake believe it or not! I do love fruits in both cakes and pies though and I just got an instapot a few months ago. I think I might just try this out!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Shannan, you should definitely give it a shot. I think it's hard not to like it. It's a very straight forward recipe so go for it.
dishappyhome says
This Fruit Cake looks delicious. I honestly have never had it. I am looking for new recipes for my InstaPot and will have to give this a try.
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Sure thing. Hoep you get around trying it and when you do , would love to hear back from you.
Farisha says
I dont have an instant pot can i bake it in an otg. If so temp n time pls
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Yes Farisha you can sure bake it at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes.
Sandra Price says
I want to make this for my son but I don't have an instant pot. Can you help?
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Sandra, You can bake this at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes.
Karen Lyles says
there is something major wrong here....I think 2.5 cups orange juice is wrong...my batter is very runny!!! I just put it in the IP but I fear it will be a wreck!!!! Please check ingredient list!
adriana says
I've never been a fan but this looks so good that I think I need to!
TheBellyRulesTheMind says
Go for it, you won't regret it.
Leslie says
It appears to me that the same printable recipe appears twice or am I not seeing something? Both are for 6" cakes. My pan is 7 x 4" and I am considering adding 50% more of everything to get some height to the cake. How much time would you recommend that I add?
Grissel says
Thanks for the post, lovely recipe. Can't wait to try it.
Claudia says
Can you use a bit of rhum in the cake, baked in the oven ?
Soniya says
Hi Claudia, definitely you can add rum to it. You can decrease the amount of orange juice.
kristie says
"soak you own fruit"? I have fresh berries (strawberries and raspberries) and candied nuts. how could i incorporate these instead o f candied fruit. OR should I go with fruit cake route? Like your 'instant pot cranberry orange bundt cake' but with lemon, strawberries and raspberries?
Ronak Mehta says
Thank you for sharing this delightfully easy, mouthwateringly delicious recipe. Have baked this cake several times since I first tried it a few weeks back and it’s been a huge success each time!
raminder saluja says
Ronak,
Happy to hear that you made it a few times and enjoyed it. An occasional treat is always welcome at our home. We don’t really wait for Christmas to enjoy it 🙂
Kathryn says
Hello! I recently found your site while I was looking for an easy kitchari recipe for the 8nstant pot. Now a week later you are showing me this fruit cake recipe! I am a lacto-vegetarian so it is perfect. I assume I can make this in a Bundt pan as long as I am careful about covering it?
Cheryl says
Hi great cake, when useing the foil ,put parchment paper down first then foil, stops any reaction to foil.