christmas wine fruit cake recipe – this is an easy and delicious recipe to make a moist and soft eggless wine fruit cake.
to make this eggless wine fruit cake recipe, i have used red wine (cabernet sauvignon) to soak the dry fruits. i soaked the fruits in the red wine for about 14 days. you can soak the dry fruits for a day or a couple of days.
after baking the cake, wrap the cake once its cooled. if had straightway the wine flavor is a bit strong. if you keep the cake for 2-3 days, the flavors become subtle & mellowed.
the wine fruit cake is moist, soft and taste too good for an eggless version. i made two cake bars and gifted one to my mom. i have loosely adapted this cake recipe from the fruit cake made with rum, that i posted last year.
this cake can be easily veganized. i have mentioned the substitutions in the recipe details below.
if you are looking for more eggless cakes then do check:
christmas wine fruit cake
INGREDIENTS FOR christmas wine fruit cake
for soaking
- 1 cup red wine
- ½ cup seedless dates
- ¼ cup almonds (badam)
- ¼ cup cashews (kaju)
- 5 to 6 glazed red cherries
- 1 tablespoon tutti frutti
- 1 tablespoon chopped candied orange peel
- ¼ cup golden raisins (kishmish)
- ¼ cup sultanas (optional)
- 4 to 5 halved walnuts - chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped candied ginger (optional)
for christmas wine fruit cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (dalchini powder)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder (jaiphal powder)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar or brown sugar
- ¾ cup oil
- 2 tablespoon curd dissolved in 1 tablespoon water (yogurt or dahi)
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cacao nibs - optional
HOW TO MAKE christmas wine fruit cake
preparation to make christmas wine fruit cake
- first chop the dates, almonds, cashews, walnuts, glazed cherries, candied orange peels, candied ginger.
- in a bowl or jar soak the chopped dry fruits as well the tutti frutti, raisins and sultanas in red wine.
- cover & keep this bowl or jar in a cool dry place. for 3 days i kept the bowl out and then for the remaining days i kept in the fridge. every alternate day shake the jar or stir the bowl.
making wine fruit cake
- sieve the all purpose flour/maida with salt, baking soda and baking powder. add cinnamon powder, grated nutmeg and instant coffee. mix well.
- stir 1 tbsp water in 2 tbsp yogurt till smooth.
- now add the soaked dry fruits mixture, cacao nibs, brown sugar, yogurt+water mixture, oil, milk and vanilla essence.
- fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- pour the batter in a greased or butter paper lined cake pan of 6 to 7 inches diameter.
- bake the eggless christmas wine fruit cake in a preheated oven for 200 degree C for about 50 mins to 1 hour or till a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- keep the cake in the middle rack with both the top and bottom heating elements of the oven on.
- if the top of the cake gets to brown quickly, then cover the top with aluminium foil or butter paper.
- when the wine fruit cake is still warm, remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
- when the cake is completely cooled, wrap the cake in an aluminium foil or cling film and allow the christmas wine fruit cake to mature for 2-3 days before serving.
- the cake can be easily kept at room temperature for 2-3 days.
RECIPE TIPS
- for vegan substitutions, use soy yogurt or cashew yogurt. use soy milk, almond milk or cashew milk instead of dairy milk.
- you can also use apple juice instead of wine and soak the dry fruit for a day or two in the apple juice.
preparation to make christmas wine fruit cake recipe
1: first chop the dates, almonds, cashews, walnuts, glazed cherries, candied orange peels, candied ginger.
2: in a bowl or jar soak the chopped dry fruits in red wine. cover & keep this bowl or jar in a cool dry place. for 3 days i kept the bowl out and then for the remaining days i kept in the fridge. every alternate day shake the jar or stir the bowl.
3: the soaked dry fruits on the 14th day.
making wine fruit cake
4: sieve the all purpose flour/maida with salt, baking soda and baking powder. add cinnamon powder, grated nutmeg and instant coffee. mix well.
5: now add the soaked dry fruits, brown sugar, yogurt.
6: add oil, milk and vanilla essence.
7: fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
8: pour the batter in a greased or butter paper lined cake pan. i used two cake pans of 3.5 x 7.5 inches width.
9: bake the eggless christmas wine fruit cake in a preheated oven for 200 degree C for about an 50 mins to 1 hour. the timing may vary depending upon your oven.
10: when the wine fruit cake is still warm, remove the cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack. when the cake is completely cooled, wrap the cake in an aluminium foil or cling film and allow the fruit cake to mature for 2-3 days before serving. i served the eggless christmas wine fruit cake after 3 days.
Can we cook this cake in a pressure cooker?
You can but it will take more time
Can I use vodka instead wine? please suggest .. Thanks
you can use vodka.
Hi dasanna. can I bake this fruit cake in a bundth silicon pan?
yes you can.
Hi Dassana,
I am planning to make this cake on Christmas. I have few questions, it would be very kind of you if you get time to answer these.
1. Can I soak all the nuts and fruits now in red wine? (will make after 1.5 months)
2. Can we substitute maida with whole wheat flour? If yes, any other change in recipe?
3. You mentioned to cling wrap and let it mature for 3-4 days. Could you tell in refrigerator or at room temp?
Thanks a ton 🙂 You are my go to person for any recipe.
garima, of course i will.
1. yes you can soak the fruits in red wine. keep in the fridge though.
2. you can substitute maida with atta. since atta absorbs more liquids, you can add more milk. so you add 2/3rd to 3/4th cup milk. this will depend on the quality of atta.
3. the cake needs to me matured at room temperature. it will not get spoiled as the temperature is cold in december.
welcome garima 🙂
Thanks for your prompt reply Dassana. Will definitely try this.
I am planning to use dried fruits like blueberry, cranberry, strawberry in this. Already excited!
welcome garima. yes you can various types of berries. enjoy and happy baking.
Hi Dassana,
Finally tried this few weeks before Christmas as I had excess soaked dried fruits and the cake turns out to be too good. My mom who was hesitant to try due to the presence on wine loved it too.
I used whole wheat flour so have to use almost a cup of milk. The cake was bit crumbly which was expected of such a heavy fruit cake but it was super yum.
Thanks a lot for sharing. It paired well with vanilla ice-cream too.
thank you garima. now you can easily make it before christmas 😀
pairing with vanilla ice cream is great. i have to serve it this way next time.
Thanks for the recipe. I made this cake yesterday and am very happy with the result! I soaked the fruit in rum & did not add cacao nibs. Couldn’t wait for 3 days, so tasted it today. Awesome taste! Will try with red wine next.Wish you a very happy new year!
thats nice to know anuradha. thanks for sharing. cacao nibs can be skipped. wish you too a happy new year.
Hello Dassana ji, I followed your suggestion and used 3/4th cup of sugar since I had skipped on tutti fruiti and candied cherries. The cake turned out absolutely delicious and rustic with just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you for the recipe. Merry Christmas and happy new to you and your family. Reshma
okay. then 3/4th sugar is fine. thanks for sharing the positive feedback on the wine fruit cake recipe. most welcome and wish you and your family too season’s greetings as well as a happy new year.
Dear Dassana,
I have kept the dry fruits for marination in Merlot red wine. Before baking I just wanted to confirm if 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of sugar would give enough sweetness for 2 cups of maida used in this recipe? Can I increase the quantity of sugar slightly or this is supposed to be a slightly bitter cake? Would appreciate your valuable suggestion. Thanks.
reshma in the recipe along with sugar the dry fruits also contribute to the sweetness. especially dates, figs, sultanas, cherries, tutti frutti and raisins. if you add more sugar, the overall taste of the cake becomes more sweet as the sweetness of the dry fruits is also felt eating the cake. if you want you can increase the amount of sugar. overall you can add 3/4th cup of sugar. the cake will be more sweet.
hi Dassana! i followed your recipe adding port wine,hazelnuts,pecans,macadamia nuts,prunes,cranberries
it resulted into a beautiful flavoursome cake with right amounts of sweetness.infact I’ve been requested to bake another one as a gift.
Thank you for this recipe as it was my long time wish to prepare & serve my family & friends a wine cake for Christmas.
Merry Christmas & a happy and healthy New Year to u & your family.
thank you meveera. you have added lovely mixture of nuts. nice to know that you have been requested to prepare another wine cake.
wish and your family too a merry christmas and happy new year.
Hi Dassana,
I have soaked the dry fruits for 2 weeks as per the instruction above. But my dry fruits didn’t bring the wine. The wine is still left in the bowl. What should I do? Should I keep for more days in the fridge or should I use only the dryfruits and throw the remaining wine?
some wine will be left. you can add the leftover wine in the batter. no issues. the fruits will get the flavor of wine in them.
Plan to try your recipe next day..
Can you pls upload homemade wine recipe?
shalbin, there are lot of pending recipe request. i don’t know when i will be able to put this homemade wine recipe.
Thanks for such lovely recipe..share more
welcome alka
Is there a microwave version? 🙁
himani, it can only be made in the oven.
Itz really useful for me for the cake preparation…i am planning to prepare it 2day, itz christmas…
After preparing will let u know…
Thank you
welcome sunil
hi,
i just wanted to know that i bake a cake in plastic container.is it safer to bake d cake?????
can i bake this cake in that container or not and i used to bake it on 900 degree C.is this d right method to bake d cake. waiting for ur reply
arpita
don’t bake in a plastic container. its not good for health and the plastic will melt too. 900 degree celsius? its a very very high temperature. baking is done at temperatures from 150 to 250 degrees celsius.
Hi Dasanna,
I have been looking for a simple eggless wine christmas cake recipe. This seems to be the apt one. Will try it this Christmas and let you know. Just one question, can i use self raising flour instead of maida. Will that make the cake better. Awaiting your response.
Meanwhile am going shopping for Wine and the fruits. :-))
Love
Rashmi
hi rash, you can make this wine fruit cake with self raising flour. so just don’t add baking powder and salt as self raising flour already has it. and add about 1/4 tsp of baking soda instead of 1/2 tsp.
Hi Dasanna,
Looks too good.
can I make this without the orange peel?
thanks soumya. orange peel gives a subtle sweet bitter taste. but you can skip it.
Hi Dassana,
I have bought a Indesit Electric Cooker, it is just like normal gas. If I have to bake cake in what temperature should I bake and also which mode (Top & Bottom Mode) and if preheat then should I preheat for 10 mintues?
sunita, i am sorry i am unable to help you. as i have never used it. i have a electric cooker but it is only meant for cooking rice and steaming vegetables. you have to check the manual and follow it.