Plum Cake Recipe (No Eggs, No Alcohol, Whole Wheat)
My Kerala style Plum Cake recipe is a caramel based tasty fruit cake made without eggs or alcohol. Bonus – this delicious Christmas favorite is also vegan and made with whole wheat flour, making it a wholesome treat the whole family can enjoy.
About Plum Cake Recipe
We love fruit cakes; it’s no wonder, then, that I already have two eggless fruit cakes posted on the blog – my Wine Cake and the classic Fruit Cake (made with rum).
One major difference between this Kerala plum cake recipe and the other fruit cakes is the addition of caramel. This not only gives a nice brown color to the cake, but it also adds a lot of depth and flavor.
To make the caramel syrup for this Kerala plum cake, I checked the method on Nag’s Blog. Preparing caramel is not difficult, so don’t worry! Just cook the sugar and water on a low flame and keep stirring often.
I used packaged organic clear apple juice and 100% whole wheat flour for this Kerala style plum cake. I was also judicious with my use of added sugar and oil.
The natural sweetness of the dates, golden raisins and black currants used in the plum cake is a lovely counterpoint to the rich, nutty cake.
While you should feel free to use the dried fruits and nuts of your choice, do not skip the candied orange peels; they give lovely bitter-sweet notes in some bites, which makes savoring the cake all the more delightful.
My Kerala plum cake is made without alcohol, which I swap for either fresh orange juice or apple juice.
Soaking the dry fruits overnight plumps them up so they are nice and juicy; the added sweetness also helps to compensate for a lower sugar content in this healthy bake.
This recipe yields about 1 kilogram of soft, moist plum cake. I have used an 8-inch round pan, but you can use a 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 loaf pan if you prefer.
If you like festive cakes like this Kerala-style plum cake, here are more eggless Indian bakes you might enjoy:
- Date and Walnut Cake – A moist, wholesome cake perfect for tea time or celebrations.
- Mawa Cake – A rich Irani bakery cake made with khoya and cardamom.
- Honey Cake – A soft sponge soaked in honey syrup and topped with jam and coconut.
- Rava Cake – A traditional Goan cake made with semolina and coconut.
- Eggless Vanilla Cake – A soft, fluffy base cake that’s easy to customize for any celebration.
How to Make Plum Cake
Soak Nuts, Dried Fruits In Apple Juice
1. Take all the dried fruits and nuts in a bowl. I prefer to rinse them in water and then drain them very well, but you can skip this step.
I used a combination of the following dried fruits and nuts:
- ½ cup dates or 7 small to medium-sized dates, 100 grams (weight measured with the stones/seeds)
- ¼ cup cashews
- 2 tablespoons almonds
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 2 tablespoons golden raisins
- 2 tablespoons black currants (without seeds)
- 2 tablespoons pistachios
- 8 to 10 glazed cherries or 8 to 10 canned cherries without the syrup
- 40 to 45 grams candied orange peels (If you do not have a weighing machine then rinse the candied peels first. Finely chop and measure to get about ¼ cup of finely chopped candied orange peels.)
You can add the nuts and dried fruits of your choice. Other yummy suggestions are: dried apricots, figs, pecans, pine nuts, hazelnuts or various dried berries.
2. Finely chop all of the nuts and fruits and collect in a mixing bowl. Feel free to chop the fruits and nuts in a food processor or food chopper for faster results.
Larger chunks will make your plum cake crumbly while slicing, so make them as small as possible.
Note: If using dates with stones, then be sure to discard the stones. If you use a food processor, then add roughly chopped dates with the other nuts and dry fruits before chopping.
3. Add 1 cup apple juice. The apple juice that we need is the flowing, thin, clear, transparent apple juice available in stores.
Note: In a pinch, you can also use Fresh Apple Juice, but since homemade apple juice has a lot of pulp, increase to 1.5 cups fresh apple juice.
4. Mix very well. Allow the fruits to soak – covered in the fridge – for a day.
Whether you use packaged apple juice or fresh apple juice, do not keep the dry fruits soaking at room temperature. Mix and immediately refrigerate.
5. The photo below shows the fruit and nuts after soaking – you can see how much volume they gain. Bring this mixture to room temperature before you proceed with the plum cake recipe.
Prepare Caramel Solution
6. In a saucepan, take ½ cup sugar (100 grams) and 2 tablespoons water. I used raw sugar. You can easily use white sugar.
Note: You can also use brown sugar or jaggery instead of preparing the caramel solution. Simply dissolve the jaggery or brown sugar in 1 cup water and proceed to step 18.
7. Mix and stir very well. Place the pan on the stovetop over a low heat.
8. Bring the sugar solution to a boil over low heat. You will see the mixture bubbling initially, as shown in the photo below.
9. Continue to cook, stirring often.
10. At one point it will look as though the sugar is getting crystallized.
11. Continue to cook and stir frequently.
12. The pale brown color remains for a while, as you can see in the photo below.
13. Continue to cook and stir. Eventually you will see the color changing to a dark brown.
14. This color indicates the caramelization process has started. Since I was also handling the camera, I stopped here to prevent the caramel from getting burnt.
The color should become a little darker and you will also get a deep caramel aroma.
15. Remove the pan from the stovetop and place it on a heatproof pad on the countertop.
Immediately add 1 cup water to the caramel, being very careful not to burn yourself as the mixture splutters.
16. The caramel will harden as soon as you add the water. Place the saucepan back on the stovetop over a low flame.
Bring to a gentle simmer and stir often until all the hardened caramel is dissolved.
17. Let the liquid caramel solution cool completely, then filter it using a tea strainer or a fine mesh strainer and keep aside.
You can see the impurities from the unrefined raw sugar in the picture below.
18. Once the caramel solution has cooled, add ⅓ cup oil. I used olive oil. You can also use sunflower oil or melted butter.
If using melted butter, then add it when the caramel solution is still warm.
19. Thoroughly mix the oil with the caramel solution.
20. Next add 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or regular white vinegar. Mix again thoroughly.
Make Batter
21. Grease an 8 inch round pan very well with oil or butter. Preheat your oven at 180 degrees celsius(356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes before you bake the cake.
22. Sift together the following ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour/atta (240 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)
Note: You can also add ¼ teaspoon allspice powder and ¼ teaspoon ginger powder.
23. Sift all the dry ingredients through a sieve. Set aside.
24. Next add the soaked fruit, nuts and juice mixture to the sifted dry ingredients.
25. Using a spatula, mix lightly being careful to not overwork the mixture. You don’t want any gluten strands forming in the batter mix.
26. Add the caramel solution.
27. Add all of the caramel solution in one go.
28. Now fold the flour ingredients with the caramel solution. Don’t mix. To see how folding is done, you can check my Eggless Banana Bread YouTube video.
29. Fold to a smooth batter. If the batter looks too thick, then you can add some more water.
Bake Plum Cake
30. Pour the batter in the prepared pan. Gently shake and tap the pan to even out the batter.
31. Place the pan in a preheated oven and bake the cake at 180 degrees celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 1 to 1.25 hours. If the top browns too quickly, then cover it with an aluminum foil or parchment paper and continue to bake.
Baking time varies with various brands and models of ovens, so be sure to keep a watchful eye over your plum cake. In case you remove the cake and find that it has not fully baked, simply return the pan to the oven and continue to bake.
A wooden skewer should come out mostly clean and dry if the cake is properly baked. There will be some moisture from the dry fruits on the skewer, but there should not be any sticky cake batter on it. You should see only fine crumbs.
Cool the plum cake in the pan on a wire rack until it is room temperature.
32. Here’s the base of the plum cake. As you can see, I was in a hurry and removed it from the pan while it was still hot, resulting in a crack on the base.
To avoid cracking, gently remove the cake from the pan ONLY when it has cooled to room temperature.
33. If you were impatient like me, you can sift some powdered sugar on top of the cake to hide the cracks. 🙂
Slice and serve the Kerala style plum cake, preferably with a cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy!
Serving & Storage
The plum cake cake can also be refrigerated. It keeps good for 10 to 12 days in the fridge. I cut the cake in slices and stored them in an airtight box.
Serve as a dessert or a sweet snack with your Christmas meals. You can also enjoy the plum cake with a side of coffee, espresso, milk, tea or hot cocoa.
Expert Tips
- Apple juice: For soaking, you can use 1 cup packaged clear apple juice (preferably without preservatives) or 1.5 cups homemade fresh apple juice. But make sure to soak the dry fruits & nuts, then immediately refrigerate it and not keep it at room temperature.
- Nuts and dry fruits: You can vary the quantity and add nuts and dry fruits of your choice or whatever is available to you. Some other good options are mixed dried berries, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pecans, dried apricots, figs, dates. Ensure discarding the seeds, if using dates.
- Sweetener: In place of the caramel solution, you can also use jaggery or brown sugar or raw sugar. Dissolve the choice of sweetener in 1 cup water and proceed accordingly.
- Spices: Along with all the mentioned spices in this recipe, you can also add dried ginger powder and all-spice powder. Add ¼ teaspoon of these.
- Acidic ingredient: For this, you can use any of these – regular white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- Baking: The temperatures vary in various ovens. When the cake is baking, do keep a check but do not open the oven door many times as this can sink the cake. Only open when ¾ of the cake is done and when you see the top crust, nicely golden and baked.
- Scaling: This recipe can easily be halved or doubled to make for small or large portions of this tasty cake.
FAQs
Can we replace whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour?
If using all-purpose flour, you might need to add less amount of caramel syrup. Since we are making the caramel syrup ahead, it is tricky to tell the correct amount.
My suggestion would be to add an equal proportion of both whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.
Can I halve or double the recipe?
Absolutely! You can easily halve or double or triple my Kerala style plum cake recipe.
Can I bake the cake in a microwave oven?
In your microwave oven, use the convection mode for baking. The cake cannot be baked using the microwave mode or microwave option. Preheat and bake your microwave oven using only the convection mode at 175 degrees Celsius.
Can I use fresh orange peels instead of candied orange peels?
No – fresh orange peels will make the cake very bitter. Omit the candied orange peels if you do not have them. But you can add orange zest – which is the orange colored part of a fresh orange peel.
Use a grater or a zester, to get fine grates of the orange part of the peel and not the white part. You can add about 1 tablespoon of orange zest to the batter.
Is it fine if I soak the dry fruits for a couple of hours?
Dry fruits and nuts soften and soak really well when kept overnight. But if you are short of time, then soak them for 2 to 3 hours.
Can I make this cake without an oven?
Of course! You can make the cake in a stove-top pressure cooker. Simply follow the steps outlined in this recipe post – Pressure Cooker Cake.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
To be soaked overnight
- ¼ cup walnuts – 25 grams
- 2 tablespoons golden raisins – 15 to 20 grams
- 2 tablespoons black currants (seedless) – 20 grams
- ¼ cup cashews – 30 grams
- ½ cup dates – 100 grams ( I used 7 kimia dates)
- 2 tablespoons almonds – 25 grams
- 2 tablespoons pistachios – 20 grams
- 8 to 10 grams glazed cherries – 25 grams or 8 to 10 canned cherries without the syrup
- 40 to 45 grams candied orange peels or about ¼ cup finely chopped candied orange peels
- 1 cup Apple Juice – clear and transparent juice, canned or packaged
Dry ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour leveled – 240 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon)
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder or grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon green cardamom powder
- ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
For caramel
- ½ cup raw sugar – 100 grams, can add white sugar instead
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup water
Wet ingredients
- ⅓ cup olive oil – can add sunflower oil or any neutral flavored oil
- 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice or lime juice or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
Instructions
Soaking dry fruits and nuts
- Take all the dry fruits and nuts in a bowl. I just rinse them once or twice and then drain them very well.
- Now finely chop all of them and collect in a mixing bowl.
- Add the apple juice and mix very well.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate letting the dry fruits soak in the apple juice for a day.
- Bring the dry fruits and apple juice mixture to room temperature before you proceed with making the cake.
Preparing caramel
- In a sauce pan, take the sugar and water.
- Mix and stir very well. Keep this pan on the stove top on a low heat. I have used organic unrefined cane sugar but you can use white sugar.
- Bring this sugar solution to a boil on a low heat. You will see the mixture bubbling initially.
- Continue to cook and do keep on stirring often.
- At one point it might look that the sugar is getting crystallized.
- Continue to cook and stir frequently till you see the color changing to a dark brown. Switch off at this point.
- Remove the pan from the stove top and place it down. Immediately add 1 cup water to the caramel. Be careful while doing so, as the mixture splutters.
- The caramel will harden as soon as you pour the water. Keep the saucepan back on the stove top on a low flame. Stir often and bring to a gentle simmer till all the hardened caramel is dissolved. Do stir often so as to aid in dissolving the caramel.
- Let this caramel solution cool completely.
- Once the caramel has cooled, add the oil. I used olive oil. You can also use sunflower oil or melted butter. If using melted butter then add it when the caramel solution turns warm.
- Mix the oil with the caramel solution very well.
- Next add lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. I have used lemon juice. You can also use white vinegar. Mix again very well.
Making cake batter
- Grease a 8-inch round pan very well with oil or butter. Also preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 mins before you bake.
- In a sieve, take whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, clove powder and cardamom powder (optional).
- Sift all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Next add the soaked dry fruits + apple juice mixture to the sifted dry ingredients.
- With a spatula just mix lightly.
- Add the caramel solution.
- Now fold the flour ingredients with the caramel solution to a smooth batter.
Baking
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Gently shake and tap the pan so as to even out the batter.
- Place the pan in a preheated oven and bake the cake at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. A wooden skewer should come out clean and dry when inserted in the cake.
- This cake has to be baked very well. If the top gets browned too much, then cover with an aluminium foil or parchment paper and bake. Baking time varies with various brands and models of oven.
- You can sift some powdered sugar on top of the cake to hide the cracks on the top. Slice and serve the cake.
Storing and serving suggestions
- The cake can also be refrigerated. It keeps good for 10 to 12 days in the fridge. Cut the kerala plum cake in slices and stored the slices in an airtight box.
- Enjoy the cake as a snack or dessert with your Christmas meals. You can choose to serve the cake with any beverage of your choice – hot cocoa, drinking chocolate, milk, tea, coffee, espresso or wine.
Notes
- Apple juice: For soaking, you can use 1 cup packaged clear apple juice (that is preferably without preservatives) or use 1.5 cups homemade fresh apple juice. Ensure to soak the dry fruits & nuts, then immediately refrigerate it and not keep it at room temperature.
- Nuts and dry fruits: You can vary the quantity slightly and add nuts and dry fruits of your choice or whatever is available to you.
- Dates: Remember to remove seeds if the dates have seeds in them.
- Sweetener: In place of the caramel solution, opt to use jaggery or brown sugar or raw sugar. Dissolve the choice of sweetener in 1 cup water and proceed accordingly.
- Spices: Along with all the mentioned spices in this recipe, you can also add dried ginger powder (ground ginger) and all-spice powder (ground all-spice). Add ¼ teaspoon of either of these.
- Acidic ingredient: For this, you can use any of these – regular white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- Baking: The temperatures vary in various ovens. So do keep a check, but do not open the oven door many times as this can sink the cake. Only open the oven door, when ¾ of the cake is done and when you see the top crust, nicely golden and baked.
- Scaling: Easily halve or double this recipe.
Nutrition
This Kerala Style Plum Cake recipe from the archives first published in December 2015. It has been updated on December 2024.
Hi just now tried this cake recipe. Came out well. Tastes yummy. Centre part of the cake alone is little bit gooey.
Kept more time also. Even then it’s like that. Is that due to wholewheat flour? But it’s cooked. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you and welcome. Looks like a bit more baking is needed. I don’t think its due to the whole wheat flour.
Thanks Dassana for the beautiful kerala style plum cake recipe. I baked cake for first time and it came out beautiful. I followed your recipe blindly.
I missed nutmeg, ginger and allspice. And I baked the cake on the gas as I don’t have a over. But trust me, it came out really beautiful.
Thank you so much. This time I tried with apple juice, and next time I would like to do it with orange juice and will use nutmeg and ginger powder.
If possible, please let me know what does allspice powder includes.
Thats great to know. Most welcome. Definitely you can try with orange juice next time. Nutmeg and ginger give a nice flavor and fragrance to the cake.
Allspice powder is basically finely ground allspice. This spice is called ‘Kabab Chini’ in Hindi and Jamaica pepper or Myrtle pepper in English.
It has a lovely aroma which is like a mix of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It is often used in baking spiced cakes like this one and also in spiced cookies.
The recipe turned out to be really delicious ?
Thank You Very Much ❤️❤️❤️
I have made this thrice in 3 days
Thank You Once Again!
Wonderful and thanks for letting me know. Glad!
Most welcome.
Tried for the first time but worked well.
Hi Dassana, I usually try to use whole wheat for baking cakes but unfortunately my cake don’t rise as much and I end up with cake that are uncooked from the inside.
I have a small oven so I take half of the measurements.
Can you please tell me what could I be doing wrong? The baking powder and soda are not old.
First thing, sift the whole wheat flour at least twice or thrice.
Secondly do not overmix the batter. Too much mixing of the batter leads to the development of gluten strands in the batter, that make the cake get a doughy texture after baking.
The cake looks uncooked as you mention, but actually it is not uncooked. It is simply cooked dough like solid texture in the cake. There is not airy crumb like texture in the cake.
I hope these suggestions help.
How long can I keep this cake at room temperature?
For 1 to 2 days.
Today I tried it for the first time,and it turns out well. Thank you ?
Great and thank you for sharing your experience on the recipe.
Cake turned out really well. I replaced caramel with brown sugar and milk. It worked. Very healthy version with use of whole wheat and less oil.
Glad to know and thank you.
Hi
Thanks for the lovely recipe. Loved it. I want to try this for 31st December, Can i use white sugar instead of caramel ? If yes what quantity
Thanks
The recipe will change. You can check my Fruit Cake Recipe or Wine Cake where you can use white sugar.
Thank you so much for the detailed recipe. I tried plum cake for the first time today and it came out so tasty. Even the consistency of the cake is superb. Thanks again for all your efforts in putting this up!
Great and thanks for the super feedback and also for the rating. Glad to know.
Dassana Amit your recipes are amazing. One can just go as per yout instructions & useful tips & the result is a sure shot winner. I’ve just tried out the eggless Plum cake & it’s delicious. I’ve earlier also made the chocolate cake & apple cakes all eggless cakes and wheat cake & they too were awesome. Thank you for sharing your recipes ?
Thank you so much. So glad to read your feedback on the cake recipes you have made. Most welcome and happy baking.
Hi Dassana,
Came across this recipe and i am super excited to try it before Christmas! A few questions – what can I replace the black currants and candies orange peels with?
Also, can i make the caramel using jaggery instead of raw or white sugar?
Thank you!
Hi Sneha, you can add raisins (seedless ones) instead of black currants. There is candied ginger peels also available. Though it is not a substitute for candied orange peels, but works well in recipes like these.
To get that orangish flavor, I would suggest to add about 1 tablespoon of orange zest which is the orange colored part of the orange peel. You will need a fine grater or zester to get the fine grates.
Other than this, instead of apple juice, use orange juice. But use homemade orange juice and soak in the fridge overnight.
If i m not making caramel, then i need to add 100 gms sugar plus any more wet ingredient like water/curd/milk?
Some tweaks will be needed when the recipe is changed. If the batter looks more thick, then you can add some liquids like water or milk.
Can I soak the nuts in rum and use this same recipe?
Yes you can do that, but you will need to add more sugar while making the syrup as rum obviously won’t be sweet like apple juice. So add about ¾ to 1 cup sugar and mix it with 3 to 4 tablespoons of water to make the caramel syrup.
I baked the cake yesterday. It’s awesome ? I have used Jaggery instead of caramelized sugar
.It’s delicious
Merry Christmas ??☃️☃️
Thank you Mousumi and great to know. Merry Christmas.
Thank you so much for such a lovely recipe. I used homemade molasses instead of preparing caramel syrup and some jaggery along with it . It turned out to be one of the most perfect plum cakes ever.
Nice to know and thank you for sharing your feedback. Thanks for the rating too.
Hello Anuradha, how much molasses did you use and did you mix that with 1 cup water too?
I have always used your receipes, its really great. And best thing is all are veg recipes. Please suggest or make a video on how to use microwave oven with convection mode for cake. Whenever I have made its burnt ,very hard .
Thank you. I cannot make a video as I do not have a microwave oven. When you use the convection mode for baking, simply use the convection mode only. Do not use convection mode with microwave mode. In a microwave mode only or in combination with convection mode, the cake will get burnt and become hard. If you use the convection mode only, then you can either reduce the time or the temperature. For the plum cake, you can bake in the convection mode for 170 degrees celsius or reduce the time to 40 minutes or until the cake is done.
Can I make the caramel a day before?
Yes you can do that.
Can I use orange juice instead of apple juice to soak nuts?
Yes you can. But keep the bowl in the fridge for the nuts to soak the orange juice.
The cake came out perfectly . I baked this for 1hr. I should have covered the cake after 45-50mins because it cracked quite a bit on top but the taste was great and the sweetness was just perfect. I tried to do caramel (with white sugar) as given in the recipe but it didn’t workout for me and I didn’t want to waste the sugar syrup so I took 1 cup of that sugar syrup added 60gms brown sugar to it. Let it cool and followed the remaining steps.
So so thank you for this recipe.
thank you for the detailed comment and positive feedback on this cake recipe. yes, making caramel can be tricky. what you did to replace the caramel was a really good idea. thanks again and happy baking.
Can we use fresh orange peels instead of candied orange peels
do not use fresh orange peels as cake will become bitter. instead you can use orange zest. orange zest is the orange part of the orange peel. using a grater or a zester, grate the orange part of the skin (peel) and not the white part. it gives a good aromatic orange flavor in the cake. you can use two to three oranges to get the zest.
HI,if I have to halve the quantity,what is the pan size I need to take for baking the cake?
ashwini, you can use a 6 to 6.5 inches diameter round pan.
Hi , This turned out very well .Thanks for sharing such nice recipes and now able to make stuff which were thought to be impossible to make at home.
welcome sumu. glad to know that recipes are helpful to learn such recipes.
Hi I prepared when I tasted the dough it was tasting bitter ,I used grape juice made at home pls tell me why
Divya, was the grape juice bitter?. other than that i don’t see any other ingredient which will make the cake on bitter side. however i have not added grape juice in the recipe. I have made this cake with orange juice and apple juice.
is it necessarily to soak dry fruits over night?.. will couple of hrs do?
shilpa, dry fruits really soak up well if soaked overnight. but you can even soak them for a few hours.
Dear dassana….here instead of apple juice orange juice can b added na…means the juice which v get from fresh oranges?….should it b boiled???also can the apple juice be replacedd by wine?
shubha, orange juice from fresh oranges. you can boil it also with the dry fruits. yes you can replace apple juice with wine.
Thank u dassana…will try your recipe….
Welcome Shubha
Dear dassana the cake is very tasty…thank you for the recipe…even though kept in fridge..it is soft unlike other wheat cakes which will b harder wen kept in fridge
thanks a lot shubha. the cakes which become dense in fridge are the ones where butter is used. if oil is used, the cake does not become dense. it also depends on other ingredients used in the recipe.
Thank you soooooooo much for this recipe. Tried it today and the result was a fabulously tasty cake!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!
thanks purnima for this positive feedback. wish you too a happy christmas and a happy new year.
Thank you so much for your valuable tips?
welcome archana.
Hi Dassana…. I question plz…. can I make cupcakes with this same mixture for the kids… if yes then at what temperature and for how long… thanks
archana, you can make cupcakes. temperature will be same that is 180 degrees celsius but time will reduce. so it can take 30 to 45 minutes. do note that a toothpick or a skewer should come out clean. you may see some stickiness on the toothpick due to the dry fruits like dates inside. but batter stickiness should not be there.
Hi dasanna, I m a fan of your recipes . I m going to try this cake . I have store bought 100% apple juice and I m going to bake thr cake on 24th December. Can I leave the dry fruits and nuts in apple juice for 10 days in fridge?
prasy, do not keep for 10 days. the apple juice might get spoiled. just keep for a max of 2 days in the fridge. so you can keep the dry fruits soaking in the juice on 22nd dec or 23rd dec and then bake on 24th dec.
Great . Thank you Dasanna. !
welcome prasy.
hi Dassana
love the recipe.Will it stay fine if I courier it as well.It will take 4 to 5 days for delivery
thanks
in courier, my only concern would be that the cake should not crumble. firstly as this is an eggless cake and will be more prone to crumbling if its too much shaken and badly handled. its not a delicate cake, but compared with the egg based ones, it more on the softer side and not very firm. so i would not suggest to courier it.
Hi, your cake looks so yummy! May I know if I can prepare the caramel a few days in advance? If pre-prepared, do I keep the caramel in fridge or just room temperature in airtight container? Thanks!
thanks. you can prepare the caramel before. keep the caramel in the fridge in an air-tight jar.
I did it yesterday. so yummy! and its really not too sweet. wholesome, light, and soft, but a bit on crumbly side… probably is my skill problem.. thanks for the great recipe!
thanks for letting me know joyce. as you bake more, you will also learn more. its more about practicing and learning. then you can easily make good bakes at home.
hi ,
can I bake without oven ?
komal, you can bake in a pressure cooker. check this method on how to prepare cake in pressure cooker – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pressure-cooker-cake-recipe/
Thanks Amit for sharing this recipe. It is really useful. I find it healthy as it doesn’t use all purpose flour. Also I tried it yesterday and it turned awesome. I just added 3 ripped bananas and 2 tbsp pineapple juice too to make it more flavourful.
wow ruby, addition of bananas and pineapple juice is so yum. thanks for sharing and also thanks for the feedback.
any one cal tell me are baking soda and mitha soda is different
both are same.
Have u made apple juice at home or brought it from a store…….how can we make apple juice at home
welcome shreya. its a lengthy process. i used organic apple juice.
Hi..I am new to baking. I tried this recipe. Everything was great..the taste, the aroma but inside of the cake remained soft even after baking for almost 1:30 hours.. Any insight on what could be the reason?
at what temperature did you bake. did you preheat the oven and which oven you used?
yes i did preheat the oven and i used Samsung microwave on convection mode.
and I Preheated the oven at 180 C and baked on the same temperature
okay. looks like the temperature is on the lower side in your oven. some more time like more 15 to 30 minutes, would have improved the texture of the cake. oven temperatures vary with make, model and size. so when baking, firstly do not open the oven door many times. open to check when at least 3/4th of the baking is done. also the timing will vary from oven to oven. i hope this helps.
Thanks !!
looking delicious and easy too,……………
thankyou suja 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. We all loved the taste and the texture. I made a couple of changes, added orange juice as I did not have apple juice and secondly boiled the dry fruits in the juice as I did not soak them overnight. I used white sugar and the caramel was not the same color as yours, could it be because of white sugar? The cake was soft and delicious.
thanks for this positive feedback lakshmi. i have also made this cake with the dry fruits boiled in orange juice. the results were too good. whether you use white sugar or not, the color of caramel is same. its just that sometimes we stop some few seconds before getting the dark brown color. i do that at times, just to make sure that the caramel does not burn. so this could be the reason for the cake not having a dark color.
hello dear, yesterday tried this cake and results were awesome….thanks for a lovely recipe…..
pleased to know this thankyou chhavi 🙂 and you are always welcome.
Hi, would like to know if I can use water to soak the dry fruits in instead of apple juice.also, what is the purpose of soaking, is it for added flavour? Would like to also know what serves as the binding agent in this recipe? Thank you!
soaking does add a lot of flavor. traditionally the dry fruits are soaked for months or a year in rum. but in this recipe, apple juice is used as substitute for rum and the soaking is just for some hours or a day. the binding agents are oil and caramel. with water you will have to experiment. i am not sure how the final result will be when water is used.
Thank you for your reply. How does it work when brown sugar is used?? Is it supposed to be heated on the stove just till the sugar dissolves in the water?
no. just dissolve the brown sugar in 1 cup water and then add the oil, vinegar in it. mix very well and then add to the flour + dry fruits mixture.
Hi, I’ve always loved your recipe as it really helps us vegetarians to bake easily. I would love to see you posting a recipe on eggless butter cake soon! Thanks in advance.
thankyou so much sri 🙂 glad you liked our recipes. have taken your request for eggless butter cake on our file.
Big fan of ur recepies.I hv tried Christmas cake it was awesome. I hv almost tried ur all cake recipes they always cm out v well.Thanks for all ur efforts to make every thing easy for us.☺
pleased to know this priya thankyou so much god bless you 🙂
Hi.. i have been looking for eggless plum cake since long and finally found it in your blog. I plan to make it for my kid’s bday next week, just have one question, can we replace the wheat flour with maida fully? If yes what are the changes that I need to make in the proportion.
lalitha you could use maida with same proportion as wheat flour. hope this help’s you thankyou 🙂 let us know how it was?
I tried it today for my kids birthday n it was awesome.. my husband n kid loved it. Thanks for the quick response..
welcome lalitha and nice to know.
How do I bake it without oven? Any other method?
baking can be done in a pressure cooker. you can check the method on this post – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pav-recipe-in-pressure-cooker/
Excellent recipe Dassana! Thank you
thanks usha and welcome 🙂
I dont have Microwave so I always bake cake with egg in pressure cooker. Never tried egg less in cooker. Do you think it will work as I am very eager to try this wonderful recipe.
Thanks
i think the recipe will work, but just that it will take more time to bake in the pressure cooker.
Thank You dear
welcome priti.
Hi dassana.
I am a silent reader of u r blog.i am eager to make this cake. But i have microwave oven only. That too a basic model without convection.plse tell me hw to bake in a microwave? I will be thankful to u.plse.my son loves eggless cake very much.i want to do for him.
in the microwave oven this cake cannot be baked. if you have a pressure cooker, then you can bake in it. it will take a lot of time. so i suggest you to halve the recipe and make the cake. you can follow the method posted on the link given below. just replace the bread pan with the cake pan.
recipe link – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pav-recipe-in-pressure-cooker/
Does the baking time gets reduced if we halve the ingredients should we decrease the amt of baking powder and soda Thanks
yes we should also reduce the quantity of baking powder and soda yes even the baking time would reduce. hope this help’s you.
Hi
Thanks for this recipe. Will surely give it a try. By any chance, do you have an eggless ghee cake recipe which also seems to be a kerala speciality?
welcome sandhya have taken you request for ghee cake thankyou 🙂
hi, I am a silent reader of your blog from a long time. This cake look so yummy .. but I don’t have microwave. can you share a cake recipe without microwave.
pleased to know this swasti have taken your request on our file thankyou 🙂
thanks Dassna!
will all the ingredients be halved as in apple juice baking powder or just the flour
all the ingredients raman 🙂
Hi,
I like it very much the eggless fruit cake, as I am a vegetarian, I am very much eager to do it and prepare. I will surely save this as one of my most very important recipe for my family.
Till your next post then.
eddie v
thankyou eddie 🙂 do try and let us know how it was?
perfect recepie for the holiday season 🙂
I have 2 questions :
1 Can we replace atta with Maida?
2 Can this recepies be halved and how? 1 kg cake is too big for our small family 🙂
yes raman you could use whole wheat flour and maida in 1:1 proportion. secondly just reduce the quantity to half for smaller sized cake. Hope this help’s you 🙂
Hello mam! I am a big fan of your food recipes. I have tried few of them at home which turned out great, thanks to you.
Regarding the above cake recipe, l have a query.Can this cake be baked in a pre-heated cooker? Thank you!
thanks saloni. you can bake in a cooker. but it may take a lot of time.
Thank you for your reply. Will surely try and revert.
fine saloni 🙂
Hi Mam
I Am reader and follower of your blog.I love your recipes that too particularly your baking ,since you are using a healthy version.mam for this cake can I use corn oil.
hi saradha, i have never used corn oil in any of the baking that i do. so i have no idea how the cake will turn out. i do not know the consistency of corn oil, so not sure.
Hi amit,
I love all your recipes, my sister-in-law suggested me the website. I made few recipes from your cook book. And i tried the cake but i didnt get it so well. i have done it in a cooker. And once i done a chocolate cake with weikfield cocoa powder it ruined my cake. Can you suggest me the cocoa powder and can you post few cake recipes done in cooker.
this cake will take a longer time to be done in the cooker. so you can bake it for some more time. i use hintz cocoa powder and no issue with it till now. i have also used cadbury’s cocoa powder before. i plan to add some cake recipes that can be done in the cooker.