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

This Kerala Style Plum Cake recipe from the archives first published in December 2015. It has been updated on December 2024.