Festive fruit & nut flavours combine in this deliciously rich & moist Raw Vegan Fruit Cake. A fabulous alternative to traditional baked Christmas cake & so easy to make!
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I love Christmas and some of my favourite recipes are my Christmas ones. My Ultimate Vegan Christmas Pudding and my Vegan Brandy Butter are two of my favourite recipes ever and this Raw Vegan Christmas Cake is up there with them too.
I had been planning to make a traditional baked Vegan Christmas cake to share with you before the big day. Then a couple of months ago I was experimenting with a kind of festive Larabar type treat.
Ingredients were combined and left to set in the fridge and when I tried the finished bars I discovered that they tasted like Christmas cake. That was when I had the idea of attempting a Raw Fruit Cake based on the Larabar recipe I had been developing.
So this cake came about accidentally but let me assure you that it is a very good, very worth-making accident.
This Raw Vegan Fruit Cake is a delicious alternative to traditional baked Christmas cake. It is dense with dried fruit and nuts, rich, moist and has the most amazing soft, chewy and crunchy texture.
It is also really easy to make and completely fool proof.
And of course as it is raw there is absolutely no baking involved! Such a festive win!
This Raw Vegan Fruit Cake contains absolutely no flour, no eggs and no dairy which makes it vegan and safe for those who are dairy and gluten intolerant.
It also keeps for weeks if wrapped well and stored in the fridge. I love that aspect of it!
HOW TO MAKE RAW VEGAN FRUIT CAKE
FOR FULL & DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST
STEP 1
Blend up the maple syrup, coconut oil, dates, spices, vanilla bean powder, salt & almonds.
STEP 2
Spoon out and into a large bowl then add all of the other ingredients. Stir really well to combine.
STEP 3
Spoon into a lined cake pan and flatten down the top. I like to use a square 8 x 8 inch pan like this one:
USA Pan are always my first choice when it comes to bakeware and theya ren't sponsoring this or anything. I just love their pans!
STEP 4
Cover and put in the fridge overnight or for about 12 hours.
STEP 5
Turn out, slice and dust with cocoa or powdered sugar before serving.
That's it. So easy!
Everyone who has tried this Raw Vegan Fruit Cake raved about how good it is. Please don't be put off by it being raw. None of my ready and willing testers even noticed and all of them went back for seconds...or thirds.
The list of ingredients is somewhat long but it is so easy to throw together and please feel free to sub any of the dried fruit for whatever you like or have on hand. You do however need to include the dates and I would strongly advise using the dried figs as they are a key ingredient. Without them the taste, texture and structure would suffer. The other dried fruits are very flexible as long as you end up using the same overall quantity.
This Raw Vegan Fruit Cake is:
- Easy
- Healthy
- Quick to make
- Festive
- Great for making ahead
- and loved by everyone!
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe creations so far and I am so excited to share it with you! Please let me know what you think in the comments below and tweet or Instagram me your pictures. I am @avirtualvegan on both. Use the hashtag #avirtualvegan on Instagram.
If you are looking for more festive recipes then be sure to check out the holiday section in my recipe index. You can find it here.
Raw Christmas Fruit Cake
Author:Ingredients
- 360g | 2 packed cups medjool dates , weighed without pits, (See recipe notes)
- 200g | 1 cup coconut oil (unrefined or refined coconut oil is fine)
- 240g | 2 cups almond flour , or almond meal
- 120mls | 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder (It may seem expensive to buy but a package lasts for a very long time as you do not need much. If however you would rather not use it or you can't find it, use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead).
- 1 orange zest of
- 1 lemon zest of
- 30g | 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 125g | 1 cup chopped pecans
- 115g | 3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts , or almonds
- 30g | 1/4 cup walnut pieces
- 150g | 1 cup raisins
- 150g | 1 cup dried cranberries
- 145g | 3/4 cup dried apricots , chopped
- 150g | 1 heaping cup dried chopped figs
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, dates, spices, vanilla bean powder, salt & almonds to a food processor. or blender. Process until smooth.
- Spoon out into a large bowl.
- Pour all of the other ingredient into the bowl and mix well. This is quite hard work but it will come together.
- Line a tin with baking parchment. One that you would cook something like brownies in. I used my square USA Pan which is 8'x8'.
- Scrape the mixture into the tin and press down all over well.Use a spatula or the palm of your hand.
- Cover and put in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
- Remove from the pan and slice.
- Dust with powdered sugar or cocoa powder before serving.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience. The data is a computer generated estimate and should be used as a guide only.
Sheila Johnson says
My daughter and I really loved this recipe. I put some marzipan on top of it made with just ground almonds and soft dates. My husband, who will not normally eat traditional Christmas cake, ate it as well. You only need a small slice as its very rich. Thank you so much for the recipe.
John says
This looks AMAZING! Gotta try it this season for sure.
John says
As for the coconut oil, I noticed you say it is used to set the cake, presumably because it becomes solidified when chilled. I'd rather not have the coconut oil. How about natural sunflower butter instead, with the excess oil drained off after it has separated for a week or two? I've noticed that when refrigerated it becomes quite solidified! Same thing with almond butter, tahini and even peanut butter.
Magdalena says
This is the best recipe ever!!! I have made it a few times now, with small changes/alternatives (various nuts, nuts/seeds butters and oils instead of coconut oil, adding pumpkin seeds etc), but the original recipe is absolutely, totally fantastic. Perfect as a protein snack, fabulous as a decadent dessert, overall winner!!! Thank you Melanie!!!
Libby says
Really delicious. I substituted glace cherries cut in half instead of raisins. Thanks for this no-cook recipe especially as I am trying not to switch on my oven during these times of high costing electric and gas.
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed it Libby. Thanks for the review!
Lee says
My grandson is anaphylactic to nuts: just wondering if almond meal can be replaced with coconut flour? Can the other nuts be replaced with more dried fruit? This recipe sounds amazing.
Melanie McDonald says
The nut pieces can easily be replaced with any of the other fruits or with seeds like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. The almond flour however is trickier because there's such a lot of it. Coconut flour might work BUT it sucks the life out of everything because it's so absorbent. This means you would need MUCH less. It's so absorbent that you'd probably only need about a quarter of it. It's so hard to know for sure though without trying it and because of all the fruit this is an expensive one to mess up. Maybe scale the recipe right down and try it at a small scale first in case it doesn't work out?
I hope that helps a bit!
V says
Can I use olive or avocado oil instead of coconut oil ?
Melanie McDonald says
Not in this recipe I'm afraid. The coconut oil is necessary to set the cake.
Mike says
I absolutely love this recipe & this year was the third year I have made it. For whatever reason, this year it tastes as good but did not set and I did use coconut oil. Are you aware of anything else I might have wrong to cause it not to set? Thanks.
All the best,
Mike
Melanie McDonald says
Hi Mike. The only reason it wouldn't set properly is if you were to alter the ratio of ingredients, if you used MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil which is chemically altered to stay in liquid form even when chilled, or if it was too warm so the coconut oil wouldn't solidify.
For this batch you could store it in the freezer. Because it's made with so much dried fruit it should be easy-ish to cut even when frozen. Once it is frozen cut into portions and keep them in a bag or container in the freezer. Take them out 15 to 20 minute before you want to eat them. That way it won't be wasted and you can still enjoy it.
Hope that helps!
Mike Karstadt says
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for your feedback. I did not alter the ratio of the ingredients so it must have been the type of coconut I used and will make sure to look out for that next year. I did however take your advice on the putting the whole dish into the freezer and it worked well and tastes great. Thanks again for the awesome recipe.
All the best,
Mike
Karen says
A tad too sweet for my taste...feels like too much dates. Maybe it needed more salt? Or less maple syrup? I wonder if you could reduce the amount of coconut oil too. But overall a great alternative to traditional fruit cake!
Cynthia H says
This recipe is deadly good! I didn’t have almond meal, so I soaked 1 1/2 cups almonds for about 4 hours, then ground them in my food processor. I only had dried dates, so I soaked them in 1/2 cup warm brandy for a few hours. Given all this extra moisture, I only used 1/2 cup coconut oil, and it was plenty. I think this’ll become an annual holiday staple.
A Virtual Vegan says
Loving the brandy addition! Thank you for stopping by to leave a review/rating. It's much appreciated!
sharon says
Absolutely love this Christmas cake. Had plans to gift a little bit of it, but I couldn't! Maybe next year I will be able to part with a little bit of it. This and the vegan mince will not be absent from another Christmas!
( neither will your cranberry sauce, brandy butter and caramel sauce!)
Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you're enjoying it Sharon. You'll have to remember to make double next year. Now I need to get a move on and make mine!
Christine Wilkie says
Must it be made with dates? None of my family like dates. None of us are vegan but I like to try new recipes.
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes the dates are essential. They are what holds it all together.
Simon Mottram says
Delicious. it was so popular amongst our guests at Christmas!
Mim says
This is an amazing cake!!! Why wait for Xmas, I make sure I have it in my fridge all year round. I substitute figs for glacé cherries+being such a sweet tooth it works for me. I’ve not only shared the cake but the recipe has gone far+wide+as a result lots of “vegan neigh sayers” are happily consuming+making it!! Thanx for a truly wonderful cake recip!?????
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you are enjoying it. Thank you so much!
Joe says
OK I have never commented on a recipe before, ever. But I have to now. I was skeptical about this, but as a vegan Brit living in the States, I had to. I did soak ALL of my fruit in brandy overnight.Despite how much I drained it, the mix was pretty moist, so more ground almonds were needed. BUT IT TASTES LIKE THE REAL DEAL.... .AMAZING
A Virtual Vegan says
Wow Joe, I'm so pleased you think so. Thank you!