Festive fruit & nut flavours combine in this deliciously rich & moist Raw Fruit Cake. A fabulous alternative to traditional baked Christmas cake & so easy to make!
I love Christmas and I love Christmas cake and I had been planning to make a traditional baked 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 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!
This Raw 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.
Everyone who tried this Raw 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.
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 try my Gingerbread Waffles. They would make a great breakfast on Christmas Day!
Raw Christmas Fruit Cake
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 ground almonds
- 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.
Recipe Notes
Store leftovers well wrapped in the fridge. They will keep well for up a couple of months.
Medjool dates are so delicious and are much softer than regular dried dates.You can usually find them in the produce department of grocery stores. If however you can't find them you may use regular dried date but soak them in warm water for 15 minutes first to soften them up a bit. Make sure to drain them very well after their soak.
choclette says
Wow, this looks amazing, so like a classic Christmas cake. It sounds delicious too. i’m super impressed.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much! It is very like real baked Christmas cake & is so much easier to make.
Su Carlson says
How fabulous. I’m making my mother who has food issues a basket of goodies and my cakes are awesome but she can’t eat them..This is a great alternative for her along with the other things I’ve planned. She will love it!
Absolute genius…..keep these ideas coming Mel x
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Su. This is an amazing cake for people with dairy, egg or gluten intolerances. I hope your mother enjoys it! X
Strength and Sunshine says
This is such fun take! I love it and totally would take ALL this fruit cake!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! It’s so yummy!
Hedi Hearts says
This looks so lush, one to try out for sure!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Hedi! Let me know what you think if you make it.
Ordinary vegan says
Finally a fruit cake that I would want to eat! How fun. Thanks for sharing.
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s what I like to hear! Enjoy!
foodhuntersguide says
this looks fabulous! I can’t wait to try it
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I am so proud of this recipe. You will love it!
Linda @ Veganosity says
Fruitcake gets such a bad rep from the neon fruitcakes found in grocery stores. This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it. 🙂
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Linda! I know what you mean about the grocery store ones. Those awfully processed glacé cherries & the bright green bits. What are the green bits anyway? It makes me cringe!
nicoleanndawson says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We have a nut allergy but I think I can still make this work using seeds instead. Can’t wait to try.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hmm. I am not sure how you would replace the ground almonds in this recipe. They are pretty crucial. Because it’s raw you can’t really use flour. You can however easily sub a bit more fruit and some seeds for the chopped nuts that you stir through so if almonds are ok then you will be fine. If you can’t use the almonds then all I can think of that might work is coconut flour. That is good raw. When you mix it all together you might need to add a little water if it’s too dry or a little more flour if it’s too damp. Toasting your seeds before adding them might be good too to add a bit of nutty flavour. I hope it works out for you. Let me know!
veggiesdontbite says
What a beautiful cake! Love how healthy it looks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you!
Ali says
Looks good, might have to try this! Do you think you could douse it in brandy like you would a traditional Christmas cake or might it go soggy?
A Virtual Vegan says
I thought about that but I think it would go soggy. I think you could however soak the dried fruit in brandy for a few hours first and drain it really well before adding it. If the mixtures a little wet after just throw in some more ground almonds to soak it up.
The Vegan 8 says
This is just perfect for Christmas and so healthy! So much texture going on!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Brandi. The textures are amazing!
Kathy Hester says
I love the idea of instant and healthy fruitcake!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Kathy! It is so easy & quick to make. Perfect if you’ve left everything to the last minute at Christmas. Whip it up in less than half an hour on Christmas Eve and you’re all set!
Gin says
Wow, this sounds heavenly!! And I have totally left everything to the last minute, so I’m grateful you’ve got my back with this awesome recipe. I seriously can’t wait to try it!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Gin! It’s a fabulous recipe for last minute making. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know!
Sina @ Vegan Heaven says
This looks amazing! I love how healthy it is! What a great treat! 🙂
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks Sina!
Howie Fox says
HolyMoly! This is not just a Christmas Fruit Cake, it’s also a power snack at it’s best!!
A Virtual Vegan says
It’s loaded with good stuff and would make a great power snack pre or post workout.
Barb says
This looks amazing!
Any ideas what I could substitue forthe almond meal?
Thanks for your recipes!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Barb! I haven’t personally tried this recipe with anything other than ground almonds. If a nut allergy is not the reason you want to sub the almonds, then any other nut ground up into a meal/flour will work as a substitute. Hazelnuts, macadamia, brazils and cashews (or a mixture) would all work well. I would stay away from the stronger flavoured nuts like walnuts though. Be careful when you process them into a flour that you don’t go too far and turn them into nut butter!
If a nut allergy is the reason you want to avoid the almonds then I think buckwheat flour (if you can’t find it you could buy buckwheat groats and bring them to a flour in a food processor or blender), sunflower seed meal/flour and perhaps even coconut flour would work. Coconut flour is extremely absorbent though so you might find that you need to add a little more moisture to make it all come together. A drop of water would do the trick I expect. I think if I had to try one I would firstly go with the other nut option and buckwheat would be my preferred nut free option. I hope that helps. Let me know how it works out!
Laura says
We made this at the weekend. It is fantastic. Thank you!
CakenGifts.in Delhi says
I’m going to try this recipe today. I expect it comes out as well as everyone else’s appears to have. I’m very excited. I’ll keep you posted!
A Virtual Vegan says
I hope you enjoy it!