The idea behind this vegan spiced fruit cake was to have a cake reminiscent of the flavour of German cakes and cookies like lebkuchen, but with the fruitiness and rich texture of a Christmas cake or black bun (I had intended to post this before New Year but ran out of time…).
It might look like a long list of ingredients but five of them are spices – it’s actually a very simple, tried and trusted ‘boil and bake’ style of cake that you can eat soon after you make it or wrap up and store.
Alongside mixed spice, cinnamon and cloves, the recipe includes cardamom and a hint of star anise. Dark chocolate and cocoa are in there, too – just enough to add depth to the flavour without turning this into a chocolate fruit cake.
The recipe specifies apricot conserve rather than jam simply because the flavour tends to be better and a little less sweet. If there are large chunks of apricot, you could chop them up.
The recipe will make one substantial cake in an 8″ or 9″ round tin. This time, I made two 6″ cakes, to eat one and keep one for later. The pictured cake had been wrapped up and stored for a couple of weeks, with a slug of rum added after a few days.
vegan spiced fruit cake…
ingredients
- 250 g raisins
- 150 g apricots (with or without SO2)
- 150 g prunes, stoned
- 200 g apricot conserve
- 140 g light muscovado sugar
- zest of half an orange
- 2 star anise
- 25 g dark non-dairy chocolate
- 80 g coconut oil
- 130 g vegan margarine
- 170 g white/unbleached self-raising flour
- 170 g wholemeal self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp finely ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp cocoa
- 40 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- the ground seeds of 5 or 6 cardamom pods (perhaps 1/4 tsp)
method
- If you have time beforehand, pour 200 ml of boiling water over the two star anise in a jug or bowl and allow these to steep for an hour or so before using.
- Set the oven to 160°C/320°F and oil/line the base and sides of an 8″ or 9″ round baking tin (or two 6″ tins) with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
- Chop the prunes into pieces around the size of large raisins. Place these in a pan together with the raisins, apricots, apricot conserve, sugar, and orange zest. Pour the 200 ml water with the star anise into the pan, and heat to boiling point, stirring to combine evenly.
- Remove from the heat and add the margarine, coconut oil and dark chocolate. Stir through, and then leave the mixture to cool and the chocolate and fats to finish melting while you prepare the dry ingredients.
- Sift the flours, spices and cocoa into a large bowl. Add the almonds and ground flaxseed and whisk to distribute them evenly throughout the mixture. (Crush or grind the cardamom thoroughly, if you’re not using pre-ground.)
- Once the fruit mixture has cooled quite a bit, remove the star anise and pour everything else into the flour mixture, stirring as you go. Stir thoroughly to mix in all the flour, and transfer to the baking tin.
- Bake for around an hour, then reduce the oven temperature to 140°C/285°F and bake for a further hour or so until the top has browned and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool completely, and preferably at least overnight before cutting. It will improve if wrapped and left alone for a week or two, with or without a spoonful or two of alcohol drizzled over the top.
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