This vegan white fruitcake with bourbon is inspired by the cakes Truman Capote and his cousin make in A Christmas Memory.
It’s a lot simpler to make than those cakes. For a start, you don’t need to forage for fresh pecans and spend hours shelling them. It’s also unlikely that you’ll need to purchase the liquor illegally from someone called Mr Haha Jones. I imagine it might taste even better if you did, though.
The flavours of the candied fruit, pecans, vanilla, nutmeg and bourbon whisky still ring out in this uncomplicated vegan version of a Southern American classic, which is an equally celebratory alternative to dark fruitcake at Christmas time.
In the story, the cakes are spiced with ginger, but this recipe uses nutmeg, because it works so well with whisky and vanilla. The bourbon is the cheapest available in the supermarket. Somehow, if you make it with the more expensive kind it doesn’t taste as good.
You can eat this the day after you make it, but it’s a cake that certainly improves if you wrap it and leave it in an airtight container for a week or more, periodically feeding it a spoonful of bourbon. I haven’t tested it for long term storage, but it’s good at the one or two-week stage.
It would be disingenuous to make health claims for something loaded with candied fruit, refined sugar and flour. It does contain a significant quantity of pecans and apple puree, however, and the traditional eggs and butter are replaced with ground flaxseed and light olive oil. I don’t suppose health is the point when it comes to a celebration cake, but this does have some redeeming features!
Vegan white fruitcake with bourbon…
Ingredients
- 150 g peeled and cored bramley (or other) apples
- 60 ml bourbon
- 100 ml light olive oil
- 110 g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp ground golden flaxseed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g glace cherries, whole
- 150 g candied chopped pineapple
- 100 g candied chopped citron or mixed peel
- 200 g pecan halves
- 200 g plain white flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
Method
- Set the oven to 150°C/300°F.
- Lightly oil and line a deep 7″ cake tin. If you are using a larger tin, you will need to reduce the baking time a little.
- Whisk the ground flaxseed together with 4 tbsp water and set aside.
- Prepare the apple puree (you could use shop bought unsweetened applesauce to save time). Slice the apple and cook it down with around 100 ml water until it is soft. If you are not using bramleys you may need to mash or blend the apple to achieve a fairly smooth puree.
- Once the apple has cooled slightly, whisk it together with the oil, flaxseed mixture, bourbon, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Add the cherries, pineapple and citron/mixed peel and stir lightly.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and nutmeg before adding it to the fruit mixture along with the pecan halves.
- Stir gently until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed, then transfer to the baking tin and level the top.
- Bake for around two hours until the top is a deep golden colour and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before sprinkling two or three tablespoons of bourbon over the top. Once this has soaked in, remove the cake from the tin and wrap it (I use the original baking parchment with a layer of clingfilm on top). Store it in an airtight container until you are ready to cut it. If storing for more than a week, open up the wrapping at least once and add another tablespoon or two of bourbon.
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