Fruit and Nut Cake - Lowfat and Vegan


Only four days left and I couldn't wait any longer to eat some fruitcake. I do have a batch of fruits soaking in the fridge for a cake I plan to bake in a couple of days and ship to my brother. This cake I made just for us. What I love about this recipe is that there's no oil or butter and there's jaggery and whole wheat flour and tons of fruits and nuts and they don't really have to be soaked in advance. The only labor involved is the chopping of the nuts and fruits. The flavor of the cake gets better as it matures, but I had to take pictures so we cut the cake the same day, yet it was rich and moist. This cake is a wonderful guilt free treat!
Recipe from Jugalbandi.

Vegan Lowfat Fruit and Nut Cake

Ingredients:
100 gms dark raisins
125 gms mixed dried fruit, chopped
225 gms mixed nuts, roasted and chopped 
1/2 cup rum
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup applesauce/ oil
1/2 cup grated jaggery
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 tsp nutmeg powder
1/3 tsp cinnamon powder
1/3 tsp cloves powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp orange/ lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda


Method:
Take the dried fruits, water, rum, applesauce, sugar, jaggery, spice powders, salt and orange zest in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Take off from heat and add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C and grease a 12 cup bundt pan.
Whisk the flour and baking soda together. As soon as the dried fruits mixture comes to room temperature, fold in the flour and nuts. 
Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 40 mins or till done in the center of the oven.
Cool in the pan for 10 mins and then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. 
Brush the cake with some rum if desired and store covered in the fridge. The flavor of the cake improves after a couple of days.


Notes:
1. Use dried fruits and nuts according to your taste. I used 50 gms currants and 25 gms each of dates, apricots and prunes. I also used a mixture of almonds and walnuts.
2. If whole wheat pastry flour is not available, use half whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.
3. I used jaggery for better color and taste. You could also use all brown sugar.
4 For an alcohol free version skip the rum and use orange juice instead.



25 comments:

  1. I was still drroling over that strawberry mousse cake n u r again here wid a delicious fruit cake...looks super delicious

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  2. Stunning and super moist fruit and nuts cakes, beautifully presented and very prefect cake for this festive season.

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  3. wow ...looks so fab ....so tempting pics ...nice recipe

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  4. Bookmarked to try..perfected to the core

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  5. your cake looks awesome and great clicks that has captured the texture of the cake perfectly. thanks for your active participation in my event.

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  6. Beautiful,healthy and full of flavours...great cake recipe..loved it
    first time here...your blog is superb..fabulous recipes and great pictures..

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  7. Low fat, vegan hmm.. interesting!
    rum..jaggery... all the more interesting!

    white icing on top! Wow!!!

    purrfect for the season, poornima!

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  8. thanks so much for linking this lip smacking cake to Jingle All The Way. You have a beautiful blog! love your pictures
    -
    Kavi (Edible Entertainment)

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  9. I have also done Bee's version and loved it! This one looks perfect :)

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  10. Stunning, classy, elegant...meets all the req for an xmas cake & much more!! bookmarked ;)

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  11. Just gorgeous! Looks so moist and delicious! Happy holidays Purnima!

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  12. cake looks so gorgeous and you have baked it perfectly...bookmarked to try :)
    thank u so much for linking it to Bake Fest
    Spicy Treats
    Ongoing Event : Bake Fest # 2
    Do participate in My 300th Post Giveaway-ends by 31st Dec

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  13. The cake looks so moist and yum.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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  14. omg! yaya for a vegan fruitcake.. loooove that crumb and the drizzle.. i get lazy about chopping up the fruit and nuts and then mine gets too crumbly. the cake came out so perfect and beautiful! absolutely gorgerous!

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  15. Looks absolutely gorgeous.. Cake with jaggery sounds interesting!

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  16. Hey Poornima! :) Thanks so much for participating in Jingle All The Way. I’ve posted the Roundup here. Do have a look.
    Also, I’m hosting Kid's Delight - Something Sweet for Jan 16th-Feb15th 2012. I would love to have your posts linked there. :-)
    -
    Kavi (Edible Entertainment)

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  17. Awesome cake Poornima....loved that its lowfat , I need to try it out sometime soon.

    Btw, are u shipping the cake to ur bro in US? or outside US?

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    Replies
    1. My brother was in Florida, used to mail stuff to him all the time.

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  18. Perfectly done cake Poornima, planning to try this will let you know how it turns out... :) thanks or posting and like always lovely pics

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