Vegan Christmas Cake

Written by McDonald, T.  |  Date 13th of November 2023

Christmas is just around the corner and you need to start your Christmas cake now!  Yes, it needs time to soak and feed.  You will have to soak the dried fruit for a week or so and once the cake is baked, you will need to feed the cake with more brandy.  Don't worry, all will be explained in this post.  This cake is completely vegan and has an amazing taste.  Holds together perfectly.  

Notes

• Check the brandy is vegan. 
  
• You need to prepare the fruit a few days beforehand at least.  I like to soak the fruit for a week or 2.
  
• I used a thermometer to test the cake because if you pierce a piece of fruit, which is likely, it may give you the impression the cake is not done. Thermometer should read 90°C +.  With this in mind, a skewer would be fine.
• You can also add the juice of a lemon and an orange to the fruit soak with the brandy.  

Soaked for more than 10 days in brandy.

---

Makes a cake about 20 cm in diameter and about 7 cm high.

Time, 3.75 hrs.  You will need to soak the dried fruit and feed the cake when finished.  Actual baking time is 3.5 hrs.

---

Ingredients

For the fruit mix

• 500 g of mixed dried fruit
• 150 g of raisins 
  
• 50 g of glazed cherries
• 50 g of mixed peel
• 200 ml of Brandy + more for feeding in the subsequent weeks.
  

For the nut mix

• 50 g of sliced almonds
• 50 g of walnuts 
• 50 g of chopped peanuts
  

For the cake mix

• 225 g of plan white flour
• 225 g of soft brown sugar 
• 200 g of vegan butter
• 300 ml of water
• 8 tbsp of milled flax seed
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp of ground ginger
• 2 tsp of mixed spice
• 1 tsp of baking powder
  
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 orange
  

 

---

Method 

Preparing the chopped nuts is best done in a blender or you can buy them already chopped.  The walnuts are easily broken up by hand.  You don't want too big a piece of nut, but neither do you want a powder.

 

Chopped nuts.

Prepare the cake tin in the following way:

1. Grease the tin with a little vegan butter.
2. Line the tin with reusable cake tin liner or parchment paper.
3. After you have added the cake mix in later steps, wrap the cake tin in foil that stands a good 10 cm above the top of the tin. Don't close the top of the foil, but do close it in a little.
   

Step 1 – Prepare the fruit

1. Put all the dried fruit and mixed peel into a container with a lid. Pour the brandy over the dried fruit and mix it in.  Put the lid on and leave at room temperature for at least 24hrs. 6 to 7 days is best.
   
2. Add more brandy as the fruit soaks it.

Dried fruit soaking in brandy.

 

Step 2 – Make the cake

1. Preheat oven to 140 C (fan assisted).

2. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl then add the salt and spices. Use a balloon whisk to mix.

3. Mix the milled flaxseed with the water in a jug (this is your flaxseed egg) then set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, cream together vegan butter and sugar.  It should be smooth when done.

5. Add the flaxseed egg mix, a little at a time, to the sugar and vegan butter mixture and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

6. Using a spatula, fold in the flour and spices a bit at a time.  You are not looking to beat or whisk just fold in gently.
   

7. Stir in the soaked dried fruit, candied peel, chopped nuts, the grated lemon and orange zest.

8. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin you prepared earlier.  Use the back of the spoon to flatten and smooth out the cake mix.
   

9. Bake in the oven on the lower shelf for between 3 hours 30 mins and 3 hours 45 mins. Please don't open the oven door before the cake has been baking for at least 3 hours.

10. When the cake is baked, use a cake tester to check it is ready.  If it is ready, it will come out clean. Carefully, remove the cake from the tin and place on a cooling rack.  I find it is best to leave it to cool a little in the tin first, but don't leave it in too long or the bottom might go a bit soggy. 
    

11. When the cake has cooled completely, you can add more brandy by poking some holes in the top and pouring a few of tablespoons of brandy over the cake.  This is called feeding the cake.
    

12. Feed the cake with extra brandy.  This involves making holes with a skewer in the top of the cake. Pour two or three tablespoons of brandy over the cake.  Keep adding more brandy every day for a few days.
    

13. Store in an airtight tin. Wrap in layers of tin foil. If you want to decorate the cake, do it close to when you plan serving it. 

Results 

The cake came out of the tin without too much trouble at all and never burned.  It was firm enough for me to turn over to take the bottom of the tin and reusable tin liner off.  Furthermore, it sat up proudly on the cooling rack and looked great. I feed it with more brandy over the next few days.

 

I hope that you liked this blog and if you do try this recipe, please let me know how you got on and what it turned out like. You can leave a comment in the comments below.