This is an easy and delicious recipe for a non-alcoholic Christmas cake, a traditional fruit cake made with dried fruit but without the alcohol. You can whip it up in 15 minutes (plus baking time).
Put together this quick and easy non-alcoholic Christmas fruit cake in just 15 minutes! It’s made with an abundance of dried fruits for a festive flavor and without any alcohol. Still, it has a perfectly delicious and moist texture. Perfect for your holiday celebrations!
Embracing the tradition of a classic English-style Christmas fruit cake is undeniably delightful during the holiday season. However, the elaborate process of preparing it well in advance, continuous brandy soaking, soaking of fruits, and its unsuitability for children can be quite a hassle.
I wanted to come up with a lighter version of the classic fruit cake, lighter in any sense: lighter in texture, lighter in sugar, lighter in alcohol, and lighter for the purse as well.
So I am glad for this delicious and easy-to-make alcohol-free fruit cake recipe, using no alcohol at all and needing no soaking times or wrapping paper. Something I can bake for my family every year. Soft, sweet, and spicy, the perfect easy Christmas cake.
Check out more delicious Christmas cakes, this Last-Minute Mincemeat Cake or the Pumpkin Fruitcake. Or make a traditional boozy fruitcake.
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📋Recipe ingredients and substitutions
Dried fruit: A mixture of cranberries, currants, and raisins or sultanas. Keep the raisins or sultanas no matter what; they are mandatory and the cheapest dried fruit you could buy for this rich fruit cake recipe.
- While raisins or sultanas are necessary, you can experiment with other dried fruits like apricots, prunes, or cherries to suit your preferences. If using larger pieces of fruit, chop them before adding them to the batter; the pieces should be about as large as the raisins.
- Some like to include candied citrus peel, although I don’t favor it personally. However, if you enjoy it, feel free to add candied peel. In that case, decrease the amount of glace cherries or substitute them entirely with the candied peel of your choice.
- You can also add a bit of lemon zest or orange zest.
- You can substitute a small handful of the dried fruit with chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans.
Sugar: I used muscovado sugar to make this Christmas fruit cake. However, muscovado sugar is not easily found outside the UK (you can find it online).
- I substitute it with regular brown sugar when I run out of it. I adjust the batter by using one tablespoon less brown sugar and adding one tablespoon of molasses instead.
- Do you have an open bag of muscovado? Try other recipes: Toffee Apple Cake, Butterbeer Potted Cream, Mirror Glaze Chocolate Cake, and Rock Cakes.
Warm spices: All-spice, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, and grated nutmeg. You can also add a bit of ginger powder, a tiny amount of ground cloves, apple pie, or pumpkin pie spice mix.
Butter: Unsalted butter with 82% fat content (European-style). Don’t use light butter.
Other ingredients: Four large eggs at room temperature, all-purpose flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, and icing sugar/ confectioner’s sugar to sprinkle over the non-alcoholic fruit cake.
🥣Equipment needed
A small springform (the Amazon link opens in a new tab) or round cake pan of 8 inches/ 20 cm diameter. Although small, this is enough for a regular family and a few guests. Butter it and line its bottom with parchment paper.
You can also bake this alcohol-free fruit cake in a slightly larger tin of about 8 ½ - 9 inches/ 22 cm. In this case, reduce the baking time slightly; check after about 1 hour and 50 minutes so the cake doesn’t get dry. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.
👩🏻🍳How to make a Christmas cake without alcohol?
This recipe is so much easier to make than the classic Christmas fruit cake. All it takes is to mix the ingredients, pour them into the baking dish, and bake.
- Preheat the oven and prepare the springform.
Mix soft butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and spices in a large bowl.
Add dried fruit to the cake batter.
Bake for 2 to 2 ¼ hours.
The cake is firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Check the cake after one hour or so, and loosely cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.
- Let cool completely in the tin.
⏳How do you know when the fruit cake is baked?
- Color: It should have a golden brown color.
- Shrinkage: The sides of the cake may start to shrink slightly from the pan when it's fully baked.
- Touch: Press the cake’s center gently; it should feel firm when fully baked. If it leaves an indentation, it needs more time.
- Toothpick test: Insert a clean toothpick or cake tester into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with a few crumbs (not wet batter), the cake is done.
🔊Expert Tips
Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
Make it in advance: Once cool, wrap it in aluminum foil and keep it at room temperature.
Room temperature: Ensure that the ingredients (butter and eggs) are at room temperature. The beaten eggs and sugar will create an emulsion that traps the air in the batter.
Cover it with fondant: When completely cool, glaze it with a little warmed apricot jam. Cover it with rolled marzipan (about 400 g) and rolled white fondant (about 250 g).
Decorate it with royal icing: When cold, cover it with about 250 g of royal icing.
❓Recipe FAQ
Muscovado sugar is sometimes known as Barbados sugar, so you might also want to check that. It is an unrefined brown sugar known for its rich, sticky texture and strong molasses taste. It retains more natural molasses compared to other brown sugars. It comes in light or dark brown.
You can replace it with 1:1 unrefined, molasses-containing sugar like jaggery, panela, or Sucanat.
The next best thing is dark brown sugar. Use almost the same amount, replacing one tablespoon of sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses if available.
Keep it in an airtight container at room temperature; it will last 3-4 days, probably a bit longer.
Freeze it for up to 6 months. I prefer to freeze individual slices well-wrapped in cling film and then foil. However, you can freeze the whole cake as well. Defrost in the fridge and let it come to room temperature before serving.
🍽️How to serve?
- Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) before serving.
- With whipped cream, clotted cream, ice cream, or a drizzle of honey or (unwhipped) double cream.
You can also serve it with cheese, for instance, Cheddar or Brie. - You can serve it immediately once it is cooled, but I prefer to make it one day in advance, wrap it in aluminum foil once cooled, and serve it the next day with a cup of coffee or tea.
🎅🏻More festive Christmas recipes
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Non-Alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cake
Equipment
- Springform or round cake pan 8 inch/ 20 cm, Note 1
Ingredients
- 250 g unsalted butter 9 oz/ 1 cup + 1½ tablespoon, soft, Note 2
- 200 g muscovado sugar 7 oz/ 1 cup, Note 3
- 4 eggs
- 250 g all-purpose flour 9 oz/ 2 cups + 1 tablespoon
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground all-spice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
- 100 g dried cranberries 3.5 oz/ ½ cup
- 150 g dried currants 5.5 oz/ ¾ cup
- 250 g sultanas or raisins 9 oz/ 1 ¼ cups
- 100 g chopped glacé cherries 3.5 oz/ ½ cup, Note 4
- icing sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 280°F/ 140°C. Butter the springform and line its bottom with parchment paper.
- Batter: Place the soft butter, muscovado sugar, eggs, flour, salt, all-spice, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix well.250 g unsalted butter/ 1 cup +1 tablespoon butter + 200 g muscovado sugar/ 1 cup + 4 eggs + 250 g all-purpose flour/ 2 cups + 1 tablespoon flour + 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder + pinch of salt + ¼ teaspoon ground all-spice + ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom + ¼ teaspoon cinnamon + a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
- Add cranberries, currants, sultanas or raisins, and glace cherries.100 g dried cranberries/ ½ cup + 150 g dried currants/ ¾ cup + 250 g sultanas or raisins/ 1¼ cup + 100 g chopped glacé cherries/ ½ cup
- Bake: Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 2 to 2 ¼ hours or until the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Check the cake after one hour or so and loosely cover the top with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.
- Let the cake cool in the baking dish, then turn it out.
- Serve: You can serve the Christmas fruit cake immediately, but it is even better if served the next day. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving, if desired.
- Make in advance: If you make it one day in advance, let it cool completely, wrap it in aluminum foil, and leave it at room temperature until the next day.
Notes
- Cake pan: Alternatively, use an 8 ½ - 9 / 22 cm cake tin or springform, but reduce the baking time slightly. Start checking after 1 hour and 50 minutes already.
- Always use a digital kitchen scale (the Amazon link opens in a new tab) in baking; it guarantees the best results.
- Sugar: You can replace the muscovado sugar with the same amount of brown sugar minus one tablespoon. Add one tablespoon of molasses instead of the missing tablespoon of sugar if available.
- Substitutions: You can replace one-third or half the glace cherries with the candied peel of your choice. You can also replace a small handful of dried fruit with chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans.
Louise Bennett says
How long will it keep?
Adina says
3-4 days and up to 1 week in the fridge. You can also freeze it for months.
Angela Baines says
Hi Adina
Can I make this 4 weeks before Xmas? Thanks.
Adina says
Hi Angela. No. Only fruitcakes soaked in alcohol can be kept for so long without freezing. But you can wrap it well and freeze it, it freezes wonderfully.
Em says
Can ground nutmeg be used instead of fresh? Thanks
Adina says
Hi Em. You can use ground nutmeg for sure, about 1/4 teaspoon or so.
Em says
Can it be frozen? Thanks
Adina says
Yes, sure, you can freeze the fruitcake for about 6 months. I wrote more details about it in the FAQ section of the blog post. Happy baking!
Julie says
Can I soak the fruit in orange juice the day before?
Adina says
Hi Julie. I've never tested that, so I can't say how that will work.
Maria says
Amazing!!! I have tried a number of other Christmas cake recipes but this one is the best! Simple, delicious, and a time saver. I creamed the sugar and butter first and then added one egg at a time, once that was well mixed I added the flour and spices that were previously sifted together. I did not use crystalized fruit or cherries. Instead, I added golden raisins. Thank you so much for this recipe
Adina says
Thank you so much for the feedback, Maria. I am so happy you liked the fruitcake. I rarely bake another version myself, this is so easy, and everybody, including kids, can enjoy it.
Vanessa says
Hi. Can I use a square cake tin instead. Will it make a difference with regards to time to bake. Also what can I substitute the cranberry with
Adina says
As long as the tin is of a similar size, you should be fine. You can replace the cranberries with any dried fruit you like; if the pieces are large, chop them.
Urvashi says
Hi Adina, I just hope you will reply.... keeping my fingers crossed. 🙂 If I want to halve the recipe and bake them in loaf pans, what size loaf pans do I need to use. TIA
Adina says
Hi. A 9-inch (22 cm) loaf pan should hold the same amount, so I guess for 1/2 the recipe, you will need something half that size. However, I have never baked anything that small, I'm afraid, so I cannot say for sure.