I’m so excited to share the recipe for this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake! It’s SUPER moist, slightly boozy, beautifully fragrant and naturally sweetened!
Why you’ll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake
Fruit cake has not always been my absolute favourite, but since making this version I’ve become a little addicted! I made a few adjustments to the more traditional fruit cake that I grew up eating:
- it makes a huge difference if you actively choose your favourite dried fruit (more on that later)
- completely omitting the added sugar is not a problem if you find traditional fruit cake too sweet
- adding ground almonds makes for a seriously moist yet light sponge.
This fruit cake is honestly undetectably vegan and gluten-free and has an almost melt-in-your-mouth texture reminiscent of stollen. Unlike a lot of other gluten-free cakes, this one definitely doesn’t dry out quickly, as the fruit keeps it moist for a long time and the flavour actually seems to improve when eaten the day after being baked. This makes it really convenient for gifting or making in advance when entertaining guests.
How to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place chopped dried fruits, walnuts and spices in a bowl and add sherry/brandy until covered.
Tip: Leave to soak in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a
glass mixing bowl, using a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.
Transfer mixture into mini loaf tins (or alternatively use a
18cm / 7 inch springform baking tin or a one-pound loaf tin lined with greased baking paper).Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean (cooking time will need to be adjusted to around 30 minutes if baking as one cake).
How long does this Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake keep for?
This cake keeps covered in the fridge for a few days.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can use any type of dried fruit: I used a mixture of dates, cranberries, figs, prunes and apricots, but you can also use raisins, sultanas, sour cherries, mango, papaya or pineapple
- you can substitute the alcohol with orange juice or apple juice
- you can substitute the chopped walnuts with pecan nuts
- you can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil
- you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc
- you can substitute the ground almonds with ground walnuts
- for a nut-free version: substitute the ground walnuts with ground sunflower seeds
- you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
More fruity vegan desserts:
- Cherry Bakewell Cake
- Blueberry Pie
- Apple Cake
- Fig Upside Down Cake
- Chocolate Orange Cake
- Raspberry Dark Chocolate Blondies
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) dried fruit, finely chopped (I used a mixture of dates, dried cranberries, dried figs, prunes and dried apricots, but you can use whatever dried fruit mix you like)
- 1 tablespoon unwaxed orange zest (or sub 1 teaspoon orange extract)
- 50 g (1/2 cup) walnuts , finely chopped (or sub pecan nuts)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
- Generous amount brandy or sherry (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary - or sub apple or orange juice)
- 60 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (4/5 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 1/4 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
To decorate (optional):
- Flaked almonds
Instructions
- Place the dried fruit, orange zest, walnuts, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice in a bowl and add a generous amount of brandy or sherry, until everything is roughly covered
- Keep covered in the fridge for around 24 hours, to allow the flavours to develop
- Before making the cake, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, vanilla, salt and ground almonds
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
- Add the dried fruit mixture (along with any residual brandy), adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
- Transfer mixture into mini loaf tins (or alternatively use a greased 7inch/18cm springform baking tin lined with baking paper, or a one-pound loaf tin)
- Scatter over flaked almonds before baking, if desired
- Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean (cooking time will need to be adjusted to around 30 minutes if baking as one cake)
- Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
almond flourDisclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Audrey Woodward
Hi there! Excited to try this, is the calorie information for the whole cake, or just a portion?
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! It’s been done per cake if you’re making mini loaf cakes, which are quite big. So it’ll be slightly less per portion. Hope that helps!
Ken
Hello there
Could you provide any feedback about the option of using sweet corn flour?
Will that work as opposed to traditional flour
I am new to making glutin and dairy free fruit cake.
Rhian Williams
Hello! I’m sorry I’ve never used sweet corn flour so I have no idea if it will work. It could work in place of the gluten-free flour in the cake, but I’m sorry I can’t give any advice because I’ve never used it. Other options for how to substitute the gluten-free flour would be using rice flour or buckwheat flour. I would love to hear how you get on if you try this sweet corn flour though. Thank you!
S. N. M
Can we add dairy milk instead of almond milk?
Rhian Williams
Yes, any type of milk works!
Mandy
Unfortunately my cake was disastrous. I baked it for over an hour but it was still uncooked and not edible. I used a 1lb loaf tin but the mixture was too much and overflowed while baking. Should it be a 2lb tin. I followed the receipe exactly as stated. I used orange juice instead of alcohol. The batter wasn’t as dry as your pics so wondering if this is what caused the problem as well as the loaf tin being too small. Was so looking forward to this ☹️
Rhian Williams
Hi Mandy, thank you so much for your feedback. I’m so sorry to hear that. A 1lb loaf tin should be fine, I think what probably happened is that you used too much orange juice to soak the dried fruit. Was there a lot of residual orange juice left over when you added the dried fruit to the batter before baking? When I soaked my dried fruit I roughly covered it with liquid and there was hardly any leftover liquid when I put it in the cake. I’m so sorry again and thank you for letting me know.
Mandy
I did have some orange juice left and the batter was quite wet. Should it be dry. I also used a mixed dry fruit packet rather than cutting my own dried fruit. Not sure if that would have made any difference.
Rhian Williams
Using a mixed dry fruit packet won’t have made a difference, but if the batter was very wet that’s probably why it didn’t bake properly. The mixture shouldn’t be dry, a little wetter than a traditional sponge cake batter but it shouldn’t be very wet either. I think using less orange juice next time, or not adding any residual orange juice would help. Thank you again for your feedback!