Vegan Christmas cake – a rich, moist and boozy vegan fruit cake that is perfect for the festive season. Eat right away or make in advance and feed regularly with rum or brandy.
Fruit cake is a bit of a divisive one; I know that a lot of people aren’t keen on it, but I absolutely love it and Christmas for me wouldn’t be the same without a boozy, fruity cake to nibble on throughout the holidays.
I have blogged a couple of fruitcake recipes before, but neither of them are vegan so I was keen to come up with a vegan version that is just as good.
I tested seven (yes, seven!) different vegan fruit cakes until I came up with a recipe that I was happy with. The final version is fruitcake perfection (at least I think so anyway!). It is moist and dense, packed with boozy fruit, and full of flavour.
The dried fruit is soaked in rum (or your spirit of choice) to make it plump and flavourful. It needs to be soaked at least overnight so do make sure that you start this cake the day before you want to bake it. The fruit can be left to soak for up to a week – I gave mine three days.
The boozy fruit is stirred into a thick batter made flavourful with dark brown sugar, treacle, spices, almonds and orange and lemon zest.
I tested various different fats while developing this vegan Christmas cake, and found that the versions made with dairy free margarine were superior in both taste and texture to those made with coconut oil or sunflower oil, so that is what I have used for this recipe.
Softened coconut oil will work if you would rather use that, but I found that it yielded a cake with a more crumbly texture, and a slightly blander flavour, so if you do use it, make sure that you also add in a good pinch of salt.
Instead of eggs, this recipe uses red wine vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to provide lift. Vinegar and bicarb is my favourite egg replacer to use in cakes; I did do a couple of tests that used flax eggs instead, but I found the texture a little too crumbly.
This vegan Christmas cake is delicious freshly baked, but it can also be made up to six weeks in advance and stored, well wrapped, in an airtight container. Drizzle over a couple of tablespoons of rum or brandy every week or two, alternating top and bottom of the cake, until you are ready to ice it (if you choose to decorate it). But don’t feed it for a week before icing it in order to give the surface a chance to dry out.
How To Decorate:
I was going to decorate the cake before photographing it, but I couldn’t decide how I wanted to ice it so in the end I just left it plain.
Traditionally, Christmas cakes are covered in a layer of marzipan (brush the cake with warm apricot jam before covering so that the marzipan sticks.) then a layer of either royal icing or fondant. Most shop-bought marzipan and fondant is vegan, though do check the packet of course, and you can make vegan royal icing by swapping the egg white for aquafaba.
Once the vegan Christmas cake is iced, you can add decorations as you wish – I like to keep things simple and just pile some gingerbread star biscuits in various sizes on top. Check out my gingerbread topped Christmas cake recipe for inspiration.
To make a vegan version, simply swap the butter in the gingerbread for dairy free margarine or coconut oil, and follow the recipe for vegan royal icing from my Tombstone cupcakes to ice the biscuits with.
How To Make Vegan Christmas Cake:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.*
You need to start preparing the fruit at least the day before you want to bake the cake.
Mix all of the dried fruits together in a large bowl that has a lid, add the rum, stir well, then cover and leave overnight (or for up to a week – give it an occasional stir).
Grease a deep 20cm/8inch round cake tin and line it with a double layer of baking parchment. Because the cake takes a while to bake the extra layer of parchment helps to stop it from burning.
In a large bowl, whisk together dairy free margarine (or softened coconut oil), dark and light brown sugars, treacle and orange and lemon zest until fluffy.
In a separate bowl, sift together plain flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice (pumpkin spice), cinnamon and nutmeg.
Tip the dry ingredients into the margarine mix, along with some plant milk and red wine vinegar and stir until just combined; the batter should be very thick.
Stir in the soaked dried fruits, along with any leftover liquid, and some chopped almonds.
Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and use a spatula to spread it level. Because it is so thick it doesn’t spread much in the oven so it is important that you get it as even as you can.
Bake for 2-3 hours until a skewer comes out clean, mine took 2 1/2 hours. Leave the cake to cool in the tin on a wire rack then turn it out and brush all over with rum or brandy.
Wrap it up in baking parchment then tin foil and store in an airtight container, feeding every week or two with rum or brandy, for up to six weeks.
Variations:
You can vary the types of dried fruit that you add to suit your own tastes (I know quite a few mixed peel haters!), as long as you keep the same overall weight – a total of 660g. Chopped dried dates, figs and apricots all work well, and you could even add dried cherries, blueberries or pineapple.
To make this vegan Christmas cake alcohol free, soak the fruit in the same quantity of orange juice. Bear in mind that if you aren’t feeding it with alcohol then the cake won’t keep for as long, so bake it the same week that you want to serve it.
More Vegan Christmas Recipes:
- Easy ginger sheet cake
- Vegan steamed chocolate pudding
- Vegan mince pies
- Mulled wine brownies
- Woodland animal ginger cake
- Chocolate, orange and almond cake
- Starry mince pie tart
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Vegan Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 125 g (4.5oz) raisins
- 125 g (4.5oz) sultanas
- 125 g (4.5oz) currants
- 100 g (3.5oz) dried cranberries
- 100 g (3.5oz) mixed candied peel
- 85 g (3oz) glace cherries halved
- 100 ml (1/3 cup + 1Tbsp + 1tsp) rum or brandy
- 175 g (2/3 cup + 1Tbsp) dairy free block margarine
- 125 g (2/3 cup) dark brown soft sugar
- 50 g (1/3 cup) light brown soft sugar
- 30 g (one rounded Tbsp) treacle (or molasses)
- finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 350 g (3 cups minus 2 Tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 40 g (1/3 cup) ground almonds
- 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp mixed spice (pumpkin spice)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) unsweetened soy milk (or other unsweetened non-dairy milk)
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 60 g (2oz) almonds chopped
- rum or brandy for feeding
Instructions
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Start preparing the fruit at least the day before you want to bake the cake.
Mix all of the dried fruits together in a large bowl that has a lid, add the rum, stir well, then cover and leave overnight (or for up to a week - give it an occasional stir).
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The following day, preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Grease a deep 20cm/8inch round cake tin and line it with a double layer of baking parchment.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the dairy free margarine (or softened coconut oil), dark and light brown sugars, treacle and orange and lemon zest until fluffy.
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In a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
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Tip the dry ingredients into the margarine mix, along with the soy milk and red wine vinegar. Stir until just combined; be careful not to over-mix. The batter should be very thick.
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Stir in the soaked dried fruits, along with any leftover liquid, and the chopped almonds.
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Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and use a spatula to spread it level. Because it is so thick it doesn't spread much in the oven so it is important that you get it as even as you can.
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Bake for 2-3 hours until a skewer comes out clean; mine took 2 1/2 hours. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack then turn it out and brush all over with rum or brandy.
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Wrap the cake up in baking parchment then tin foil (it MUST be completely cold first), and store in an airtight container, feeding every week or two with rum or brandy, for up to three months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- The dried fruit needs to be soaked at least overnight so do make sure that you start this cake the day before you want to bake it. The fruit can be left to soak for up to a week – I gave mine three days.
- You can vary the types of dried fruit that you add to suit your own tastes (I know quite a few mixed peel haters!), as long as you keep the same overall weight – a total of 660g. Chopped dried dates, figs and apricots all work well, and you could even add dried cherries, blueberries or pineapple.
- I have successfully stored this cake for three months, feeding it with a little rum every week or two. It is a little more delicate than non-vegan fruitcake so be very gentle with it and store it in a tin so as not to squash it.
Isla
Heya- this recipe looks great and so easy?
I made it today and it tastes wonderful, mine is just very crumbly and doesn’t slice well due to that, is there a reason you can think of that would cause this/stop this?
I know sugar can do this but I don’t know if this is the cause this time!
🙂 thank you!
hannahhossack
Hi Isla, sorry to hear that; fruit cake is naturally quite a crumbly cake, whether it is vegan or not. This is due to the high proportion of fruit and also because it contains ground almonds. I use a very sharp serrated knife to slice it which helps to get clean(ish) slices. There is also a chance that it was slightly over-baked; because it is such a dense cake the baking time can vary considerably unfortunately. Unless you used something like coconut or demarera sugar I don’t think that that would be the cause in this case.
Kat
I made this cake today and it tastes fantastic!!
I was going to keep it for Christmas but it fell apart when I took it out of the baking tin, I think I’ll have to play around with the cooking time maybe. ohh well I’ll just have to make another.
hannahhossack
Hi Kat, glad to hear you like it but sorry it fell apart! Did you leave it in the tin until it was completely cold? It is very delicate when it is warm so it is best to leave it in the tin until it has cooled completely. Otherwise yes, it may have been a little under or over baked. I hope the next one turns out for you!
Pipli
If I use dairy products would it affect the end result? Basically I’m looking for an eggless version.. And can I use regular vinegar instead of wine vinegar?
Pipli
Can I use regular dairy butter and regular milk for this recipe..? Basically I need an eggless version..and can I use regular vinegar? As I can’t get my hands on wine vinegar…
hannahhossack
Hi Pipli, I haven’t tested it with dairy products as that would defeat the point of it being a vegan cake but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I use red wine vinegar as it is slightly milder; you don’t want to use a really harsh vinegar (so definitely don’t use distilled white vinegar) but something like cider vinegar would work too. If you can’t get your hands on either wine or cider vinegar then lemon juice might work instead.
Paul
Thank you so much! I made this cake in early November and we’ve just tried it – it’s delicious! I tried and failed with 3 different vegan recipes last year, so am over the moon that this worked so well. It’s this cake every year from now on! 🙂
Gemma
Thank you for this recipe. I made this beautiful fruit cake at christmas. I also finished it off with marzipan and icing it made a purfect Christmas fruit cake 🙂
Chelsey
Hi there, how early can I make this cake please? I would like to start it as early as possible but I would still like it to be fresh for Christmas! Thankyou xxx
hannahhossack
Hi Chelsey, I don’t want to say for certain how long it will keep without having tested it myself. I am actually planning on making one this week to test how long it will keep for so I can update the post but I know that isn’t much help to you now!
I see no reason why it wouldn’t keep for a couple of months like a regular fruit cake provided you feed it with a little alcohol every fortnight. Last year one of my readers said that they baked it in early November and enjoyed it at Christmas so I think you would be fine to do the same, or even maybe a little earlier. I hope that helps!
Nick Commisso
Made cake today. Great taste. As my daughter in law is celiac, I used Gluten Free Plain flour. MIx held well and cooked in 2 1/2 hrs. Only issue is the crumble when cutting. Overall, the cake holds firm till you attempt the cutting. I used margarine. Any ideas for my next attempt?
My wife makes a traditional fruit cake each year which holds its shape very well.
hannahhossack
Hi Nick, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Unfortunately it is very difficult to make a fruit cake that is both vegan AND gluten free that doesn’t crumble as you need either the eggs or the gluten to hold it together. As there is so much fruit in this cake there isn’t a huge amount of cake ‘structure’ so it is going to be a bit crumbly, especially so without eggs and gluten. You could try adding 1/2 a teaspoon of xanthan gum to the batter which will help bind it (only add this if your flour blend doesn’t already contain it). Gluten free flour also often needs a bit more liquid than regular flour so I would recommend adding an extra couple of tablespoons of milk as well. I hope that helps!
Linda Evans
I only want to make a small cake 4″ . Would the recipe work if halved the amounts and also how long to bake for?
hannahhossack
Hi Linda, I think that it would be fine to halve the recipe. As for baking time I really can’t say for sure without testing it myself but I would guess that it would take about an hour to an hour and a half. Just keep an eye on it and bake the cake until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Josephine Austin
Hi, every year I make a different vegan Christmas cake – then can’t remember which recipe I used! Your recipe looks great with ingredients I like to use. I rather want too make a HUGE one this year (just because we really like Christmas cake!) I have a 28cm tin and was thinking that doubling the recipe could work? Or do you think we should just not be so greedy and stick to your original recipe?!
hannahhossack
Hi Josephine, I don’t see why that wouldn’t work but I don’t want to say for sure without having tested it myself! Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Jo Austin
Just out of the oven and looking good! I will let you know when we start it at Christmas. Doubled the recipe and it seems cooked after 3 hours. I am always unsure of this bit, I worry about it being over cooked and dry or under cooked and soggy. We will see!
Josephine Austin
Hi, just tried the cake, fantastic! I was worried about it being not cooked (only 3 hours in the oven and twice the size) but it was lovely, moist and tasty and rum flavoured as I dosed it up well the weeks after it was finished. For the first time ever I will being making the same recipe next year. Thank you so much for the recipe. Have a lovely cake filled Christmas! xxx
Lynette
Hi. Greetings from the sunny Philippines! I’m excited to try this recipe although I have a question, may I add another kind of nut in the recipe? If yes, what would be the best measurement for the additional nuts? I was thinking of adding walnuts since I love them so much. Thanks in advance.
hannahhossack
Hi Lynette, Yes absolutely you can add some extra nuts if you like, I probably wouldn’t add more than an extra 60g as I think that too many more nuts would make the cake a bit difficult to slice.
Becci
Hi. Could I make this using golden syrup instead of treacle? And I need to make it nut free so do I need to replace the almonds with maybe extra fruit or just omit the almonds altogether?
hannahhossack
Hi Becci, yes you can use golden syrup instead of treacle. Just omit the chopped almonds and replace the ground almonds with an equal weight of plain flour (40g).
poppy
hey i am going to make this asap!
for the egg situation, i bought that weird egg powder replacement that you use with water- you use a ratio to water depending on how many ‘eggs’ you need. It has cream of tartar, xantham gum , tapioca, potato flour and methacellose or something,,
should i use this or use the vinegar concept?
if i should use the egg replacement powder, are we saying like 3 eggs worth? thanks so much in advance ,i’ll let you know how i get on!
hannahhossack
Hi Poppy, there is no need to use an egg replacer in this cake, it is designed to work without one so I would recommend just making the recipe as written. I hope you enjoy it!
Poppy
Thank you so much for replying xxx
Cheryl
How deep does the baking pan need to be?
hannahhossack
Hi Cheryl, the tin I used was 9cm/3.5 inches deep.
Rose
Everything went great and the smell in the kitchen was delicious but the cake sank in the middle. Wonder what might have gone wrong ? I omitted almonds as the recipient has nut allergy as well as egg and dairy. I have already made 3 ordinary Christmas cakes and thought I would be adventurous and give this cake as a gift but all is not lost – will have it for ourselves as a nice Pre Christmas treat
hannahhossack
Hi Rose, sorry to hear that. If you omitted the ground almonds did you replace them with an equal weight of plain flour instead? If not that could be the issue. This cake does tend to dip in the middle very slightly, but I’ve never had it sink before.
Rose Renaghan
Hannah your vegan Christmas cake tasted absolutely delicious( despite the dip in the middle).It was a favourite with all- in fact they didn’t realise I followed your vegan recipe. Thank you so much. I’ll definitely make it again and take your advice to replace the ground almonds with extra flour.
Andrew Gray
I had a dip in the middle too. What causes that I wonder?
Maree
Dear Hannah
Made your Christmas cake today. Deeeeeelicious!!!!
I used golden syrup instead of molasses (I couldn’t get the lid off 🙂 ) and I found the mix needed about 2/3rds more liquid than suggested. Great result.
It’s gone already, it was a tester, so back to the chopping board!
Thank you and can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Namaste
Lynette
Hi again from the Philippines! I bought the ingredients for this recipe already except for the Pumpkin spice since I can’t find it. May I know what can I replace it with or can I make my own mixed spice? If yes, may I please have the ingredients and measurements for it? Thanks
hannahhossack
Hi Lynette, here is a recipe to make your own jar of mixed spice: https://www.daringgourmet.com/british-mixed-spice/
Otherwise you could just add an extra 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp allspice.
Diane Spiteri
Hi domestic goddess. I made this cake yesterday and it came out so well and was so simple I made another today for my mum. I bought the ready prepared mixed fruit in brandy from Lidl’s. a bit of a cheat but made it so quick to make. Thankyou
Andrew Gray
Hi
Could I use aqua faba (chick pea cooking water) instead of vinegar as the egg replacer?
Maybe it would hold together better that way?
hannahhossack
Hi Andrew, I haven’t tested it using aquafaba. The vinegar is there to react with the raising agent to create a lighter texture but you could try swapping 3 Tbsp of the milk for aquafaba. Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
Andrew gray
Thanks.
My Aquafaba had gone off by the time I started making the cake! so I stuck with your recipe ( except with white wine vinegar). Looks very good so far.
Tamy
BRAVO! This is my first time making fruit cake. It has now cooled and I will be aging it until Christmas … HOWEVER, I’ve tasted it and oh my goodness its so delicious. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recipe! And now I know why fruit cake is expensive haha this is a cake that cost me a lot of money but oh it will be worth it. You’re a genius xox
Alison
I just made this and my kitchen smells divine. It took a bit longer than the 3 hours in the recipe but every oven is different so it was fine just testing every now and then. I am not sure I can wait until Christmas but I will try.
Thanks for a cool recipe! I’ll report back once we have sliced it!
Dede
I modified this a bit, cutting out the candied peel, and adding dried pineapple, dried pear, and more cherries. It came out beautifully, with a 36 hour soak of fruit, (more rum than recommended, as it soaked it up) and eating it the day after cooking. because we just couldn’t wait. 🙂
One comment, the top started darkening soon in our small oven, but putting the cake on a lower shelf, and covering the top with parchment paper (loosely) helped. IT rose well, and is just heavenly. Thanks so, for this recipe.
Holly
Excellent cake. I used orange juice instead of alcohol and it turned out nicely. My first successful vegan fruit cake. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
Poppy
Thank you for this recipe xxx I did two, the one with brandy is like sooooo good. The cointreau one hasn’t held as well but is that because clear liqors don’t work in cakes? Thanks again xxx
hannahhossack
Hi Poppy, hmmm that’s odd, I wouldn’t have thought that clear liquor would make a difference! Glad you enjoyed them regardless!
Akila
Hi Hannah,
I baked about 25-30 cakes using this recipe. Thank you so so so much for this. Baking Christmas cakes every year has been a tradition of ours for so long and I was so apprehensive of baking a vegan one until a few days back. Your recipe is so easy and flexible to adapt. It was loved by everyone I baked it for. I could substitute with oat flour instead of almond flour, make it nut free, added rose water, lemon, orange and grapefruit juice. It was delightful. I have been sharing this recipe with everyone as it inspired to go vegan this Christmas!!!
So thanks for that 🙂
Zee
THANK YOU so much for this awesome recipe! Owing to multiple food allergies in the family, we need a Christmas cake that is GF and vegan. So the only thing I did differently from the recipe was use GF flour-it turned out really, really well! I made it at the beginning of November and fed it rum every week until it was time to marzipan it. We served it this weekend at a Christmas party and everyone loved it. No one suspected that it was wheat-free and vegan! I’ve had much trial and error on my quest to find a good vegan Christmas cake recipe. THIS IS THE ONE! This is a keeper. Thank you!
Modern Maenad
This is the best Christmas cake I’ve made in20+ years of vegan baking. The dried fruit absorbed 200ml of brandy – we had everything we needed apart from treacle. Highly recommend
Anna B
Just made this today and gave piece to my husband to try. I turned round to ask him if it was ok and it was all gone. Definite thumbs up from us. Great recipe,thank you
Linda
Which branded and own supermarket brands of rum/brandy are vegan please?
hannahhossack
Hi Linda, as far as I am aware all hard liquors are vegan friendly so any brand should be fine. It might be worth googling the specific brand just to make sure but I think that you should be safe with any of them.