This Fruit and Nut Cake recipe has been requested by one of you and I’m so glad that you’ve asked me. Out of all of the festive recipes that I’ve made so far this year, this cake feels the most Christmassy and I’m so happy to bring you this recipe.
It’s a rich cake packed with fruit, nuts, spices and full of flavour. I’ve served it with Orange Cardamom Cashew Cream which beautifully compliments the richness of the cake.
There are quite a few ingredients in this cake, but it’s mainly the mix of dried fruit and nuts, which makes it look so long. It’s not a difficult recipe, so please don’t feel overwhelmed. I’ve used a mix of my favourite dried fruit and nuts – cranberries, dates, figs, almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts. You could choose any of your favourites – apricots, raisins, pecans or cashews would be great too. The fruit has to be soaked for at least a couple of hours before making the cake until it swells up and absorbs most of the orange juice so you have to plan a little ahead.
This is a lovely moist cake and it’s best baked at a lower temperature for longer period of time. It could be anywhere between 1 hour and 1 hour and 15 minutes until nicely toasted on top. When testing with a toothpick, it will feel a little sticky, but not wet. Then leave to completely cool down in the tin and optionally serve with the orange cardamom cashew cream.
I hope this sounds delicious because it really is one lovely cake:) I had this cake tested by quite a few of my friends and family and everyone loved it, no one will ever know it’s gluten-free and vegan.
Fruit and Nut Cake with Orange Cardamom Cashew Cream (gluten-free & vegan)
Ingredients
- 40g dried cranberries (1/3 cup)
- 60g dates (1/3 cup)
- 100g figs (about 5 large figs)
- 1 large orange, zest and juice
- 95g buckwheat flour (3/4 cup)
- 100g ground almonds (1 cup)
- 30g arrowroot (1/4 cup)
- 75g coconut sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp cinnamon
- ½tsp cardamom
- 1/2tsp ginger
- 1/8tsp cloves
- pinch of sea salt
- 2tbsp ground flaxseed + 6tbsp water
- 80ml olive oil (1/3 cup)
- 2tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 medium apple, roughly grated
- 60g almonds (1/2 cup)
- 50g hazelnuts (1/2 cup)
- 50g walnuts (1/2 cup)
Orange Cashew Cream:
- 120g cashews, soaked for 3 hours (1 cup)
- pinch sea salt
- orange zest to taste (from about 1/4 orange)
- good pinch cardamom
- 1tbsp maple syrup
- ¼tsp vanilla
- ¾ cup almond milk
Instructions
- Roughly chop cranberries, dates and figs and place into a small bowl. You should have about 1 1/4 cup chopped fruit. Mix in zest from about 3/4 orange (save the other 1/4 for the cashew cream) add orange juice from the whole orange, it should just about cover all of the fruit. Leave to soak for couple of hours until the juice is absorbed by the fruit.
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350F)
- Grease and line 8" round cake baking tin. I tend to line the base and dust the sides.
- Mix 2tbsp of ground flaxseed with 6tbsp of water and set aside to thicken.
- Roughly grate apple and mix in with the soaked fruit. Set aside.
- Roughly chop all of the nuts and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together buckwheat flour, ground almonds, arrowroot, coconut sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar and flax eggs. Set aside.
- Now stir the soaked fruit mixture to the dry mix followed by the wet mix and mix everything until combined. You should have moist muffin mix consistency. Now stir in about 3/4 of the chopped nuts (save some to sprinkle on top).
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level out the surface. Top with the rest of the chopped nuts.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes until toasted on top and a cocktail stick comes out almost clean, it will feel slightly sticky.
- Remove from the oven once ready and leave to completely cool down in the tin.
- To make the cashew cream rinse and drain the cashews. Place all of the ingredients into high speed blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Don't pour the cashew cream on top of the cake ( I did only for the pictures) it's best to slice the cake first and serve with the cashew cream.
Yay! Thanks for this!
You’re very welcome Olivia! Hope you like it :) x
Hi again, instead of cashew cream is it possible to use another nut base? Such as hazelnuts?
Hi Olivia, the only one which I think might work would be macadamia nuts. Or you could just serve it with some coconut cream instead or just as it is, I don’t think it even needs the cream :)
I tried this without the cream and it was SOOOO amazing! Living in Aus cranberries are a little hard to come by so I used frozen cherries instead. Thank you so much again for this wonderful recipe! Can’t wait to try it with the macadamia cream next time! x
Hi Olivia, I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know :) Enjoy the rest of the Holidays! xx
This cake looks absolutely delicious!! And that orange cashew cream sounds to die for ;)
Thanks so much Sarah! It’s the one to try :) x
O that is the most delicious fruit cake!! Santa would be proud ;)
Yay, thanks so much Rebecca! Sending you and Santa a virtual slice :) x
As one of your very, very happy cake-tasters, I must say this one is truly scrumptious!!! I absolutely loved the zesty orange flavour <3 Merry Christmas, dear H! Lots of love, T xxx
Thank you lovely Teresa! Merry Christmas!!! Lots of Love, H xxx
Love this Hana! I bet that cashew cream tastes amazing dolloped on top! xx
Thank you so much Sasha! Yes, it so does:) xx
Thank you for this wonderful recipe Hanah – it looks truly amazing and I’ll bet the house smells divine whilst it’s baking. You are quiet the genius!
I have to wait a while before I can even try it because it’s much too hot to put the oven on here in Adelaide (S Australia). Christmas Day is forecast to be 40 degrees celsius : ( : ( : ( : ( How I hate it – I always miss UK at Christmastime..
Anyway,have an amazing Christmas and I hope that 2017 is magical : ) And a happy Christmas to all your readers!
Love Angela X
Dear Angela, thank you so much for your lovely wishes and a beautiful message. Wow, 40 degrees! I guess you won’t be doing any Christmas baking for sure!!! Although I wouldn’t mind couple of days of that myself :)
Wishing you the most amazing Christmas too and wonderful New Year 2017! Let the magic begin :)
Love Hana xx
Hi Hannah, can I use oat flour instead of buckwheat flour?
Hi Maple, yes, you can. It should be fine, it will make the sponge lighter. Not sure if you might need to add slightly more quantity. See how the cake mix is at the end, you can always add some extra if needed. Hope you like it :)
Hi Hana,
Your recipes are truly lovely. I’ve made quite few of them and every time they are spot on :) Well done!
I wanted to check, if I would like to bake this cake in a loaf tin, which is the correct size you’ll recommend?
Many thanks, and have a Wonderful Festive Season :)
Hi Milena, thank you so much for such kind feedback, you’ve just made my day! If you’d like to use a loaf tin, I would use a longer one, I think it will bake better if it’s not too high. 30cm x 11cm or so should work well. Hope you enjoy this cake just as much :) Have a wonderful festive season too! Love, Hana