EGGLESS FRUIT CAKE/CHRISTMAS CAKE

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I tried to convert Nigella's Christmas fruit cake recipe to an eggless one.So far I have tried this 3 times and it has been great(All trials within one week :-)).No one can make out this is eggless!

Check out the post Eggless Fruit & Nut cake for a more simplified version.

Ingredients
All purpose flour: 2 cups
mashed potato:1/2 cup
Condensed milk: 1/2 cup
Almond milk:1/2 cup (can use any milk)
Nuts: 1/4 cup (Walnuts/Cashews/Almonds)
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1.5 tsp


For fruit mixture
Chopped Dried fruits: 2 cups (dates, prunes, raisins,currants, cranberries, apricots,mango,apple,cherries)
Honey: 1/4 cup
Butter:1/2 cup (1 stick)
Cocoa powder: 1 tablespoon
Orange juice/pulp: 1/4 cup (Extract fresh juice from 1 orange)
Orange zest: 1 tsp
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Baking soda: 1/4 tsp
Water: 1/4 cup
Spice powder: 1 tsp (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and little bit of cardomom)


For decoration
Cherries
blanched Almonds


Procedure:
Step1:
Heat a sauce pan and melt the butter. Add the chopped dried fruits, brown sugar, honey and cocoa powder and mix well

Step2:
Add orange zest, water,orange juice and spice powder and allow the mixture to boil

This resembles dry fruit halwa that we make for diwali!
Step3:
Simmer for 20 minutes and then allow to cool


Step4:
Meanwhile sift the flour along with baking soda and baking powder

Step5:
Add the mashed potatoes, condensed milk and almond milk and mix well

Step6:
Add the fruit mixture and mix well

Step7:
Add the nuts and fold in

Step8:
Prepare the cake tin by placing a parchment paper at the base and the sides as shown below

Step9:
Pour the batter and decorate with blanched almonds and cherries
Note: Add 1 tablespoon of water to the almonds and microwave it for 1 minutes. Now peel the skin


Step10:
Bake in a preheated oven of 350 F for  40 - 50 minutes until a skewer inserted at the center of the cake comes out clean. I used 9 inch round pan.

Notes:

1. Nigella's original recipe calls in for baking at 300F for 1.5 hrs. However this did not work out for me for the eggless version.I found the cake to be little dry and crumbly.The second time when i baked for 40 minutes at 350f I got the cake moist and soft.This could be due to the ingredients used
2. The orange juice and zest can be increased if required