Orange flavored Whole Wheat Fruit & Nut Cake(Egg free)

Happy New Year to all my Friends & Readers. Wishes for a Happy & Wonderful 2012. This is one of the cake which my Mom & Dad both love. Even though gluten is a rarity in my house, my parents do include wheat in their diet. So I make these and send this across to them whenever possible. So thought will share this recipe with you all and send this virtual treat this year to them. As long as you don’t have an issue with gluten and include wheat as part of your diet, do try this out and let me know how you liked it. This recipe is very versatile and simple to make. You can make it vegan by substituting butter with coconut oil and either way tastes great, presoak the dry fruits if you plan ahead or just toss them and simmer in the mixture and you are ready to bake the fruit cake.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes
Baking Time – 40-50 Minutes
Makes one 9 inch round cake


Ingredients


Chopped Nuts - 1 Heaped Cup
Chopped Fruits - 1 Heaped Cup (Black & Golden Raisins, Dates, Apricots, Prunes)
Baking Soda - 1/2 Tsp
Whole Wheat Flour - 1 1/2 Cups
Clarified butter (Ghee) or Coconut Oil  - 1/4 Cup
Raw Sugar -  1/3 (Make it 1/2 cup for a sweeter cake)
Water - 1  Cups
Orange Juice - 1/2 Cup
Date Syrup - 1 Tbsp
Grated Orange Peel – 1 Tbsp

Method


1) Mix water, raw sugar, clarified butter, date syrup, chopped fruits, nuts and simmer on medium heat till the sugar dissolves and you get a nice brown color. Now switch off the stove and let this mixture cool to room temperature.

2) Mix the baking soda, whole wheat flour, salt and keep it aside.

3) Preheat a baking oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 inch baking pan with oil and dust with flour.

4) To the fruit and nut mixture add the orange juice and orange peel and mix it nicely. To this slowly add the whole wheat flour little by little and mix it gently without lumps.

5) Pour the mixture in to the baking pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the middle rack till a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

6) Cool in the wire rack and leave it overnight and slice it next day.

Note – I added date syrup for the traditional fruit cake brown color. If you are planning ahead to make this cake, soak the chopped fruits in orange juice for a day or two. Reserve the liquid and add the soaked fruits to the sugar mixture. Measure this reserved liquid and add more orange juice if required and use it as mentioned in step 4.

Events

Sending this to Yummy Dessert 4 New Year by Prananti’s Kitchen.

Sending this to Baker’s fest New Year 2012 an event started by Vardhini.

Sending this to  Ramya’s ABC Series - Dessert

Posted in: how to make eggless fruit cake, how to make eggless whole wheat fruit cake, muffin-cake, whole wheat