Healthy Christmas Plum Cake – No Rum!

Name: Healthy Christmas Plum Cake – No Rum!
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Baking
Ingredients: 1/3 cup Orange Juice,; 1/3 cup Water,; 1 tbsp Lemon Juice,; 1/4 cup Black Raisins,; 1/4 cup Green Raisins,; 1/4 cup Dried Apricots, chopped; 1/4 cup Dried Cranberries,; 2 tbsp Flax Seeds, ground; 6 tbsp Water,; 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour,; 1/4 cup Oat Flour,; 1/4 cup Cacao Powder, or cocoa powder; 1 tsp Baking Powder,; 1/2 tsp Baking Soda,; 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder,; 1/8 tsp Clove Powder,; 1/8 tsp Ginger Powder,; 1/8 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated; 1 tsp Orange Zest,; 2 tbsp Almonds, chopped; 2 tbsp Walnuts, chopped; 2 tbsp Hazelnuts, chopped; 2 tbsp Sunflower Seeds,; 2 tbsp Pumpkin Seeds,; 3/4 cup Brown Sugar,; 1 tsp Vanilla Extract,; Flax Egg, as prepared; 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil,; 1/2 cup Soy Curd, or any curd; 1/4 cup Water, or as needed

Christmas is incomplete without baking this delicious, flavourful, moist plum cake at home. But what if we can make it healthy so that we can enjoy it guilt-free. Sounds interesting haan?

This cake is made of whole wheat flour and oat flour instead of refined flour (maida). Instead of refined white sugar, it has brown sugar. These are Eggless and Vegan too. All these things might make you feel ehhhh…Boring. But trust me on this. These are incredibly soft and moist and you can’t even tell the difference. Really.

& The best thing is that you can make your kids eat it without worrying too much. Oh did I mention that there is no alcohol in it? Yay. It has got fruits, nuts, and seeds and no refined flour. You must bake it for them, for yourself, this Christmas season. Fa la la la laaaa…

STORY TIME

Honestly speaking, I never liked Christmas Plum Cake (or Christmas Fruit & Nut Cake). I remember my mom used to get it every Christmas and all my family members used to enjoy it a lot. I mean A LOT. But there was something in it which was not pleasing for my taste buds.

Now when I baked it myself, I realized that the flavor which was not enjoyable for me was the flavor of clove. Yes. But I am always ready for homemade cakes. They taste much better. And now I enjoy this Christmas delicacy too. I mean what’s not to like 🙂

Since I made them healthy, I literally enjoy it more. I already had a lot of sweets on Diwali so at least with this cake, I know I am eating something healthy and don’t need to worry. And guess what, despite the fact that these are made of whole wheat flour and oat flour, they are not at all dry and crumbly. They don’t get dry even after 3 or 4 days of baking. The natural, plant-based ingredients do their job pretty well.

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HOW TO MAKE OAT FLOUR AT HOME?

For this recipe, you can use store-bought oats flour too. But I prefer to make it at home using instant oats. Store-bought ones are a little expensive. Moreover, making it at home is quite easy and quick. Just grind the instant oats till you get a fine powder. A little bit of husk is fine. That will be separated out while sifting.

Check out our other healthy oat recipes – Avocado Brownies, Oats Appe, Strawberry Cheesecake, Oats Thumbprint Cookies.

TIPS TO BAKE IT RIGHT

Room Temperature: Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature. It is very important in baking.
Measure Accurately: Correctly measuring the ingredients is very important. Adding extra flour is one common mistake. Just fill your measuring cup with the flour and then level it off with a knife. If the wet ingredients are not measured well, the muffins will become soggy.
Sifting: Sift the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, cacao powder, salt. This ensures that there are no lumps in the batter.
Over mixing: This is something that happens accidentally. Over mixing crushes all the air bubbles and you end with dense brownies. To ensure that the brownies are light, mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until they are just combined. That means you don’t see any dry ingredients left in the bowl.
Leavening Agent: Baking Powder & baking soda helps the brownies rise. Double-check to make sure they are not expired.
Resting: Whole wheat flour and oat flour absorbs a lot of moisture compared to the refined flour. So, it is important to let it rest for 10 – 15 minutes and then adjust the consistency of the batter accordingly. That ways, the flour doesn’t absorb moisture while baking and remains soft and moist. This resting time is not needed in refined flour recipe. I let it rest because I used the recipe of Bake with Shivesh. He baked it using refined flour. So, I have to make some adjustments to make it perfectly soft and moist.
Baking Time: Baking time depends on a lot of factors. Even over bakes at a different time even at the same temperature setting. So be careful with that. Also, the time of baking also depends on the mould size. If you are using a mould with high depth, it will obviously take a longer time to bake.

ADJUSTMENTS – YOU MAY WANT TO MAKE

Flour: I made it using 1 Cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup oat flour. You can make it using whole wheat flour only (1 + 1/4 cup). But you need to understand the texture of the batter needed. Every flour has a different liquid-absorbing capacity. Hence, you can not just change one ingredient and keep the rest of the ingredients the same. I would suggest trying the same recipe first and then start making adjustments. Also, the texture of the cake may change with different flours.
Sweetener: I added brown sugar to this recipe. But you can even add date syrup, maple syrup or jaggery. Adjust the sweetness as per your taste. The liquid sweeteners are natural and perfect to make the cakes soft and moist.
Flax Egg: Instead of ground flax seeds, you can use ground chia seeds, thick curd or apple sauce.
Alcohol: Generally, the christmas cake is made of alcohol or rum in it. All the dried fruits are soaked in it well in advance. They absorb the flavour and it tastes quite nice in christmas cake. But not everyone prefers the cake with alcohol. That’s why, in this recipe the dried fruits are soaked in orange juice, lemon juice and water. The flavour and aroma that it gives to the cake is beyond words.

CAN I MAKE IT IN THE MICROWAVE?

Yes. Of course. If your microwave has a convection mode, you can easily bake this cake in it.

To bake this cake in the microwave, you just need to preheat the microwave to 165 degrees celsius for around 10 minutes. Once preheated, place the baking tray in it and let it bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Now, every machine is different. So, keep an eye on it and once you see the golden edges, insert a toothpick at the center to check if it is fully baked.

If the toothpick comes out clean, it means the cake is perfectly baked. But if it doesn’t, bake it for a couple of extra minutes.

HOW TO STORE THIS CAKE?

You can store it in an air-tight container. Leave them at room temperature on your kitchen counter for two to three days (depending on the temperature at your place). You can easily refrigerate them for a week.

IS THIS RECIPE VEGAN?

Yes. It is a 100% vegan and plant-based recipe. I used flax egg instead of eggs, olive oil instead of butter, soy curd instead of dairy curd.

MORE BAKED RECIPES FOR CHRISTMAS

Now you are all ready to make this delicious, healthy, soft cake at home. It is perfect for your sweet cravings in this Christmas season. You don’t need to wait for your cheat days to enjoy this deliciousness. So, grab all the ingredients, and let’s get baking.

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Happy Cooking 🙂

Love from us

Richa & Jatin