Un-Christmas Cake with toffee nut crunch
I’ve gotta level with you – I’m not a huge fan of ‘traditional’ Christmas cake. This is my ‘Chelsified’ version – it uses everyday ingredients and it’s pretty damned good. It has a heap of grated beetroot & carrot in it to make it lovely and moist, and it has all those wonderful Christmas cake attributes like warm spices, citrus zing, tasty fruit and of course, booze – however they are present in a more delicate fashion. Cranberries and apricots instead of glace cherries (although you can still use them if you must). Subtle fresh orange and lemon rind, not great hulking pieces of peel. And a lighter, cakey texture. Liqueur is used to soak the fruit, then poured over your slice at the end, so you can choose how much you end up with. The crunchy toffee nut crunch on top will blow your mind.
Gluten-free
The great thing about this cake is you can use gluten-free flour mix and it turns out just as well (the one in the photo was made with gluten-free flour mix). Just make sure there is no raising agent in it already.
Dairy-free
If you forgo the cream cheese icing and just go for a liberal dusting of icing sugar and/or freeze-dried fruit powder, the cake is dairy-free. It is moist enough to get away with this, especially when you drizzle the liqueur over later!
Prep time – overnight for soaking fruit, then 15 minutes
Cooking time – 1 3/4 hours
Ingredients
Fruit
2 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit (I used apricots & cranberries)
1-2 cups Galliano or liqueur of your choice – brandy, kahlua etc. (If you don’t like liqueur, soak them in orange juice warmed with 1 tbsp honey).
Zest of 2 oranges and 1/4 cup juice
Zest of 1 lemon and a squeeze of juice
Cake
3 ½ cups high grade flour (or plain, the fruit might sink to the bottom a bit though) (or use gluten-free flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp mace (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
5 free-range eggs
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup rice bran or grape seed oil
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp natural vanilla essence
2 cups peeled & grated beetroot
1 1/2 cups peeled & grated carrot
Cream cheese icing
500g cream cheese
25g butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
Squeeze of lemon juice
Method
Fruit
Add the apricots and cranberries to a non-metallic bowl with the Galliano (or whatever liqueur you choose), orange juice and zest, and lemon juice and zest. All the fruit should be covered. Cover and leave at least overnight, or a couple of days in the fridge.
Cake
Preheat oven to 160c conventional bake and set a rack in the lower half of the oven. Line the base and sides of a 25-28cm cake tin with baking paper – have the paper coming up past the sides. Set the rack just in the lower half of the oven.
Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into your largest mixing bowl and whisk to combine evenly.
Drain the soaked fruit through a sieve, reserving the syrupy liqueur juice in a bowl for later.
Crack the eggs into another large bowl. Add the sugars, oils and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Add the soaked fruit with a 1/3 cup of the syrupy liquid, and the grated carrot and beetroot. Fold to combine. (Note – if using gluten-free flour, add 1/2 cup of the liqueur).
Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and fold until well combined – I use a rubber spatula for this to get everything off the sides and bottom.
Scrape into the greased tin. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour 40 minutes (a skewer inserted should come out clean). Cool slightly, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely. Seal in an airtight container for a few days until ready to ice.
Icing
To make the icing, beat the ingredients together until smooth. Add a little more lemon juice if necessary to thin it out or more icing sugar to thicken. Ice the cooled cake using a knife or spatula dipped in hot water.
To serve
Top with toffee nut crunch (recipe below). Serve slices of the cake with some whipped cream or ice cream (or both) and a drizzle of the remaining liqueur syrup.
_____________________________
Toffee nut crunch
50g butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
1 cup mixed nuts
Pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 150c conventional bake. Heat the butter, sugar and spices in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is melted. Stir in the nuts and salt and pepper. Pour into an even layer in a roasting dish lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes – the nuts should be golden brown but not burnt – keep an eye on it if your oven tends to run hot. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Break into pieces and pulse in a food processor to a coarse crumb (or bash in a bag with a rolling pin). Sprinkle on top of the cake before serving.
Hi Chelsea.
This is my absolute no 1 cake. I often make it as 2 loaf cakes….. I won a county baking show in England for “best bake” with it last year. The judge described it as outstanding.
So, thank you (but what I’m going to make in 2023 to defend my title I don’t know! Any suggestions gratefully received!)
Claire
I made this cake for my sisters wedding cake and the whole cake was devoured really quickly. I now regularly make it as cupcakes and they are so absolutely fabulous that they are in constant demand.
This is the 4th time ive made this cake! i just love it – and its really simple to make…Just made it today for Christmas! thank you for the great recipe! Im even testing it out on my French in-laws! ;)
Still my favourite go to recipe.. i soak the fruit in southern comfort ;. Yummmmmmmy
-) Thanks Chelsea!
Hi Chelsea (big fan)!
Would the Toffee Nut Crunch go well on top of a carrot cake?
ooooh yes x
Hi Chelsea,
How long will the cake last in an airtight container in iced? Does it last a long time like a normal Christmas cake?
Thanks heaps
It will last in an airtight container un-iced for 5 days x
I made this cake for an 80th birthday cake. It was gorgeous. I soaked the fruit in peach snapps and drizzled syrup over the cake when it cake out of the oven. I will definitely make this again!!
Made this a few years ago, was very different but lovely. Going to make if again this year again for something different. Thanks
Hi Chelsea,
I was wondering what flavour of galliano do you use? Vanilla? Have you liked using any other type of liqueur?
Thanks!
Hi
Will this last as long as a traditional Christmas cake.?
It will last un-iced up to 5 days in an airtight container x
hi Chelsea, does this cake last as long as a trational fruit cake? Do you think using the fruit cake dried fruit mix will be to heavy for it, and loose the benefit of having beetroot and carrots in it.
Thanks for the recipe, made it for our Christmas dinner and went down a treat! It was big enough that we had leftovers which was ideal for my large island family hehe (that never happens!). Will definitely be making this again for the next family get together – winner!
Hi Chelsea, I made this cake for my sisters wedding cake and used royal icing. It was devoured!!
amazing! x
Hi Chelsea, are you able to recommend a gluten free flour mix?
Sure, I use Edmonds :)
How long will it keep for without the frosting??
It will last un-iced up to 5 days in an airtight container x
Hi Chelsea, thanks for this recipe! I freestyled a little – drizzled leftover Galiano syrup over the warm cake once cooked, and doubled the nut recipe. Rather than blitzing them, I just piled the nuts on top, what a spectacular cake to present at the Christmas Eve BBQ! My mixture was enough to fully fill a 30cm cake tin making one enormous, heavy but delicious cake. Wish this comments box had a photo posting function…
Hi Chelsea, I have just finished making this cake and icing it today for Xmas. I usually avoid making anything gluten free as I have very little success and only the chooks benefit from it…..BUT not this time. I am absolutely amazed how this cake has turned out even with a couple of minor changes like 4 duck eggs instead of 5 chook eggs, I added almond essence to the cream cheese icing and finished it off with pistachio nuts. It looked so good but with past experiences with GF baking I was not confident turning up to our family lunch without cutting a piece to try first and OMG this cake is the best cake I have not only baked but eaten in years. I even had to take a photo. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipes.
Hi chelsea if I leave the cake un iced cpuld it be frozen?
Yes, for up to a month.
Thanks Chelsea xx
Hi Chelsea could I use royal icing instead of the cream cheese icing. Thanks Jean
I don’t see why not!
Will it keep for longer than 5 days in an airtight container, uniced, Chelsea?
Thankyou so much for this recipe. I made it for Christmas and it was loved by everyone. Will definitely be making this a new tradition. It looked amazing as well. Nice to know it’s full of healthy ingredients. Well done.
It looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I hope I can make it for my kiddos Chelsea :)
I made this for Christmas and everyone loved it. The only thing I did wrong was trying to make it gluten free. Used the replacement flour etc, but didn’t check the baking powder and that had gluten in it!!! I was trying to make it so a family member from out of town could eat it. Great recipe – thanks.
I am new to your cooking site having been recently introduced by a NZ friend of mine. Made the alternative Christmas cake which was a great hit – thank you! I must say that I did though reduce the sugar quantity in the cake and added maple syrup in the frosting as again I felt it would otherwise be too sweet – this was also successful. The glazed nuts were not a success – too much butter, I resorted to another recipe which worked better. Overall though a truly delicious cake and one I am going to make again soon despite Christmas having been and gone!
P.s. The Christmas chocolate ball were fantastic!
I just took mine out of the oven. Looks and smells fabulous. I used coconut oil instead of rice bran etc; Californian dried cherrys, crasins, and dried blueberries for my fruit; and a mix of brandy and pear liquor instead of Galliano. Any ideas for a GF DF frosting akin to cream cheese frosting?
Hi Chelsea, this looks delish! Can I freeze it if I don’t ice it? Thanks.
Yes, for up to a month x
Hey Chelsea – this looks delish! Can i halve the recipe, and if so do i use 2 or 3 eggs and what size tin?
Thanks
Karen
Hi just wondering approximately how many beetroots did you use to make 2 cups?
How long will this cake keep fresh for
It will last un-iced up to 5 days in an airtight container x
Oh am going to try this thanks so much , approx how many beetroots would be 2 cups ( never used fresh before)
Oh my goodness Chelsea that looks and sounds delicious!!! I’m definitely going to make it!
Hi. Can you ice it with cream cheese ahead of serving?? Same with the nuts…. How far ahead can you make the candied nuts or are they best done on the day? ?
Yes, the day before x
Chelsea, you are awesome. Your passion for difference and finesse shows., love your recipes :-)
Thanks Vicki x
Hi Chelsea
This looks amazing but just wondering how much in advance of Christmas Day we could make it? 5-7 days?
5 days in a very airtight container un-iced :)
How freeze able do you think it will be? I really want to make it but will be working nights the week of Christmas
It will freeze for up to a month. Wrap well with cling film x
i would love some egg free recipes if I could as I would like to do some baking for christmas
Check out ‘Tasty’ for an egg-free Christmas cake x
Hi Chelsea – this recipe looks amazing! For the beetroot, is it tinned or fresh beetroot you use?
Fresh.
Hi Chelsea
I like the look of this recipe. I also am not a fan of traditional fruit cake. My hubby loves carrot cake. This sounds similar.
Can I make this cake early and freeze for Xmas?
Yes, wrap well and defrost wrapped up to retain moisture x
Yum thankyou Chelsea
You are simply the best