Merry Christmas! May your Christmas filled with joy!
Eggless fruit cake with chai masala and blue pea and chamomile tea. Do you like masala chai/tea with lemon? If yes then you will surely love the scrumptious taste of this rich moist soft alcohol free fruit cake. Blue pea and chamomile and cinnamon soaked dried fruits and nuts made this cake absolutely delicious and aromatic.
A close up of the soft moist texture of the cake 👇
I have used blue pea and chamomile tea soaked dry fruits in this cake. But you can use alcohol, apple juice, orange juice or any fruit juice or green tea or any other tea. Soak the dried fruits 6-8 hours or overnight. Or if you want to make the cake without soaking boil the fruits with whatever you use for soaking for 2-3 minutes. I also used Ceylon cinnamon dip with tea because I love the strong aroma of cinnamon of these bags.
I used these in many other recipes. Earlier shared Tisane or caffeine free herbal tea. See the actual colour of blue pea tea in above picture 👆. If you don’t like the flavour of cinnamon, you can skip cinnamon bags. Or you can also use 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder if you don’t have this cinnamon dip. You can get some more Eggless fruit cake recipes here.
I have used almond, cashew nuts, raisins, cranberries, dates, candied cherry and dried fig. You can use prune, black or red currant, sultana, apricot, candied orange or lemon peel or any other dried fruits.
And used chai masala extract for flavour. Chai masala extract is a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves extract. If you don’t have this extract then you can use these spices in powdered form in the cake batter with flour. I have used brown sugar but if you don’t have brown sugar, use powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar. I have used 1 cup whole wheat flour or atta and 1/2 cup all purpose flour or maida in this cake. You can also make this cake with only whole wheat flour or only all purpose flour. Or use any gluten free flour of your choice. You can get some gluten free cake recipes on this blog. Get the recipes here.
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Recipe
Almond- 1/4 cup
Cashew nuts- 1/4 cup
Walnut- 1/4 cup
Raisins- 1/4 cup
Cranberries- 1/4 cup
Dates- 1/4 cup
Candied cherry- 1/4 cup
Dried figs – 1/4 cup, chopped
Water- 1 cup
Ceylon cinnamon bag- 1 Blue pea and chamomile tea bag – 1
Whole wheat flour oratta – 1 cup
All purpose flour or maida – 1/2 cup
Milk powder- 1/2 cup
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
Baking soda- 1/2 teaspoon
Brown sugar- 3/4 cup
Oil or butter- 1/2 cup
Chai masala extract – 1 teaspoon
Milk – 1/2 cup
Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
Lemon zest- 1/2 teaspoon
Method
1. Chop all the dry fruits and pitted dates into small pieces. In a bowl place blue pea tea bag and Cylon cinnamon bag. You can omit Cylon cinnamon dip bag if you don’t like strong cinnamon flavour. I love the aroma of this cinnamon dip. Pour boiling hot water over the tea and cinnamon bags. Add all the chopped dry fruits, mix and let it soak for 6-7 hours or overnight. Blue colour of the tea changed because of cinnamon. Shared a actual picture of blue pea tea above with the recipe of Tisane or caffeine free herbal tea.
2. You can also use tutti frutti, prune, apricot, black or red currant, sultana, candied orange or lemon peel or any other dried fruits. Use whatever you have. If you forgot to soak the dry fruits you can also make it instantly. Boil all the chopped dry fruits with 1 cup water, tea bag and cinnamon bag for 2-3 minutes. Let it cool down before using.
3. If you don’t have blue pea tea bags then you can use green tea bag or any other tea bag. Even you can use apple, grape, orange or any fruit juice or alcohol for soaking the dry fruits. Here is the picture of overnight soaked dry fruits 👇
4. Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice with lukewarm or room temperature milk and keep aside. Its okay if milk starts to curdle.
5. Grease a baking dish with oil or butter generously. I have used two cake moulds. One loaf pan and one small round pan. You can use any cake pan or mould of your choice.
6. Preheat the microwave convection or hot blast function at 170° or for OTG preheat at 180° for 10 minutes.
7. In a bowl sieve whole wheat flour or atta, all purpose flour or maida, baking powder and soda. If you want your cake flat top and without crack use half teaspoon baking powder instead of 1 teaspoon.
8. Squeeze out the soaked dry fruits and mix well with the sieved flour. Don’t discard the remaining aromatic water, we will use it in the cake batter.
9. Now add the milk powder and keep aside. In a large bowl whisk brown sugar, oil and lemon juice mixed milk. Whisk well and add lemon zest and chai masala extract. Whisk again. Chai masala extract is a mixture of ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves extract. If you don’t have this extract then you can use these spices separately in powdered form.
10. Add remaining water of soaked fruits and mix. I have 1/3 cup of remaining water and used it. Add all the dry ingredients gradually and mix with a spatula till everything combined well. You can add little more milk if required to make a thick and flowing batter. I didn’t. 1/3 cup remaining water of soaked dry fruits was sufficient for me to make smooth batter.
11. Tap the cake pan on your kitchen counter to remove the air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven for 30- 40 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean and top of the cake becomes nicely browned.
12. This cake takes a little longer time than other cakes but every oven takes different time so keep an eye after 25- 30 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean then your cake is ready.
Let the cake cool down completely before slicing. This fruit cake taste best next day. You can keep the cake in room temperature for 2-3 days. After that store the cake in refrigerator. But I am sure you don’t have any remaining slices to store. Mine finished in a day 😊
Happy baking! Stay safe healthy and blessed! Enjoy your holiday.
Notes
1. Any flour can be used in this fruit cake.
2. You can also soak the dry fruits in alcohol, apple juice, orange juice or any fruit juice or green tea or any other tea.
3. Butter or any flavorless oil can be used to make this cake.
4. You can use any dried fruits or peel in the cake batter.
5. Powdered sugar can be used instead of brown sugar.
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