Fat Free Fruit Cake

This fat free fruit cake is made using applesauce to ensure that the cake remains moist and delicious. There's no butter or oil in the recipe. There's also plenty of natural sweetness from the dried fruit, so there's no added sugar. It almost sounds too good to be true, but honestly, it's so delicious that it's hard to believe how healthy it is!

Why make this fat free fruit cake?

If you need to cut down on the fat in your diet, or just want an easy way to trim a few calories, then this fat free fruit cake is for you. It certainly doesn't taste like 'diet' food as it's got a lovely texture and flavour. It's a great everyday fruit cake, and transports really well for healthy snacking. You might also like this fat-free courgette and apple cake recipe.

Fat free recipes are often loaded with sugar to make up for the absence of butter. But applesauce provides plenty of moistness and sweetness, so there's no added sugar required at all. It tastes like a proper cake, not a tea loaf that you'd spread with butter!

This is also a really quick and easy fruit cake recipe. There's no creaming or rubbing in, the ingredients are simply mixed together in one bowl. Pile the mixture into a tin, and you're good to go.

Gluten free fruit cake

It's also simple to use this recipe for a gluten free fruit cake if you want. I make it using a standard supermarket gluten free plain flour blend, and it comes out perfectly. However, if you don't need it to be gluten free, just use ordinary plain flour.

Ingredients

Dried fruit. I usually use mixed dried fruit, but if you prefer, you could make up your own mix with your favourite dried fruits. If you want to add fruits such as dried apricots or prunes, chop them into pieces about the same size as the rest of the dried fruit. Or you could also just go with one type of fruit such as sultanas or raisins.

Orange juice. You'll need a small amount of liquid to soak the dried fruit which helps to make it especially juicy and flavoursome. You could either use the juice from an orange or tangerine, made up to 100ml with water, or use a ready made fruit juice such as orange or apple. Or if you don't have any fruit juice, you can also use strong tea. Although it sounds a little strange, dried fruit soaked in tea takes on a lovely flavour. I have used rooibos tea as that is what I often drink, but you could also just use regular black tea.

Spices. The spices in this fruit cake are an important part of the flavour. Cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg combine to make a lovely flavour which really complements the dried fruit. You could use a spoonful of mixed spice instead if you prefer.

Applesauce is the magic ingredient which allows you make the recipe fat free. You'll need unsweetened applesauce for this recipe. If necessary, you could quickly make 100ml applesauce by simmering 1 large apple with a splash of water for 10 minutes.

Eggs bind the mixture together and provide texture to the cake.

Flour. This recipe uses a combination of plain flour with a teaspoon of baking powder to provide some rise. You can use either regular plain flour, or a standard gluten free flour mix. If you're making a gluten free fruit cake, remember to check that the baking powder is gluten free. Many are, but sometimes there are traces of wheat. If you've only got self raising flour, then omit the baking powder.

Optional ingredients

Nuts: You can add about 50 g of chopped nuts to the mixture if liked. You could also add some flaked almonds to the top of the cake.

Alcohol: if you want to make the cake a little more special, you could replace half of the soaking liquid with alcohol. Either brandy or a flavoured liquor would be nice. As you bring the liquid to the boil, some of the alcohol content will be reduced.

How to make fat free fruit cake

Pop the dried fruit into a pan, and add the fruit juice or tea and spices. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat, and cover with a lid. Leave to cool slightly whilst you make the rest of the cake. Using this method to soak the dried fruit before baking will help to add more moistness to the finished cake.

Prepare the cake tin which will make the baked cake easier to remove. Grease the sides of the tin, and line the base of the tin with a piece of baking paper.

You can make the cake mixture by hand, but I find it easier with a handheld electric whisk. (A food processor is not an ideal option as the blade will chop the dried fruit.) Whisk the eggs for a couple of minutes, then add the applesauce and whisk for a couple of minutes more.

Tip in the flour and the baking powder, and mix until all the flour has blended in. Then add the dried fruit. If there's still a little of the soaking liquid in the pan, add that too. Then give everything a final mix.

Add the mixture to the prepared tin. I usually make a small dip in the top of the mixture, as it will rise. Bake at 160 degrees (140 fan) for 40 minutes. The baked cake should be nut brown and firm to the touch.

Leave the fruit cake cooling in the tin until you can comfortably touch it, then remove from the tin to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Frequently asked questions

If you are looking for a no added sugar fruit cake that does have butter, then you might like this sugar free fruit cake recipe.

Other low fat recipes you might like

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Recipe

Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.