Day 2: Fruitcake Squares
The 12 Days of Vegan Christmas Cookies
I can’t even begin to tell you how many fruitcake haters I’ve converted with these fruitcake squares. If your idea of fruitcake is a heavy store bought loaf studded with green and red dyed maraschino cherries, then think again. This cake is studded with raisins, apricots, figs, citrus peel, and dried cherries, not those weird candied things. No food coloring or dye or artificial flavors. Oh, and there’s booze… that might be the other reason everyone likes it. I use a mixture of grand marnier which complements the orange and citrus peel, as well as dark rum. The dried fruits are soaked in it. The cake is soaked in it, and they’re added to the glaze too. You know, just in case… And while its not exactly a cookie, I’m sure you’ll forgive me slipping it in here.
Don’t be intimidated by the lengthy ingredient list, it’s due to the dried fruits and the spices in the cake. Aside from a small bath in the booze, this cake actually comes together pretty quickly. The nice thing, is that the flavors continue to develop the longer it sits. Which is hard, because you’ll be tempted to reach for squares of it to fuel your holiday baking. So go ahead, make it ahead of time, just try and keep some for your holiday gets.
- 1 cup golden raisins
- ½ cup candied ginger, finely chopped
- ¼ cup dried currants
- ¼ cup candied citrus peel
- 1 cup chopped dried fruits (I use a mix of apricots, figs, and cherries. ⅓ cup of each.)
- ¼ cup dark rum
- 1 tablespoon grand marnier or other orange liqueur
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ⅓ cup canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
- Zest of one orange
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoons dark rum
- ½ tablespoon grand marnier or other orange liqueur
- ½ tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- ⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoons dark rum
- ½ tablespoon grand marnier or other orange liqueur
- Finely chop the candied ginger and dried fruits (if using whole pieces) and add to small bowl. Add in the currants, raisin, and candied citrus peel. Pour over the rum, grand marnier, and orange juice. Mix to coat and let sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9x13-inch cake pan, or casserole dish with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, almond milk, salt and orange zest.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Mix until smooth. It may not look like enough batter for the amount of fruit, but trust me it is.
- Gently fold in the alcohol soaked fruit and chopped pecans, being careful not to over mix the batter.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan pushing it into the corners and smoothing the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- While the fruitcake is baking, in a small bowl whisk together to soaking liquid.
- Once the cake has been removed from the oven, and while it's still hot, brush the soaking liquid over the surface of the cake and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and alcohol until smooth. If the mixture is too thin, add an additional tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar until the desired thickness is achieved.
- Transfer to a pastry bag or zip top bag and snip a small hole in the corner of the bag.
- Drizzle the glaze in a cross hatch pattern over the top of the cooled cake and let set.
- Once set, slice the cake into squares and transfer to an airtight container where it can be stored for up to two weeks. The flavor will improve as it sets, so you can definitely make this one ahead of time.
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