Holiday Fruit Bundt Cake (or Loaf, or Muffins)
A festive, grain-free holiday cake studded with dried cherries, apricots, figs, pistachios, and walnuts, with a whole orange blended right into the batter for bright, deep citrus flavor. Bake it as a showstopping bundt, a simple loaf, or a batch of muffins, and finish it with a glossy coconut butter icing or a creamy vanilla mascarpone frosting.
Yield: Serves 12 (one bundt cake or one 9x5 loaf, or about 18 muffins) · Active: 15 min · Total: 1 hr 15 min (plus cooling; optional overnight fruit soak) · Best in North America in winter, when organic oranges are at their peak (California and Florida citrus season runs roughly winter into spring) · Cuisine: American, modern grain-free · Best eaten: in the afternoon at winter holiday gatherings, with a cup of strong tea or espresso (the muffins also make a lovely daytime breakfast)
Bundt, Loaf, or Muffins?
The same batter works three ways:
Bundt cake: Grease and flour a 10- to 12-cup bundt pan and bake 35-45 minutes. This is the showstopper for a holiday table.
Loaf: Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling. Fill it no more than about three-quarters full (bake any extra batter as 2-3 muffins). Bake 50-60 minutes, tenting the top loosely with foil after about 35 minutes so it doesn't over-brown before the center sets.
Muffins: Line a muffin tin with parchment liners (almond flour batter sticks to paper ones) and fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake 22-26 minutes. Makes about 18.
Ingredients
Cake
1 organic orange, washed, halved, and deseeded (you'll use the whole fruit, skin and all)
4 pasture-raised eggs
¾ cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups blanched almond flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
1 tbsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup dried tart cherries or cranberries (unsweetened if you can find them, or apple-juice-sweetened, with no added oil)
½ cup unsulfured dried apricots, chopped
½ cup unsulfured dried figs, chopped
½ cup pistachios or almonds
½ cup walnuts, pecans, or pumpkin seeds, chopped
Butter or coconut oil, for greasing the pan
Optional rum-style fruit soak (alcohol-free)
½ cup strong-brewed black tea, warm
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground allspice
⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Coconut Butter Icing (dairy-free)
¼ cup coconut butter (sometimes called coconut manna)
2 tsp pure maple syrup
½ tsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup full-fat coconut milk, plus more to thin
Or: Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting
8 oz grass-fed mascarpone (store-bought or homemade, below), cold
¼ cup grass-fed heavy cream, cold
2-3 tbsp pure maple syrup or raw honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean)
Optional: zest of ½ orange
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Method
Soak the fruit (optional, for a rum-like depth without alcohol). The night before, stir together the warm tea, orange juice, molasses, vanilla, allspice, and nutmeg. Pour it over the dried cherries, apricots, and figs, cover, and let them soak overnight. Drain well before using, reserving any leftover liquid to brush over the warm cake.
Soften the orange (optional). For a sweeter, mellower citrus flavor, simmer the whole orange in water for 30 minutes, then cool, halve, and deseed it. This tames any bitterness from the pith. Raw works too, with a brighter, more pronounced orange-peel flavor.
Prep the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F. Prepare your pan (see "Bundt, Loaf, or Muffins?" above). For a bundt, grease it generously with butter or coconut oil, getting into every ridge, then dust it with almond flour and tap out the extra. Almond flour cakes stick if the pan isn't well prepared.
Blend the batter. Put the orange (skin and all), eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, almond flour, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and baking soda in a blender and blend until smooth.
Add the fruit. Add the dried cherries, apricots, and figs and blend about 30 seconds. You want some chunks, not a complete purée.
Add the nuts. Pulse briefly, just to mix them in.
Bake. Pour the batter into the pan and bake (bundt 35-45 minutes, loaf 50-60 minutes, muffins 22-26 minutes), until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden.
Cool and unmold. Let the bundt or loaf cool in the pan 20-30 minutes, then invert it onto a rack and let it cool completely. Let muffins cool in the tin 10 minutes before lifting them out. (If you soaked the fruit, brush the warm cake with the leftover soaking liquid.)
Make the coconut butter icing. Warm all the icing ingredients over very low heat, stirring, just until smooth and pourable. Add a splash more coconut milk if it's too thick.
Or make the mascarpone frosting. Whip the cold mascarpone, cream, sweetener, vanilla, optional orange zest, and salt with a whisk or mixer just until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Stop as soon as it holds soft peaks, since overwhipped mascarpone can turn grainy.
Finish. Drizzle the coconut icing over the cooled cake so it runs down the ridges, or spoon the mascarpone frosting over the top. Frost with mascarpone right before serving.
Homemade grass-fed mascarpone: Grass-fed mascarpone can be hard to find, but it's easy to make. Gently heat 2 cups grass-fed heavy cream in a saucepan to 185°F, stirring often. Stir in 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and hold it at that temperature for 5 minutes, until it thickens slightly. Let it cool, then pour it into a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a bowl and refrigerate overnight. You'll have about 1 cup of rich, thick mascarpone.
Make It Your Own
Morning Glory muffins: Fold 1 cup finely grated carrot, 1 grated apple (squeezed dry in a towel), ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, and 2 tbsp coconut flour into the batter after the nuts (the coconut flour soaks up the extra moisture). Swap the cherries for raisins if you like, and bake as muffins, 24-28 minutes. Makes about 20-24.
Gingerbread: Add 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses, ½ tsp ground cloves, and ¼ tsp nutmeg to the batter.
Chocolate-cherry: Use all dried cherries and fold in ¼ cup cacao nibs or chopped 100% chocolate.
Cranberry-orange-pecan: Use cranberries and pecans, and add the zest of a second orange.
Tropical: Swap in unsweetened dried mango and pineapple, macadamias, and ¼ cup toasted coconut flakes.
Chai-spiced: Add 1 tsp ground cardamom, ¼ tsp ground cloves, and a pinch of black pepper.
Pear-ginger: Swap in chopped dried pears and add 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger.
Simple orange-maple glaze: Whisk 2 tbsp warm melted coconut butter or butter with 2 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tbsp fresh orange juice, and drizzle it over the cake.
Nourishment Notes
This is holiday fruitcake reimagined, with all the rich, fruit-and-nut-packed character of a traditional British or American fruitcake and none of the wheat flour or refined sugar. It doesn't need the weeks of brandy-soaking either.
Almond flour brings vitamin E, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats. Together with the eggs, it gives each slice about 6 g of protein, and the fat helps slow the dried fruit's natural sugars.
Pasture-raised eggs hold the cake together and add complete protein, choline, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, and lecithin, a natural emulsifier that keeps the crumb tender.
Pure maple syrup adds manganese, zinc, and polyphenols. It's still a concentrated sweetener, though, so this is a celebration cake, not an everyday snack.
The whole orange is the secret here. Blending in the entire fruit, peel and all, brings in the d-limonene and pectin that are concentrated in the peel and pith, plus far more flavor than zest or juice alone. Sephardic and Spanish orange-almond cakes have long used whole oranges this way, usually boiled first to soften the peel.
Dried tart cherries bring anthocyanins and a little naturally occurring melatonin, which tart cherries are known for.
Dried apricots add beta-carotene, potassium, and fiber.
Dried figs are among the richest fruit sources of calcium, with potassium, iron, and fiber.
Pistachios bring vitamin B6, copper, and manganese, and they're one of the few nuts that carry lutein, a carotenoid that supports eye health.
Walnuts add ALA, the plant form of omega-3s, plus polyphenols.
Carrots and apples (Morning Glory muffins) add beta-carotene from the carrots, pectin and quercetin from the apples, and extra fiber and moisture with no added sweetener.
Cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla make up the classic holiday spice trio. Cinnamon's polyphenols help moderate blood sugar, ginger's gingerols support digestion, and vanilla brings vanillin, a phenolic compound with antioxidant effects.
Coconut butter is whole coconut meat ground into a paste, so it keeps the coconut's fiber, lauric acid (a medium-chain fat), and trace minerals. With maple, lemon, and vanilla, it makes a naturally white, lightly sweet icing that clings beautifully to the bundt's ridges.
Grass-fed mascarpone and cream add fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, plus CLA.
Blackstrap molasses (in the optional soak) adds iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, along with its deep, rum-like flavor.
As a circadian and seasonal treat, this cake belongs to the winter holidays: Christmas, New Year, and winter solstice gatherings. Its warming spices and rich fruit and nuts are just what the dark months call for. Enjoy it in the afternoon with a strong cup of black tea or espresso, or, for a cozy caffeine-free option, hot mulled apple cider with a cinnamon stick and a few cloves. The muffins make a lovely daytime breakfast, too.
The cake gets even better on days 2 and 3 as the flavors meld, so make it a day or two ahead: on December 23rd for Christmas Eve, or in late November for Thanksgiving week.
Storage
Un-iced cake or loaf: Tightly wrapped at room temperature up to 2 days, then refrigerated up to 1 week, or frozen up to 2 months (thaw before icing)
Iced with coconut butter icing: Refrigerated up to 5 days. Let it sit out 20-30 minutes before serving
With mascarpone frosting: Always refrigerated, up to 3 days. Frost just before serving if you can
Muffins: Refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 3 months. Warm frozen muffins at 300°F for 10 minutes, or let them thaw on the counter
Homemade mascarpone: Refrigerated up to 1 week
Make-ahead: Bake the cake up to 5 days before serving (keep it refrigerated after day 2), and ice it the day of for the prettiest presentation. For 20 or more guests, double the recipe and bake in two bundt pans, rotating them halfway through.
Sourcing
Orange — organic, since you're eating the whole peel and conventional citrus is heavily sprayed. North American oranges peak in winter
Pasture-raised eggs — organic, from a local farm where the hens truly range on pasture, or Alexandre Family Farm (Regenerative Organic Certified)
Blanched almond flour — organic and fresh (keep it in the fridge). U.S. almonds are pasteurized by law, even when labeled "raw," so the gold standard is blanching and grinding your own from organic, unpasteurized Spanish almonds, like Terrasoul's
Maple syrup — organic, Grade A dark or very dark for the deepest flavor; Coombs Family Farms and Crown Maple both make organic syrup
Vanilla — organic, fair-trade pure vanilla extract with no added sugar, or a whole organic vanilla bean
Spices (Ceylon cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg) — organic and non-irradiated; true Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka
Dried cherries and cranberries — organic, unsweetened if you can find them (most are sweetened with sugar or fruit juice), with no added oil
Dried apricots and figs — organic and unsulfured (bright orange dried apricots are usually treated with sulfur dioxide); Made In Nature makes organic, unsulfured dried fruit
Raisins (optional) — organic, unsulfured, with no added oil
Pistachios — organic California pistachios, or Sicilian Bronte pistachios
Walnuts and pecans — organic, raw or sprouted, and kept in the fridge so their delicate oils stay fresh
Carrots and apples (for Morning Glory muffins) — organic, from a farmers' market
Coconut flour and shredded coconut (for Morning Glory muffins) — organic, unsweetened, and sulfite-free
Blackstrap molasses (optional) — organic and unsulfured
Black tea (optional) — organic loose-leaf or bags
Coconut butter — organic; Pachamae, Artisana, and Nutiva all make organic coconut butter
Coconut milk — organic and full-fat, with just coconut and water; Native Forest Simple comes in BPA-free cans
Mascarpone and heavy cream — organic and grass-fed; homemade from raw or low-temp pasteurized grass-fed cream (such as Kalona SuperNatural) is the gold standard
Lemons — organic
Baja Gold sea salt
Recipe credit: Adapted from Sweet Laurel.
— Anna aka Food Marshall