We were recently asked for a recipes for a dairy, egg and wheat free wedding cake recipe (see the food allergy forum) and we thought that it might be useful to post our recipes suggestions here too:

I am suggesting three recipes below but I think it would be a good idea if you were to try them out fist to see which one you prefer. Eggless cakes will never rise as much as normal cakes and will always be a bit crumblier but in a rich fruit cake that does not really matter.
Do you want to ice the cake? You can make both royal icing and marzipan with glycerine rather than egg. It ends up a bit softer but that doesn't really matter. Let me know if you want an exact recipe.

Meanwhile, here you go with the recipes.

Eggless and dairy free fruit cake

A soft or 'silken' tofu is the best to buy for this cake; you can usually get it in 250 g packets. If not, just use the regular, more solid stuff.

225 g dairy free spread
175 - 225 g demarara or golden granulated, depending on how sweet a tooth you have
rind and juice of 2 oranges and 1/2 lemon
225 g self raising gluten free flour- Doves Farm do an excellent one
3 level teaspoons gluten and wheat free baking powder
4 tablespoons tofu, creamed in a food processor
50 g ground almonds
50 g flaked almonds
100 g each sultanas and raisins

Cream the margerine and sugar together in a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the fruit rind and juice, then the tofu along with 4 tablespoons of the flour mixed with the baking powder. Carefully fold in the rest of the flour along with the ground and flaked almonds and the dried fruit. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more orange juice.
Grease and 18 cm / 7 inch tin and spoon in the mixture mounding it slightly in the middle as without eggs the mixture will sink slightly as it cooks rather than rising. Bake the cake in a moderately cool oven ( 150
C / 300 F/ Gas Mark 2 ) for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove from the oven, cool slightly then decant onto a rack.


Seriously nutty Fruit cake

100g dairy free spread
2 medium, ripe bananas
rind & juice 2 lemons
75g each raisins and sultanas
150g soft dried apricots, chopped roughly
25g each flaked almonds & pine nuts
50g broken walnuts/pecans
50g toasted hazelnuts, chopped roughly
75g rolled oats, lightly pulverised in a food processor
75g rice flour
3 tsp gluten & wheat free baking powder
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp each ground ginger & ground cinnamon
2 tbsp brandy / orange / apple juice

Heat oven to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
PurÈe the dairy free spread with the banana and lemon rind & juice in a food processor. Turn into a bowl and stir in the fruits and nuts, followed by the flours, baking powder, spices and, finally, the brandy or fruit juice. Make sure that it is well mixed.
Line a 15cm (6 inch) cake tin with greased greaseproof paper and spoon in the mixture. Smooth out and bake for 1 hour or till a skewer comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tin then turn out and leave to get completely cold before cutting as it can be quite crumbly.
NB. You can increase the size of the cake by using half as many ingredients again or doubling the ingredients - in which case you need to increase the cooking time by 20 minutes and 40 minutes respectively.

Egg and sugar free Christmas cake

This is a quite lightly and slightly crumbly cake.

120g dairy free spread
50g dried dates, softened in a little boiling water if they are very hard
100g (1 medium) banana
rind & juice of 2 oranges and 1 lemon
75g each of sultanas, raisins, softened dried prunes and apricots
50g ground almonds
50g broken walnuts (optional)
50g rolled oats, purÈed in a food processor
70g gram (chickpea) flour, sieved with
3 level teaspoons gluten free baking powder
2 level teaspoons ground nutmeg

Heat the oven to 150 C/ 300 F/ Gas Mark 3.
Soften the margarine or butter then beat it till creamy in a mixer. Chop the dates in a food processor, then add the banana and purÈe the two together. Add this to the margarine/butter and beat thoroughly. Beat in the orange and lemon rind and juice.
Chop the prunes and apricots into fairly small pieces then fold them into the mixture along with the raisins and sultanas, ground almonds and the walnuts (if you are using them).
Fold in the oats, gram flour, baking powder and nutmeg and mix all well.
Line a 20 cm cake tin with oiled greaseproof paper and spoon in the mixture.
Bake for 50 minute - 1 hour or till a skewer comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin then turn out onto a rack to cool properly.

Happy baking!