I have tried a few recipes (mostly the chocolate ones-why do we like chocolate so much?) but also really like a boiled fruit cake.  The standard recipe is full of sugar so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about a sugar free way of making.  We are going away camping in a week and I would like to take one with me as it is nice to have a piece with a cuppa and normally they keep quite well.  Hope some of you cooks out there can help.  Thanks  Catherine

Stuart Walker wrote:I have tried a few recipes (mostly the chocolate ones-why do we like chocolate so much?) but also really like a boiled fruit cake.  The standard recipe is full of sugar so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about a sugar free way of making.  We are going away camping in a week and I would like to take one with me as it is nice to have a piece with a cuppa and normally they keep quite well.  Hope some of you cooks out there can help.  Thanks  Catherine

Hi Stuart

How about using frozen blueberries and raspberries instead of dried fruit. You would, of course need to defrost the fruit before using it as it holds a lot of liquid when frozen. I make dextrose sweetened muffins with blueberries for my husband to take to work for morning tea and he says he enjoys them as much as when I used to use dried fruit. I am not sure about taking the cake camping though, it probably wouldn't keep that well without the sugar. But why not try it out before you go and see if you like it. Raspberries and blueberries have less fructose and more fiber than other fruits. And you would simply substitute the sugar for dextrose.

cheers Freda

Stuart Walker wrote:Thanks for the comments.  I realise a fruit cake without fruit is just a cake but the frozen fruit is worth a try.  Do you think if I chopped fresh fruit it would work?  Maybe some nuts as well ?  Will try and see what happens.  Catherine

Yes, you could use fresh fruit, it's just so expensive at the moment, whereas frozen fruit is far far cheaper which is why I use it.
And I use chopped nuts in my husband's muffins........and ground hazels..........and sesame seeds.........and coconut...........and bran.............and yoghurt to make it moist.......and eggs to bind.
cheers
Freda

It's not a fruitcake, but one cake I've made with fruit in it is an apple tea cake.  I used this recipe from the Taste website, substituted the sugar for xylitol 1:1, and skipped the jam glazing.  Red or green apples work fine with it. It's delicious!

Well I tried the fruit cake with the thawed (and drained overnight) fruit but it was WAY too wet and didn't cook in the middle.  If I try again (which I doubt) I will try the chopped fresh fruit but otherwise will just make a plain cake and maybe lemon icing of frosting (made with dextrose of course!) for that extra sweet buzz.  Thanks again  Catherine