The festival of Christmas is all about desserts, and plum cake tops the charts. It is a traditional practice to make plum cake on the eve of Christmas and almost every household celebrating Christmas have one made at home. Whether you attend a Christmas party or visit your local bakery, you'll find plum cakes everywhere. This cake is usually dense with a blend of sweet, bitter, sour and nutty flavours. It contains a mix of fruits and nuts infused in alcoholic beverages like rum, wine or brandy for days, or even months, much before the festival. These ingredients are used right before the festival to make this traditional Christmas plum cake.
A variety of dried fruits like prunes, orange, grapes and nuts like apricots and walnuts are combined to make plum cake. Contrary to its name, plum fruit is not the main ingredient but it can be added to the fruit mix. Although, celebrating Christmas with plum cake is a ritual, it may wreak havoc on your diet. In fact, any dessert would do. If you are excited for the festival but want to stick to your healthy diet, you can make a healthier version of plum cake.
Here Are A Few Ideas You Can Use To Make Your Plum Cake Healthier:
1. Avoid Sugar
Sugar is full of empty calories and provides hardly any nutrition. So, it would be a great idea to get rid of it completely and make your cake with healthier forms of sweeteners like honey, agave, stevia, coconut sugar or brown sugar. Another option is to naturally sweeten your cake by adding more of raisins and ground dates paste - these contain natural sugar and are also nutrient-rich.
(Also Read: How To Make A Quick Plum Cake)
Dates are naturally sweet.
2. Make It More Nutritious
Plum cake is already suffused with nutrients from nuts and fruits. You can level up its nutritional value by adding some seeds to it. Chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds - there are options galore to add in a hint of wellness to your Christmas dessert.
3. Use Healthier Flour
Plum cake is traditionally made from all-purpose refined flour, which is not really a healthy option. A good way to make the cake healthier would be to replace it with wheat flour, almond flour, quinoa flour, oats flour, coconut flour or chickpea flour. Try any of these and you won't be disappointed.
(Also Read: 6 Healthy Christmas Treats To Binge On This Festival!)
Almond flour is healthier than refined flour.
4. Let Go Of Butter
We know that butter lends in a luscious texture and flavour to your plum cake but it can't sit well with your healthy diet. Instead, use olive oil or coconut oil or other healthier fats to bake your cake.
Enjoy your festive binge this Christmas without worrying about your health. Make a healthier yet delicious traditional plum cake for your family and friends and see them smile while they tuck into it.
Merry Christmas 2019!