I remember a time when walking by the neighborhood bakery meant seeing a Tutti Frutti cake on display. Always. A lovely warm pound cake with tutti frutti, I grew up munching on them. 

Given my nostalgic mood lately, I wanted to recreate the old-fashioned cake reminiscent of a carefree childhood. But as ever, I couldn’t resist giving the recipe a Tasha Twist. So instead of the traditional version, I made an eggless Tutti Frutti cake that’s also vegan!

The utterly moist, fluffy, and soft cake is a perfect #TAFEverydayCake and is wonderful for the upcoming festive season too. You can add it to your Diwali spread of mawa cake, saffron cardamom cheesecake, and chocolate peda with nary a worry of flavors repeating. 

What is Tutti Frutti?

Tutti Frutti or tutti i frutti translates into ‘all fruits.’ It’s a confectionery made with the flavors of different fruits. In India, it’s created out of raw papaya mixed with artificial flavoring. But often it is also made out of candied fruits. 

I opted to forgo the usual tutti-frutti that we get here. Instead, I bought a pack of candied fruits from the organic store that had a jumble of incredibly flavorsome oranges, raisins, kiwi, papaya, cherries, and pineapple. 

The candied fruits are like little delicious gems that not only bring brightness to the cake but compliment other flavors beautifully! Also, they are free from artificial flavoring and additives – a tad healthier than common alternatives found in the market.

That said, the cake base is so delicious that if you can’t get your hands on candied fruits, regular tutti-frutti will work like a charm. 

How to make eggless Tutti Frutti cake?

Since the recipe is eggless, start with mixing apple cider vinegar with almond milk. While you wait for it to curdle, sift the dry ingredients together – whole wheat flour, buckwheat flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

I’ve been experimenting with palm sugar lately, so, that went in next. Palm sugar has a lot of lumps – a lot. So, make sure you get in there and break them up with your hands. 

The last dry ingredient to go in is the zest of one lemon. The citrusy flavor comes through mildly in the cake. What it does is shine a spotlight on the candied fruits. The flavor is enhanced, imparting the cake a bright zip.

By now, the vinegar + milk mixture would be ready. Add in coconut oil, vanilla extract, and a few drops of pure lemon oil. I love that citrusy essence it adds. If you don’t have any, simply add more lemon zest to your dry ingredients. 

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Gently. This cake doesn’t need overzealous mixing.

Baking the eggless Tutti Frutti cake 

There is a trick to adding the tutti-frutti to the batter, so it doesn’t sink to the bottom. Toss them with a bit of flour till they are coated well and good. 

Then fold in the flour-dusted candied fruits into the batter. I also added a few chopped cashews to the mix. Again, do it gently and don’t overmix.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan, scatter some more cashews and tutti-frutti on top and then let the oven do its thing for a good 40 to 45 minutes.

Variations of the recipe

For an old-bakery style tutti-frutti cake, go for 100% all-purpose flour. Or you can try half all-purpose and half whole-wheat like I did for my vegan vanilla cake. I haven’t attempted a completely gluten-free version, but if you do, please drop a comment on how it goes. 

Palm sugar can be substituted with coconut or raw sugar. You can even use regular white sugar. Just bear in mind the color will be lighter than mine. Palm sugar tends to give cakes a warm brown hue. 

You can replace coconut oil with any neutral tasting oil or even butter. If you don’t have homemade almond milk, any plant-based milk will do. Regular milk fits the recipe, too, if that’s your preference. 

Instead of apple cider vinegar, you can utilize any vinegar. If not that, then a tablespoon of lemon juice should be enough to curdle the milk. You can switch the cashews with any nuts you prefer.

Finally, you can swap tutti-frutti with raisins, cranberries, etc. Please don’t skimp on the lemon zest if you use dried fruits. The zing of the lemon accompanies the sweetness of the fruits very well and amplifies the cake’s savor.

Serving the eggless Tutti Frutti cake

I served the moist, light, and spongy cake as is. 

As the cake bakes, the candied fruits plump up. So, when you plate a slice, you have these gorgeously gem-colored speckles adorning the cake. The confetti effect of the Tutti Frutti is all the embellishment it needs.

You can, of course, serve it with a dusting of icing sugar or maybe a few dried rose petals. Now that I think of it, I should have added the petals!

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