Ho ho ho and happy holidays to all—especially to my fellow Anglo-Indian Rum Cake and fruitcake fanatics. As much as I adore a boozy Christmas rum cake, I do not adore what it does to my butt, thighs, 
or sense of self-worth. Which is why this year, I’m reinventing one of my favorite holiday traditions: the Anglo-Indian Rum Christmas Cake… but make it healthier. Or at least healthier-ish.
A Kerala Christmas Cake That Won’t Ruin Your New Year’s Resolutions (Much)
My new version is stuffed with dried fruit, coconut oil, almond flour, and rice flour—because apparently you can snowshoe 10 miles a day in Big Bear and still not outrun three cups of straight sugar and booze. Who knew? After a long, snowy-filled work day, Anglo-Indian Rum Cake, slightly healthier, to the rescue! I’ll admit it; I’ve been known to take a slice of this slightly healthier version of Anglo-Indian Rum Cake for my breakfast sometimes on the run. It’s the holidays, don’t judge!
This Kerala-style Christmas cake is definitely lighter than the classic Anglo-Indian Rum Cake, though still deliciously extra. It’s studded with dried mango and pineapple, because if I’m going to bake a cake inspired by the tropics, we’re doing it properly. And yes, fine, I still added the maraschino cherries. It’s the holidays. There must be decadence.
Rum, Mango, Pineapple, and Moderation: My Holiday Miracle Cake
Here’s the non-negotiable: you must soak your fruit for three days. Not one. Not overnight. Three full days of marinating those dried beauties until they’re plump, boozy jewels of Christmas joy.
As for ingredients, prepare yourself for a treasure hunt. Ginger preserves are elusive little jars of sugary magic. Maybe your local Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s carries them, but I usually wave the white flag and order them on Amazon. If you can’t find ginger preserves, orange marmalade steps in beautifully.
This is the version of Christmas cake that lets you indulge without feeling like you need to snowshoe an extra 6,000 holiday steps just to break even. You’re welcome.
The Anglo-Indian Rum Christmas Cake is a delicious byproduct of India’s colonial history. When the British arrived in India, they brought their Christmas fruitcakes with them—dense, boozy, and heavy enough to double as a murder weapon. Indian bakers, especially in Kerala, Goa, and other Christian communities, embraced the tradition but gave it a tropical makeover.
Instead of currants and dates from cold, grey England, Indian versions used local, more tropical fruits: pineapple, mango, cashews, and candied papaya. Spices like cardamom, clove, and cinnamon—native to India—took center stage, and dark rum became the s
ignature soak.
The result? A cake the British thought they perfected… until India made it better.
Today, Anglo-Indian Rum Cake (also called “Kerala Plum Cake”) is a Christmas staple across South India—fragrant, boozy, fruity, and deeply connected to centuries of cultural blending. Here at our snowy home in our mountain cabin, in Big Bear Lake, California, this is my post-snowshoe version.
Ho Ho Hold the Calories: The Lighter Anglo-Indian Christmas Cake
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup marashino cherries, drained and chopped
1 cup dried mango, chopped fine
1 cup dried pineapple, chopped
1 cup crystallised ginger, sliced into small pieces
1 cup ginger preserves
3 cups Sailor Jerry Rum
3 eggs separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup coconut oil, room tempature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup white flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup ground almonds
3/4 cups of wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
Combine the first six ingredients and 1 cup Sailor Jerry Rum forty-eight hours before you want to start baking. For two days, stir this mixture constantly.
When it’s actually baking day and you are ready to bake your cake, start with separating the eggs and then beating the whites and cream of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Set this aside and cream the sugar, coconut oil, yolks, lemon, lemon zest and vanilla.
Sift together the dry ingredients, setting aside 1/8 cup flour. Sift this 1/8 cup of flour over the dried fruit mixture and mix in with your hands. Mix the fruit in with the creamed batter. Add in the dry ingredients. With a spatula, fold in the egg whites. If the batter is to dry add in more booze until it all comes together.
Grease a glass baking pan well with butter and pour in the batter. Bake this cake at 300°F for two hours and ten minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
When the cake has cooled, pour over the remaining rum and let it sit at least an hour, or overnight, before shoving the whole cake in your face.
Love this holiday recipe? Don’t forget to pin it for your friends and family to see!
Happy Holidays from The Hungry Mountaineer!
