Alcohol free Christmas Cake

[JamieNotJames]

I make a very boozy Christmas cake every year which is perfect for the grown ups.
However DD aged 5 also loves a fruit cake so I'd like to make one just for her too without the alcohol.

My go to recipe is Delia's

Can I just adapt this and how would I substitute the brandy (and what quantity?) How does the lack of alcohol affect the baking time and also does it keep as well as the brandy soaked version?

Substitute strong black tea for brandy in same quantities, doesn't affect baking time, won't be preserved as well but fruit cake does generally keep ok. I've done it with Delia's recipe and it's been fine.

A 5yo will not want to eat Xmas cake imo, just go for the boozy option

No she loves fruit cake, but I've had to just give her a tiny bit because of the alcohol.
She loves baking and has helped me make the Christmas cake in the past so I'd like to be able to make one with her that she can actually eat!

In addition to the boozy version

I made one a couple of weeks ago and soaked the fruit in the juice of a lemon and an orange. It was m y first, so i can't compare cooking times etc , but it's a delicious cake. I was anxious it wouldn't keep so i cut it into quarters and froze 3 bits.

I've made a Christmas cake with Earl Grey black tea instead of alcohol for the feeding of the cake. I've never worried about if there was alcohol in the recipe as the cake is cooked for so long that there wouldn't be much alcohol content left, so could you just make a bit extra of your usual cake, and then bake a small one as well as your full size one? Maybe your daughter could decorate the small one herself with your supervision. I generally let my kids have our normal Christmas cake, ditto Christmas pudding with the brandy set on fire, they are usually so full after Christmas dinner and all the snacks that they don't eat much of it anyway. However- I hardly feed my cake, if I did I'd stick to the Earl Grey version for the kids, or just not feed it at all.

I’ve always replaced with apple juice. Has the benefit over tea of also being caffeine free if giving to a child.

If you make the cake as usual (including alcohol), when it bakes, surely most or all the alcohol will have evaporated? And don't feed it afterwards.

There are lots of rich fruit cake recipes without alcohol and they keep perfectly well in airtight containers. eg Dundee cake. You could soak the fruit in apple or orange juice.