Simple Gluten-free Christmas Fruit Cake

I’ll be honest, this simple Gluten-free Christmas Fruit Cake is so delicious I don’t just make it for Christmas. It’s rich, not too sweet and a bit grown up. It’s also very simple to make and no soaking or steaming is required. If you can find an organic dried fruit mixture to use, all the better.

This easy to make Gluten-Free Christmas Fruit Cake is a festive, moist, and delicious treat that’s perfect for the holiday season.

Health benefits

This cake uses nutrient-dense ingredients such as almond meal, which adds healthy fats and fibre. while coconut sugar or rapadura offers a lower-glycemic alternative to refined sugar. The dried fruits provide a natural sweetness along with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Ingredients

This gluten-free Christmas cake recipe is made with a mixture of dried fruits, orange zest and juice, brandy (or water), and warm mixed spices. The use of almond meal (ground almonds), brown rice flour, and tapioca flour gives it a rich yet gluten-free base. Optional toppings include blanched almonds and a glaze made from apricot jam to give the cake a lovely finish.

How to make this gluten-free Christmas fruit cake

To make this gluten-free fruit cake, start by simmering the dried fruit with brandy, orange juice, butter, and sugar to infuse the fruit with flavour. After allowing it to cool, mix in the eggs, gluten-free flours and baking powder to form a dense cake batter. Pour the mixture into a cake pan lined with parchment paper, blanched almonds can be added for decoration and bake until golden. Optionally, you can drizzle extra brandy and glaze the cake with apricot jam for a glossy finish.

Serving suggestions & how to store the gluten-free Christmas fruit cake

Serve this gluten-free fruitcake as part of your Christmas dessert spread, or enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee. It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, though it rarely lasts that long!

Substitutions to suit your dietary needs

For a dairy-free option, substitute the butter with coconut or macadamia nut oil. If you prefer a non-alcoholic version, simply replace the brandy with extra water or orange juice.

A note from Georgia

I’m not a huge fan of Christmas cake – I really don’t enjoy the traditional fruit cake mix (especially the peel) so when recipe testing this, I decided to make my own mixed dried fruit. I bought a combination of dried blueberries, cherries, currants, cranberries, sultanas and added diced apricots and figs. It was SO delicious, I’m converted! I always thought Christmas Cake was hard to make but this was just so simple.

For more delicious, healthy festive recipes, click HERE.

Simple Gluten-free Christmas Fruit Cake

Prep 35 minutes minutes

Cook 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Serves: 1 cake

This cake is rich, not too sweet and a bit grown up.It’s also very simple to make and no soaking or steaming is required.

MetricUS Customary

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 80 ml water (⅓ cup)
• 80 ml brandy – or use more water (⅓ cup)
• 2 orange/s – zest and juice
• 170 g butter
• 95 g coconut sugar or rapadura (½ cup)
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 900 g mixed dried fruit
• 3 egg/s – lightly beaten
• 120 g almond meal (1 cup)
• 65 g fine brown rice flour (½ cup)
• 60 g tapioca flour (½ cup)
• 1 tsp baking powder – gluten-free

Optional Toppings

• ¼ cup/s blanched almonds – to decorate
• 2 tbsp brandy – extra
• 2 tbsp apricot jam – to glaze

Method

• In a large pot, melt together the water, brandy, orange zest and juice, butter, sugar and mixed spice, stirring to combine.
• Once melted, add the dried fruit. Mix well and simmer over medium heat, continuing to stir, for approximately 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the fruit. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 140°C/284°F (fan-forced) and lightly grease, then double line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
• When the fruit mixture has cooled, mix in the eggs, almond meal, and sift in the rice flour, tapioca flour and baking powder. The mixture will be quite thick and dense.
• Transfer the cake mix to the lined tin, and if you like, decorate the cake by placing the blanched almonds around the cake’s edge or feel free to create an elaborate design. Bake for 1.5 hours. I suggest checking the cake after 1 hour and if it seems to be getting too dark on top, cover loosely with foil.
• You can test the cake for readiness by inserting a skewer which will come out clean when the cake is done. Remove the cake from the oven and if you like, pierce all over carefully with a sharp skewer, then drizzle over the extra 2 tablespoons of brandy.
• If you would like to glaze the cake, simply melt together the 2 tablespoons of apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of water in a small pot. Use a pastry brush to ‘paint’ the glaze over the top of the cake.
• Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Serve

• I only slice what I need and store the rest of the cake whole.

Store

• Tightly wrap the rest of the cake in baking paper, then a slightly damp tea towel or beeswax wrap before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. It will easily last for 2-3 weeks in the fridge (but never does!).

Variations

Dairy-free

You can use coconut or macadamia nut oil in place of butter in this cake for a dairy free version.

Alcohol-free

Substitute the brandy with more water. 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved this delicious Gluten-free Christmas Fruit Cake?! Let us know in the comments below….

Course: Dessert

Author: Georgia Harding

Recipe by Kristin Cosgrove

Hi, I’m Kristin Cosgrove. I’m a mum, student of psychology and passionate whole foods cook. I love to share my love for simple, seasonal recipes and my modern approach to cooking for my family. I live on the Surf Coast with my husband and three children.

You can find me on Instagram at @kristinjcosgrove

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