Gluten and Sugar Free Christmas Cake

I know, I know it’s only November, but it’s never too early to start thinking about your Christmas cake!!  At least if you get that done early, it’s one job ticked off the list.  I did quite a bit of research last year to find a really great gluten and sugar free Christmas cake and this one came out tops for me.  Everyone who sampled it agreed that you wouldn’t notice the difference from a more ‘traditional’ recipe.

Admittedly I did soak my dried fruit in brandy first; and fed the finished cake with a bit more brandy a few times; and I did cover it in marzipan and icing, so it doesn’t really count as a truly healthy recipe, but hey, if you can’t indulge a little at Christmas, when can you??  Just make sure you share it around!  If you did want to make a truly healthy version you could either leave it plain or decorate it with some nuts and/or cherries, maybe with a little honey glazing, or you could make your own marzipan and sugar free (stevia) icing if you have the time.

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Christmas Cake

From the BBC Recipes website

Votes: 2
Rating: 4
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Courses

Dessert

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

120 minutes

Servings

MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• 100 g butter Or vegan alternative (I use goat's)
• 1 large ripe banana
• finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 100 g soft prunes stoned and halved
• 75 g raisins
• 75 g sultanas
• 75 g currants
• 50 g mixed peel
• 150 g soft dried apricots chopped into fairly large pieces
• 75 g walnuts and 25g hazelnuts chopped, OR 75g large pumpkin seeds and 25g sunflower seeds
• 2 eggs or 2 level tsp gluten-free baking powder to make an egg-free cake
• 75 g coarse polenta AND
• 75 g rice flour and 1 level tsp xantham gum OR
• 150 g gluten free flour that already contains xantham gum
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg heaped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon heaped
• 1 tsp ground ginger heaped
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tbsp brandy optional

Courses Dessert Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 120 minutes Servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients 100 g butter Or vegan alternative (I use goat's) 1 large ripe banana finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons 100 g soft prunes stoned and halved 75 g raisins 75 g sultanas 75 g currants 50 g mixed peel 150 g soft dried apricots chopped into fairly large pieces 75 g walnuts and 25g hazelnuts chopped, OR 75g large pumpkin seeds and 25g sunflower seeds 2 eggs or 2 level tsp gluten-free baking powder to make an egg-free cake 75 g coarse polenta AND 75 g rice flour and 1 level tsp xantham gum OR 150 g gluten free flour that already contains xantham gum 2 tsp ground nutmeg heaped 1 tsp ground cinnamon heaped 1 tsp ground ginger heaped 1/2 tsp ground cloves 2 tbsp brandy optional

Votes: 2 Rating: 4 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160oC.
2. In a food processor beat the butter with the banana and lemon juice and rind and pour it into a bowl.
3. Mix in the dried fruit and nuts or seeds.
4. Beat in the eggs if you are using them.
5. Sieve whichever of the flours you are using with the baking powder (if you are using it instead of the eggs) and the spices.
6. Add some brandy if you like.
7. Line a 20cm cake tin with greased greaseproof paper and spoon the mixture in, levelling off the top.
8. Bake for about 2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. (Keep an eye on it as mine took much less time than this.)
9. Remove from the tin and cool on a rack.
10. Eat as it is or store in a sealed tin or box to be iced for Christmas.

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