Easy Gluten Free Christmas Cake

This was the first ever Christmas Cake I have made, and it worked really well. It'‘s all gone, and another one is soaking now.

Well I won’t bore you with paragraphs of fluff, I will get right to the recipe! It is an adaptation of the “Allergy-free spicy fruit cake” from the Women’s Weekly Christmas recipe magazine that I found in an op shop.

Ingredients:

5 cups (approximately 870g) of your preferred mix of dried fruit, including raisins, sultanas, currents, glace fruit and peel, dried apricots, dates, and I like adding a fair bit of crystallised ginger to give it a bite. But use what you have and what you like. I have also used orange marmalade instead of peel.

185g butter (or non-dairy alternative)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (the original recipe uses 1 cup)

3 eggs

1/2 cup brandy and 1/2 cup orange juice plus 1 tbs brandy

1 and 1/2 cups (270g) rice flour

1 cup (120g) almond meal)

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

1. Combine all the dried fruits and the 1/2 cup brandy and orange juice in a bowl. Mix and leave overnight or for 8-12 hours. I prefer to do this during the day so I can stir it several times, to get all the fruit soaking well in the liquid. No harm leaving it to soak a day and a night. You just want the dried fruit softened with the liquid.

2. Preheat over to 120 degrees C. Yes, its a cool oven.

3. Line a round cake tin with baking paper. I use a springform. It will probably work in whatever you have, but do use baking paper right up the edges.

4. Beat the butter and sugar until well combined using an electric mixer, or a very energetic hand and a wooden spoon- creaming them together. Then add the eggs and mix in well.

5. Mix this into the dried fruit mix. Then add in the rice flour and almond meal and all the dry ingredients. Mix together well.

6. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake about 2 and 1/2 hours.

7. When you take the cake out of the oven splash the tbs of brandy over the top of the hot cake, then put foil over the top and cool in the cake tin overnight.

8. Store the cake in the fridge wrapped in foil or in a container- it will last at least 3 months. Cut the cake straight from the fridge and then leave out the pieces to come to room temperature.