This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.
Fit for any occasion The Best Gluten-Free Fruit Cake is packed with juicy sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries and mixed peel. A light sponge with a slight citrus edge that is humble enough for a simple tea time or can be easily decorated to suit a more special gathering.
Having a farmhouse style fruit cake on hand for tea breaks, serving to unexpected house guests or for family snacking feels so reassuring. It’s one of those homely cakes that can fit any occasion. A soft light sponge packed with juicy fruit and humbly decorated.
In fact you don’t really need to decorate it at all. Bare naked or with a smattering of sieved icing sugar will not detract from the this cake’s inviting nature.
Why is this Gluten-Free Fruit Cake so brilliant?
- This is a light every day fruit cake, not one of those rich spiced affairs that crops up at Christmas or wedding celebrations.
- Packed with delicious dried fruit soaked in citrus to make it extra plump and juicy.
- This is not a large cake so you won’t have it hanging round for ages. It’s enough for a few simple sittings.
- Fruit Cake freezes so well that is seems almost churlish not to bake two at a time so you can stick one in the freezer for cake emergencies.
What flour do you use to make Gluten-Free Fruit Cake?
The choice of alternative flours here really makes the cake ultra special. There are 3 flours we need:
1. Sweet Rice Flour
This flour gives the cake a soft bouncy quality. The starchiness of sweet rice flour gives structure so the cake doesn’t crumble to pieces when you cut into it.
READ MORE>>> The Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour
2. Oat Flour
A light flour which has a beautiful flavour. It’s used here as well to give the cake levity and keep it from being too dense.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour
3. Ground Almonds
okay this isn’t really a flour but the ground almonds help give the cake a beautiful moist texture and plenty of protein to hold it together. Plus a lovely nutty taste. You can substitute for almond flour.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Nut Flours
How do you make Gluten-Free Fruit Cake?
- Soak glacé cherries, sultanas, raisins and mixed peel in the zest and juice of an orange and lemon for at least an hour.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.
- Whisk sweet rice flour, oat flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt together.
- Add the flours to the batter, mix well then add the soaked fruit.
- Pour into a 6 inch x 4 inch cake tin and bake for 2¼ hours.
- Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Brush with warmed apricot jam and decorate with glacé fruit and nuts.
Baker’s Tips
- Leaving the fruit soaking in the citrus juice for an hour allows the fruit to fully absorb the liquid. You can even leave overnight to soak.
- Make sure your butter comes to room temperature before creaming with the sugar.
- This cake uses medium eggs.
- Storing – Keep the cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezing - You can freeze Gluten-Free Fruit Cake before you add the final brush of apricot jam. Wrap up tightly in cling film and then tin foil to avoid freezer burn. It can keep frozen for up to 2 months. To defrost remove from the freezer the night before you wish to serve it and leave wrapped up on the side to defrost. The next morning unwrap it and brush with the apricot jam as directed.
- I recommend using anodised aluminium cake tins for baking cakes as they are inexpensive and bake a lovely even cake.
How to make this Gluten-Free Fruit Cake really special
If you really want to push the boat out then I really recommend using Homemade Glacé Cherries and Homemade Mixed Peel. They are a labour of love but the difference in flavour using homemade versions is out of this world.
Variations for Gluten-Free Fruit Cake
- You can use any dried fruit – think chopped apricots, sour cherries, cranberries, diced figs.
- Add roughly chopped almonds to the sponge as well. It adds a lovely nubby texture.
- Add diced marzipan to the cake batter for a gorgeous almondy flavour.
- Add diced stem ginger and a teaspoon of ground ginger to the cake for added warmth.
Love fruit cakes and need more recipes?
Gluten-Free Cherry Cake
Vinegar Cake
Gluten-Free Simnel Cake
Whisky Marmalade Bundt
If you make The Best Gluten-Free Fruit Cake then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
The Best Gluten-Free Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g glacé cherries - roughly chopped
- 100 g sultanas
- 100 g raisins
- 50 g mixed peel
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 150 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 150 g caster sugar
- 2 eggs - medium
- 80 g sweet rice flour
- 60 g oat flour
- 30 g ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 100 g apricot jam
- extra glacé fruit and almonds for decorating
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/ gas mark 3. Line and grease a 6 inch diameter x 4 inch round cake tin.
- Soak the glacé cherries, sultanas, raisins and mixed peel in the zest and juice of the orange and lemon for at least an hour.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix in until fully combined.
- Whisk the flours, ground almonds, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl then beat into the batter.
- Add the soaked dried fruit and mix in well.
- Pour into the cake tin and place in the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes then turn the oven down to 150°C/130°C fan/gas mark 2 and bake for a further 1¾ hours.
- Remove from the oven, carefully insert the cake out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Pour the apricot jam into a small saucepan and heat until the jam is runny.
- Brush the cake all over with the apricot jam then decorate with more glacé fruit and whole almonds if you wish.
Video
Notes
- Adapted from Eric Lanlard’s Light Fruit Cake from his book Home Bake.
- For some really special additions try using Homemade Glacé Cherries and Homemade Mixed Peel.
- Make sure the butter comes to room temperature before creaming with the sugar.
- This recipe uses medium sized eggs.
- You can substitute the ground almonds for almond flour.
- If you are intolerant to oat flour you can substitute with millet or sorghum flour. There will be a slight difference in flavour.
- Store the cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- This cake freezes really well for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing before you brush with the apricot jam.
I have not tried this recipe yet but it looks delicious. Can you recommend an alternative to oat flour as my granddaughter cannot have oats. Very grateful if you can because we all love fruit cakes.
You can substitute the oat flour for sorghum flour.
Thank you Georgina
Such a beautifully simple and satisfying cake: it's good for breakfast and with afternoon tea. I didn't go too citrus and added some dried apricots. Lovely result. I'll be making this again and again. Thanks Georgina.
First time trying this cake and it's absolutely scrumptious, thank you.
You are very welcome Linda - thank you!
This is a delicious fruit cake. I used an 8 inch by 3.5 inch cake tin and it required the same cooking time. It’s moist with a little crumble and is lovely with a cup of tea! Thank you very much Georgina!
Hi Annie - that's great to hear! Thank you for your lovely feedback!
This recipe came out great. I used a 7" pan and changed the temperature and time a bit. Oddly, I think it was even better after a day in the fridge. Thank you 🙂
Hi Sidney, I'm so happy you like the cake - thank you!
Just wanted to thank you again for this recipe. I made them as gifts for my gluten free friends!
Today I changed it up a bit..using dried cranberries, lemon, lime and orange peel, glace cherries, chopped brazil nuts. I soaked the fruit in cranberry juice with 4 drops Young Living Orange+ Essential Oil ( approved for cooking). It is delicious and ecen my non fruit cake loving kids are liking it.
I am excited to try more of your recipes!
This cake has a wonderful flavor!
Howevet, it was VERY crumbly ( mostly crumbs with only the bottom half being solid). We are tryijg to troubleshoot.
How much difference between Sweet Rice flour and Rice flour? How much liquid should there be with the fruit? We are wondering if we needed more moisture.
Thank you in advance for helping us figure it out.
Hi Sue, I'm sorry to hear that the cake was too crumbly for you. This one definitely has a crumble to it -which is intentional but you should be able to cut it into decent slices. Did you use sweet rice flour or regular rice flour? If it was the latter then that is exactly the problem as sweet rice flour is a starchy flour which helps bind the cake together and regular rice flour does not do the same job. Click the link for my guide to Sweet Rice Flour which gives loads more info. If that wasn't the case then let's think again!
Thank you! I was able to order Sweet Rice flour and we made another cake. It was PERFECT! My husband and I loved it!
Hi Susan, that's great to hear. I'm so happy that it worked out this time!!
Thank you for posting this Georgina. I baked this today for the first time and it is delicious. Moist but firm, flavourful and looks pretty good too. I adjusted the cooking time as baking in an Aga is less controllable but This is definitely going into my favourite recipes.
So happy you like it - thank you for your lovely feedback!
Hi, I haven’t tried this recipe yet but do you have any trouble with the fruit dropping to the bottom of the cake?
Hi Lindsey, there is a little bit of sinkage but the batter is quite thick so it's not too much of a problem.
Wow. It looks delicious. I love pineapple cakes. So, I will try to make it. Your recipe will help me. Thanks for sharing.
I have no rice flour. Can I use self raising or plain flour.
I haven't tried it with self raising or plain flour, so I'm sorry but I cannot say.
Delicious! Only had 50g caster sugar so had to top up with muscovado, but it was great.
That's lovely to hear - thank you!
This looks delicious! I don't have a 6 inch tin though, only 9 inch or a loaf tin. Would either of those work? Thanks.
I just saw the comment below and will try a loaf tin. Do you think adding psyllium husks would help with crumbling cakes?
Hi Lucy, you could try it (the slight crumble was intentional - just like my favourite farmhouse fruitcake from our local bakery - which is not gf unfortunately)
I’ve been meaning to try this recipes for ages and managed yesterday. Wow! It is indeed the BEST GF fruit cake. In fact just be fruit cake full stop. I used a 2lb loaf tin but will buy at 6inxb round tin as if was very crumbly. Perhaps that’s why. The flavour is divine. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Hi Sarah, the fruit cake should crumble a little but not too much that you shouldn't achieve a good slice. I think that is part of a farmhouse fruitcake's charm. I am happy you were a fan of the cake though - I love it too!
Wow this looks amazing. A terrific everyday fruit cake Tandy but still looks sensational. Definitely on my list to try when I finish travelling and get my mojo back. Love it. Thanks, Pauline
Thank you! Let me know if you give it a go!
Hi Georgina, a couple years ago, I was given a GF fruit cake recipe that works well and is easy. Simply soak a bag/box of mixed fruit in 2 cups of orange juice for a couple hours or overnight. Stir in 2 cups of GF Self Rising Flour, pour into a greased and lined pan and bake at moderate heat until done - about 35 minutes or so. Test with a skewer. Leave to cool in the tin for a while before turning out. I used it as a wedding cake for friends, decorated with white royal icing and a hand crochet bride and groom I made (in National dress of Tuvalu - where the happy couple come from!) Also decorated with hand crocheted flowers on a band around the base - later doubled as a head band! Email me and I will see if I can find the photo if you like
That does sound lovely Gay - thank you for sharing!