Gluten-Free Christmas Cake
This luxurious Gluten-Free Christmas Cake is an absolute showstopper. Bursting with brandy laced fruits, rich in spices and spiked with citrus. This traditional festive fruit cake is also totally customisable to your preferred gluten free flours and has no xanthan gum.
Servings: 30 people
Calories: 599kcal
Ingredients
- 400 g currants
- 320 g sultanas
- 180 g medjool dates 9 dates, stoned and diced
- 80 g glacé cherries
- 80 g mixed peel
- 120 ml brandy + 2 tablespoons for feeding
- 150 g almond flour called ground almonds in UK
- 150 g gluten-free flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 275 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 275 g dark soft brown sugar
- 5 eggs medium
- 70 g whole almonds skin on is fine, chopped
- 2 tablespoons black treacle
- 1 orange just the zest
- 1 lemon just the zest
Icing
- 1 kg marzipan
- 1 kg ready-to-roll white fondant icing
- 3 tablespoons apricot jam
- 1 tablespoon brandy for brushing
Frosted Redcurrants and Rosemary
- 100 g redcurrants still on their stalks
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1 egg white
- 100 g caster sugar
Instructions
- Place the currants, sultanas, diced dates, glacé cherries and mixed peel in a large mixing bowl and stir in the brandy. Cover and leave the fruit to absorb the brandy overnight.
- Pre-heat the oven to 150°C / 130°C fan assisted /gas mark 2 / 300°F.
- Line a 23cm cake tin with a double layer of baking parchment at the base and around the sides of the cake tin.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer for a few minutes until it’s a light coffee colour.
- Whisk the eggs together lightly then pour into the butter and sugar with the mixer on until it’s completely combined. Scrape down the sides every so often.
- Whisk the almond flour together with the gluten-free flour, spices and salt until well mixed. Then add into the cake mixture.
- Once combined, fold in the soaked fruit, peel, almonds, black treacle and orange and lemon zests.
- Pour the cake mixture into the tin, smoothing down the surface.
- Finally cover the top of the cake with a double layer of baking parchment with hole in the centre just to protect the surface of the cake from getting dry.
- Bake for 3 - 3½ hours. Check after 3 to see if an inserted skewer comes out clean. If so then remove from the oven.
- Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin.
- Remove the cake carefully to finish cooling on a wire rack.
- When the cake is completely cold pierce the surface several times with a skewer and spoon over the extra 2 tablespoons brandy.
- Wrap the cake in double baking parchment followed by a double layer of aluminium foil and store in a large airtight tin in a cool dark place.
- Unwrap and feed the cake with 2 tablespoons of brandy every 10 days until you are ready to decorate it.
Decorating the cake in marzipan and fondant icing
- Place the cake on a cake board, upside down to give a lovely smooth surface to work with.
- Heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan with a splash of water until boiling then sieve.
- Brush the surface of the cake all over with apricot jam so the marzipan can stick.
- Roll out your marzipan and drape over the surface of your cake, tuck it in all around using your hands. A cake smoother is also an excellent tool to get a really even surface over the surface and around the sides. Trim the excess marzipan at the base of the cake and smooth out at the bottom.
- Leave the cake out overnight for the marzipan to dry out the excess oils before you cover with the icing.
- Brush the surface of the marzipan with a little brandy then roll out the icing and drape over the top of the cake. Tuck it in around the sides with your hands and again use a cake smoother to get a really even surface over the surface and around the sides. Trim the excess icing at the base of the cake.
- Secure a ribbon to the base of the cake to hide any messy ends.
Frosted Redcurrants and Rosemary
- Pour the egg white into one small bowl and the sugar into another small bowl.
- Dip the redcurrant stalks into the egg whites and shake off the excess.
- Dip the coated redcurrants into the sugar until covered and place on baking parchment to dry overnight.
- Repeat with the rosemary.
Notes
This cake makes a 23cm / 9 inch round Christmas Cake.
- Use a cake tin 23cm x 9cm with removable base.
- Make your Christmas Cake 5-6 weeks before you want to serve it.
- You must soak your fruit – for a beautifully moist cake with plump fruit.
- All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour. You can use any. I recommend Doves Freee Plain White Gluten-Free Flour. You don't need a brand which contains xanthan gum, but if it's included then don't worry about that either. I also particularly recommend my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Mix which gives great results.
- Almond Flour. This recipe calls for almond flour which is blanched and ground whole almonds (without their skin). In the UK this kind of flour is sold in most major UK supermarkets labelled 'ground almonds' in the baking aisle. To make sure you know which almond flour you are choosing then check against this article The Difference Between The Almond Flours.
- Eggs. The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g each with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.
- Click here >>> Homemade Glacé Cherry recipe
- Click here >>> Homemade Mixed Peel Recipe
- Click here >>> Homemade Mixed Spice Recipe
- Measuring the black treacle is easy if you dip the measuring spoon in oil beforehand – the treacle drips straight off.
- To avoid curdling when you add your eggs - beat them together lightly first then pour into the cake mixture in a long running stream slowly with the mixer on. If your mixture still curdles then add a couple of tablespoons of your flour mix which will bring it back together.
- Do line the tin really well with double baking parchment to protect the cake. Line the base of the cake but also around the inner sides of the cake. Cut 2 strips of baking parchment 75cm x 10cm and place around the inside of the cake tin. Use baking spray to help stick the parchment to the sides.
- The cake should be ready at 3 hours but check the cake for doneness with a skewer.
- How to store a Christmas cake - Once the cake has completely cooled then wrap well in parchment and a sturdy layer of aluminium foil. Keep the cake in an airtight tin (not plastic as the atmosphere is too moist) and store safely somewhere cool and dark like the top or your kitchen cupboard or larder.
- There are several alcohol options for feeding your cake - Brandy is the traditional choice but amaretto, rum or even cherry brandy are also excellent options.
- Feed your Christmas cake 2 tablespoons every 2 weeks until you decorate it. Pierce the cake several times with a skewer and spoon brandy into the holes. (knitting needle or a thin chopstick also good options for poking holes)
- How long does Christmas Cake keep? - Undecorated the cake will last for at least a couple of months if wrapped up and stored correctly. Once decorated with marzipan and icing then your cake will last at least a week, if not longer. If you want to keep your cake refrigerated (not that I would recommend that in terms of taste) it will keep for at least a month.
- Click here >>> Easy Homemade Marzipan
- Please note when you see ‘grams’ listed as opposed to ‘millilitres,’ or any other term of measurement, that is not incorrect. I weigh all of my ingredients, including liquids, for accuracy.
- US customary measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups
Nutrition
Calories: 599kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 77mg | Potassium: 406mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 83g | Vitamin A: 311IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 2mg