Gluten Free Fruitcake is a lovely, moist Christmas Cake loaded with dried cranberries, cherries, currants, dates, apricots, and raisins. Slivered almonds and pecans add some crunchy bites. Everyone can enjoy this!

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Christmas Cake

In my part of the world, we call this Christmas cake. It might be dark or light and is filled with a variety of dried and/or candied fruit and nuts. People seem to either love it or hate. Family gatherings are divided over the fruitcake on the goodie plate. Many stores sell a usually-disappointing version in a package.

Keep gluten free fruitcake on hand throughout the Christmas season to serve to all of your holiday visitors.

My mother made a dark cake filled with lots of raisins that most people really enjoyed. Then I found a recipe in a friend’s cookbook, copied it out by hand, and made that fruitcake for years. Recently, as my diet has become healthier, I’ve learned that I can enjoy even better food than what I used to eat. The development of this recipe has followed that path.  I hope this recipe will turn some haters into lovers! Some call it the Christmas Cake that People Actually Eat!

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Wedding Cake

Fruitcake has also been a traditional wedding cake in Canada. It’s seldom served this way anymore, but in decades past, fruitcake was baked weeks before the big event, sliced into little pieces, wrapped up, and given as a party favour to each guest. My mother made her own and then made mine several years later.

How to Make Gluten Free Fruitcake at Home

While you won’t likely be making gingerbread cookies for awhile, now is the time to make Christmas cake! For best flavour and moisture, Christmas cake needs to sit for four to six weeks after you make it. Hallowe’en is my reminder that it’s time to get my ingredients and make my Christmas cake. If you didn’t get started that early, it’s still pretty good after two weeks. For that matter, it’s good right out of the oven!

If you have your ingredients measured out ahead, combining them into a cake is easy.

While the list of ingredients is a little lengthy, you simply combine the dry ingredients, stir in the fruits and nuts, and then add a liquid – much like any muffin recipe. I encourage you to gather the ingredients and give it a try!

Whisk your dry ingredients together in a bowl. Stir in the nuts and fruits.

Beat the wet ingredients and raw sugar together.

Smooth the batter into a prepared pan and bake.

After you’ve baked your gluten free fruitcake, wrap it in orange juice-moistened cheesecloth to keep it from drying out.

Editor’s Note: Since developing this recipe, I’ve replaced the orange juice with pineapple juice to accommodate my husband’s sensitivity to citrus. I use pineapple juice both in the cake and to moisten the cheesecloth wrapping. Some of us even prefer the cake with pineapple juice! 

Let me know if you make this! I’d love to see a picture of yours on Instagram!  If you tag it #CathysGlutenFree I’ll see it.

Fruitcake

Yield: 36 slices

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

CathysGlutenFree.com

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Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup arrowroot flout
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Fruit and Nuts

• 1 cup sultana raisins
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup unsulfured dried apricots, chopped

Moist Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup organic raw sugar
• 1/2 cup orange juice or pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Line a 5" X 9" loaf pan with parchment paper.
3. Melt the butter and allow to cool a little.
4. Whisk dry ingredients together.
5. Stir in fruits and nuts.
6. Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, orange juice, molasses, and lukewarm butter. Beat until blended. Stir into fruit mixture.
7. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 or 30 minutes or until a fork inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool thoroughly on a wire rack.
8. Remove loaf from pan and parchment paper. Wrap in fruit juice-moistened cheesecloth. Overwrap with foil or store in a plastic bag. Store in refrigerator 2 - 4 weeks before serving. Remoisten cheesecloth once a week.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 36
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 103