Christmas Cake

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cook: 1 hour & 45 minutes

Ready: 24 hours

This cake is the best gluten-free and dairy-free Christmas cake you will ever eat. It’s good enough to share with the whole family. People who don’t normally like fruit cake at all, like this fruit cake. AND it’s incredibly easy to make. You can buy a mixed fruit from the shops or I have given a recipe for the mixed fruit if you want to make it yourself.

Ingredients:

• 1 box or 300g of Velvety Vanilla Baking Mix
• 500g mixed fruit
• OR make your own 235g Sultanas 80g Cherries (glaced or natural) 75g citrus peel (either buy candied or make your own) 55g raisins 55g currants
• (entirely optional) 1/4 cup coconut sugar or Pure Coco coconut nectar or use fruit juice
• 125g butter or 100g of oil
• 425g tin of crushed pineapple in juice
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder

Methods:

1. Add the mixed fruit, butter/oil, pineapple, extra sugar (if using, you don’t really need it), mixed spice, and baking soda to a large saucepan. Stir occasionally as it comes to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 5 min.

2. Leave to cool. I tend to put the mix on in the morning and then bake it in the evening. Your house will smell amazing all day.

3. Once cool, preheat oven to 150C. Add the eggs and mix well. Then add the velvety baking mix and mix well.

4. Double line a 20 cm tin with baking paper, both bottom and sides. Pour the thick mix in and bake in the oven for 1 hour 1/4 to 1 hour 1/2. Should be the colour in the picture.

5. Once out of the oven, wrap the cake in its tin up in a towel and leave till the morning. (I don’t know why we do this but this is how my mother taught me so this is what we are doing)

You will notice there is no alcohol in this one. I leave this to your discretion.