This delicious cake has the option of being gluten free or not. It has no added process sugar because of the natural sugars in the fruit.

It looks like a lot of work to make this cake but it is a Tradition that I love and have passed on to my girls, it only happen's once a year. ENJOY this SEASON and INCLUDE YOUR FAMILY WHEN MAKING THIS.

It is mid-November and time to soak my ingredients for my Christmas cake. I will soak these ingredients for about 3 weeks. Every day I will mix the ingredients, just so the brandy mixes well and the dried fruit soften. It smells amazing. The jar on the left has not raisin's, sultana's or currants and is half the recipe below, instead I used dried apricots or you could use cranberries. I have made this mixture because there is always one in the family that dislikes raisins etc.

REMEMBER - This cake is high in fructose because of the fruit - eat only as a sweet treat.

Christmas Cake Recipe

This recipe can be halved

Make in a 26 by 26 cm square tin for the recipe below. I will also make one that is half the ingredients in a 20 cm round tin.

or you can make a few small cakes -

Option - in washed out tuna tins, small round, small square.

Fruit mix -

Below is ingredients for a 26 by 26cm tin.

1 cup brandy

3 tbsp lemon zest

3 tbsp orange zest

4 tbsp marmalade

1 cup prunes -chopped small

1 cup dried dates - chopped small

1 cup dried figs - chopped small

1 cup mixed peel

2 green apples - grated

6 cups mixed currants, raisins and sultanas (I just used sultanas) - if you want to make a special cake for that person who want eat these - use dried cranberries, extra dried dates or dried apricots.

Method

Place all this in a large jar, stirring once a day for about 3 weeks ( this time can be shorter or longer) out of the sun.

3 WEEKS LATER -

The rest of ingredients -

200 gr soft butter

6 eggs

150 grms dark chocolate chopped small

1 tsp sea salt

2 cup rice flour ( or plain)

2 tbsp dark cocoa or cacao

3 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp mixed spice

Method

Prepare your tin - this takes time. Your cake is in the oven for a long time and we don't want to burn it.

1 - lightly grease your tin with butter (this makes it easy to hold the first layer of paper down), line the base and sides with about 5 layers of newspaper or brown paper, allowing it to go a little higher that the tin.

2 - Now line the inside with a really good grease proof paper, including the base and sides(my grandmother use to use the paper wrapped around butter)

3 - Cut a few layers of newspaper or brown paper to fit the top, just incase you need it later.

Cake -

1 - Oven 140c

2 - With a beater beat the butter and slowly add the eggs, one at a time beating between each one.

3 - Sift the flour, cacao, salt, cinnamon and mixed spice together.

4 - Fold through the butter the flour mix, then fold through the fruit mix and chopped chocolate.

5 - Pour into you tin or tins.

6 - Bake for 3 hour if you have halved the recipe or about 4 hours for the full recipe. Stick a skewer into the cake and if it comes our clean it is ready. This will depend on your oven.

Cool in the tin and leave in it until Christmas placing a paper top and then plastic wrap. Store in a cool place.