Over the years I've made various different Xmas cakes recipes, but it all got a lot easier a couple of years ago. I watched Nigella's Christmas and was inspired to find her recipe for a boiled Xmas cake which looked so easy.Have a read of her original recipe here (I'm sure we can all relate to her description of the busyness of Xmas!), and then come back for the GAPS version.
The first year, I made a few slight tweaks:
- Gluten free - ground almonds, rice flour, arrowroot PLUS pectin, xantham or guar gum
- Unrefined sugar (eg rapadura, shakkar or muscavado) instead of brown sugar
- "Ruby Red" cooking wine instead of rum - just because that's what I happened to have lurking in the back of the fridge
- and no chestnut puree because I couldn't find any
It was a fantastic cake. And I didn't have to make it months ahead. You can make it and eat it on the same day, and it's still delicious.
The second year we were starch and sugar free, so a few more tweaks:
- Coconut flour instead of rice flour and arrowroot
- I could have used honey or stevia, but decided to try it with no sugar
and it was still great. By now, it was still Nigella's recipe in spirit, but she probably wouldn't have recognised it! To see the recipe at this stage, see where I posted it on her website.
2009 and we're 100% GAPS, so a couple more tweaks:
- No pectin or gum
- No baking soda
This is the version I'm sharing with you today. (See egg free and nut free notes at the end).
- 900g dried fruit
- 170g butter, ghee or coconut oil
- Zest of one orange and one lemon
- Juice of one orange
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup extra fruit juice, or extra water (I just used water)
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 3 large or 4 small eggs
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
First, prepare your fruit. This is the lengthy part of the process, so have some favourite music playing, or something else to listen to. Or get the whole family helping, which will make it much quicker. I like to make up my own mixture from raisins, sultanas, dates, prunes, figs, apricots or whatever is to hand - this year I even added some goji berries as I didn't have enough other stuff. If you are salicylate sensitive, choose mango, papaya, apple and pear.
I'm rather particular about not having raisins stalks in there, so I always give my raisins, sultanas and currants a good stir first, turning them over and looking for stalks, turning them over and looking for stalks, and so on. That probably takes 5 minutes. Then chop everything else up and mix together. I use kitchen scissors which is much easier than using a knife.
Put the next 7 ingredients into a large pan, and melt them all together. Stir the fruit in, bring to a simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes. All the liquid will have been absorbed, though you may have a bit of the oil that doesn't soak in. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk up your eggs and put them to one side. And mix together the two flours and set them aside. Then prepare your tins.
The full recipe fills an 8” x 8” (20cm x 20cm) square tin. Line tin with a double layer of brown paper, which comes to about double the height of the tin. Then line with a double layer of baking paper. Or you can make a selection of different sizes. 1/3 of the mixture will fill a mini loaf tin or you can make star shaped cakes (as per the photo), muffin sized or bite sized mini muffins. With the stars and muffins, you'll probably only be able to line the bottom.
When the mixture is about room temperature, stir through the beaten eggs and mix well. Then stir through the flours. It should be thick and hard to stir. If it's too runny, add some extra flour. Fill your tin, smooth the top, and bake at 150C or 300F for 1.75 to 2 hours. Use the usual skewer test to see if it's done, or listen - if it's still sizzling, it's not quite ready. Towards the end, you may need to cover the top loosely with extra brown paper or tin foil to stop it browning too much.
If you use smaller tins, approx cooking times are:
- 1/2 mix in a loaf tin - 1.5 to 1.75 hours
- 1/3 mix in a small loaf tin - 1 hour
- star - 45 to 60 minutes
- muffin - 40 to 50 minutes
- mini muffin - 30 to 35 minutes
Troubleshooting - if it doesn't cook properly - it doesn't matter!! Ground almonds and coconut flour are perfectly safe to eat raw, so call it Xmas pudding and serve with some whipped cream or custard (coconut custard for dairy free).
Let it cool at room temperature. Then take it out of the tin, wrap in baking or greaseproof paper, then a tea towel and refrigerate. It can be a bit crumbly, so it;s best to store it in the fridge, cut it cold, and then let it get to room temp before eating it. If you can wait that long!
I've also tried it without egg, as I need to cater for an EGG FREE person this Xmas. My first trial, I just missed the eggs out. I made a 1/3 quantity and baked in a small loaf tin. I pressed the mixture down well as I put it in the pan. I let it cool completely, and then refrigerated it. I made it with coconut oil, which I think was what held it together well once it was cold. It sliced easily when cut straight from the fridge and didn't fall apart. Though a large size cake might not hold up as well. You could also try replacing the eggs with 1 Tbs gelatine dissolved in 6 Tbs to replace each 1-2 eggs.
If you need to be NUT FREE, replace the ground almonds with half that amount of coconut flour. Then just keep adding coconut flour 1 Tbs at a time till you get the right consistency. I haven't tried it, but it should work fine with the version that includes eggs. I'm not sure that just coconut flour would work as well egg free, so with that combination I would definitely try the gelatine. If anyone tries it nut free, please report back.
