Making an old favourite Christmas Cake today. This one harks back to my gluten free years. It’s based on Maria Middlestead’s Christmas cake from her book Cooking Naturally. What’s especially nice about this cake is the addition of chunks of fresh ginger. I’ve made it quite late in the piece as it should sit for a few weeks, however we never eat Christmas cake on Christmas day but enjoy it later in the holiday season with a cup of tea or a glass of port. This makes one large cake plus one very small cake. A perfect wee Christmas present. I’ve also added a large block of Whittaker’s dark Ghana chocolate for a bit of extra indulgence.
Chop dried fruit; 200gm of raisins, currants, sultanas, apricots, bananas, prunes. 100gms mixed peel, 4Tbs chopped fresh ginger.
Cover with; 3/4 cup of alcohol of your choice. I had some ruby port and cointreau. You can use apple juice if you prefer. Cover and soak overnight.
Next day stir in; 3 cups flour. I used 1 cup each of brown rice, chickpea and spelt flour.
In a blender/food processor blend; 1 1/4 cups pineapple, 2 large ripe bananas, 3/4 cup good oil, 1/2 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 2 tsp almond essence.
In a large bowl beat well 6 large eggs and stir in the pineapple mixture
Now stir in the dried fruit mixture and 200gm each of chopped brazils and almonds plus a 250gm block of Whittaker’s ghana dark chocolate chopped into chunks.
Line the inside of a 25cm square deep cake tin with 2-3 layers of oiled brown paper. Fill the pan with the mix and use the excess in another small lined tin. I have these cute little round cake tins which are perfect. Decorate the top with nuts and bake in a 150C preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. I cooked the little cake for 1 hour.
The little sample cake.
Peel off the paper and cool completely before wrapping in tinfoil. Store in an airtight tin. Enjoy!