Fruit cake...let's talk about it. I was asked to step up to the challenge of creating a gluten free fruit cake recipe and while I love a good culinary challenge, I wanted to make sure the recipe was easy to make AND delicious. So, that's what I set out to make. I guess I should be clear before we start...this is definitely not your grandparents' fruit cake.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for (good) old fashioned fruit cake, but that's a whole different beast that I didn't have time to tackle. I read comments on other versions and the biggest complaints were time and expense. I hear ya friends, fruit cake can be really expensive to make and traditionally it takes 3 months to cure. Hence why it can also be used as a building material when it's ready to eat.
My version is a bit lighter in texture, while still having a good sturdy crumb, but it's also something that you can easily customize to make it less costly to prepare. If you don't want to get all the individual fruits and nuts, you can just get a mix of your favorites to equal 1 cup of dried fruits and 1/2 cup of nuts. This Gluten Free Fruit Cake is not only really delicious with all the boozy dried fruit and nut goodness, but it's super easy to make so you can enjoy it as soon as you bake it! It does get better with age though so that makes it perfect for making beforehand too!
Gluten Free Fruit Cake
Soaked Fruit
- 1/4 cup Dried Cherries; chopped
- 1/4 cup Dried Figs; chopped
- 1/4 cup Candied Ginger; chopped
- 1/4 cup Raisins
- 1/2 cup Black Strap Rum (or apple juice, whisky, rum, bourbon)
Cake
- 2 cups Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour
- 1/2 cup Cane Sugar
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 Egg
- 2 TBSP Oil
- 1 cup Almond Milk (or milk of choice)
- 1/4 cup Pistachios; chopped
- 1/4 cup Pecans; chopped
- Soaked Fruits
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray 3 mini loaf pans or 1 9"x 5" loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In a small bowl, combine the cherries, figs, ginger, raisins and rum. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. Next add the egg, oil and milk to the dry ingredients. Whisk well. Then add the nuts and fruit, along with the remaining rum that was not absorbed to the batter and mix to combine. Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake for 35-40 minutes for mini loaves and 55-60 minutes for large loaf or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You can remove the cake from the pan after it has cooled for about 10 minutes.
