Christmas Fruitcake

Used with permission from Anne Wraggett.

This recipe can take endless variation in the fruits and nuts and any GF flour mix will likely work since flour is such a small component of the recipe.

This recipe will make 2-8×4” loaf pans and 3-5×3” mini loaf pans.

Doubled, it will make 2-8×4 loaf pans, 3-5×3 mini loaf pans, 12 muffins, and 1 large round (4 lb.) cake.

This recipe came from a friend of my mother along with the instruction that this cake need not “age” as most fruitcakes should. My parents baked it for my wedding cake.

Wet ingredients including sugar:

1/4 lb butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp rum extract(optional – see below*)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup orange juice (*or reduce and use rum)

Dry ingredients:

2 cups GF flour of choice (or: 1/4 cup each brown rice, buckwheat, sorghum, and teff flours)
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
½ Tbsp psyllium

Fruits and nuts:

1/4 lb pecan halves
1/2 lb walnut pieces
3/4 lb Sultana raisins (or more Thompson)
1/2 lb Valencia, Lexia, or Thompson raisins
1/2 lb currants
1/4 lb chopped dates
3/4 lb mixed red and green candied cherries
1/2 lb mixed candied fruit
1/4 lb yellow candied pineapple (cut)

Ingredients

Prepare pans: Line pans with 2 layers of baker’s parchment paper.

In large mixer bowl, cream the butter well and cream the sugars into it until very light. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a cup mix together the rum extract, vanilla, molasses, and orange juice. Mix all the fruits and nuts in a very large bowl. In a separate bowl mix the flour, spices, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, and psyllium. Remove 1 cup and mix thoroughly into the fruits and nuts. To the butter mixture add remainder of dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients in the cup. Beat until batter is smooth. Add to floured fruits and nuts and mix very well (by hand). Place batter in prepared pans pressing into corners and packing well with the back of a spoon.

Bake at 275 for 3-4 hours (or even longer, depending on sizes of cakes) with a pan of water below for the entire time. Test with a cake tester.

Chill before cutting and serve at room temperature.