A good fruit cake is a necessity for any good Christmas buffet. Take a look at this recipe if you’re prepared to break from your go-to dish this year. The traditional white Christmas delicacy has been updated as a fruit cake that is packed with chocolate pieces, glacé cherries, almonds, and coconut. Once totally cooled, store this fruit cake tightly wrapped in foil and plastic wrap in a cold, dark location.
At Christmas or any other time of the year, bake this delightful gluten-free fruit cake. With this adaptable recipe, you have a selection of fruits and cooking techniques. This gluten-free fruit cake recipe is brimming with vibrant, delectable fruits—and it tastes great, too! Serve it fresh, or dunk it in liquor or simple syrup.
Difference between light and dark fruit cake
Fruitcakes can be classified as “light” or “dark.” Light cakes are typically less heavy, have less spice, and have lighter-colored fruits and nuts (such as golden raisins, apricot, pineapple, almonds, cashews, etc.). They also contain less white sugar and corn syrup. A little higher proportion of cake to fruits and nuts can be found in lighter cakes.
More spices, dark sweeteners (molasses, honey, and dark brown sugar), darker fruits and nuts (such as prunes, dates, cherries, raisins, pecans, and walnuts), and typically more alcohol are used in darker variations, which are also significantly more complex. The fruitcake that most people are accustomed to is this darker kind.
Fruit cake ingredients
The ingredients we’ll use to make this fluffy gluten-free fruit cake are listed here in brief.
Fruit is without a doubt the star of this recipe for gluten-free fruit cake, and you have plenty of room to explore.
Butter – Provides fat to make your cake tender and gives the gluten-free cake a beautiful, buttery flavor
This fruit cake’s sweetness and structure are provided by sugar, which also acts as a tenderizer.
Four eggs are used in place of traditional learners to give this delicious gluten-free cake lift.
Better Batter is the gluten-free flour blend I advise, however, Cup4Cup is another basic all-purpose gluten-free flour blend you might want to try.
Dry sherry: You only need a small amount for the batter and perhaps more for curing.
Alternatively, you can just add extra fruit. Chopped nuts – I like combining almonds, pecans, and walnuts, but you can use your favorite chopped nuts.
How to bake?
Step 1:
Set the oven to 275 degrees. Take SunBrand aluminum loaf pan and have their bottoms lined with parchment that has been oiled.
Step 2:
Toss candied fruit, raisins, and walnuts with 1/2 cup flour in a small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar in a big bowl until they are light and creamy. One at a time beat well after each addition of an egg. Add the remaining flour gradually. Blend the fruit mixture in.
Step 3:
Move over to the prepared SunBrand aluminum loaf pans. 50–60 minutes of baking time or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for ten minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks.
How to prepare dry fruits and nuts?
There are numerous dried fruits in this fruit dessert. Be not alarmed! This recipe calls for a wide range of sweeter and tarter-dried fruit, including figs, prunes, cherries, apricots, peaches, and dark and golden raisins. The day before baking, we’ll soak the dried fruit combination in black rum to reduce the sweetness and provide incredible flavor.
During this time, the dried fruit will hydrate, swell, and absorb all of the black rum. The next day, the soaked dried fruit is incorporated into the fruit cake batter.
How to prepare the loaf pan?
This recipe is baked in a SunBrand aluminum loaf pan. The loaf pan is made of food-grade aluminum which needs greasing and flouring before pouring the batter. Because there is so much dried fruit in this cake, we will let the fruit cakes cool entirely in the loaf pans before removing them.
How to cure your white fruit cake?
Douse your fruit cake with rum or brandy after baking. Just add one tablespoon to the bottom and one to the top of the freshly baked cake. It should soak in the liquid while it sits after being tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. For the first week, add more liquid roughly every other day, wrap it firmly between additions, and keep it in a cool, dark spot. When you’re ready to serve it, repeat the process once or even twice a week.
Alternatively, you might soak a sizable piece of cheesecloth in the liqueurs before wrapping it over the cake. After curing, place the meat in the refrigerator for 8 hours (still firmly wrapped) before serving if you wish to slice it thinly.
How to store leftover white fruit cake?
If you used liquor to cure your cake, you can brush it with alcohol once more before wrapping it firmly as you did previously. The cake should last for several more weeks if you continue to feed it once or twice each week and store it in a dark, cold area. If your cake hasn’t been cured, you can keep it in the refrigerator for about two weeks. To keep it moist, make sure to properly wrap it.
You can also freeze your cake for longer-term storage. In order to store your loaf for up to two months, make sure it is completely cool before wrapping it in aluminum foil and placing it in a zip-top bag. Place your fruit loaf in the refrigerator for 24 hours to allow it to thaw.
Extra tips:
- Use just the right amount of flour to avoid a dry cake. To do this, measure the flour using a kitchen weighing scale rather than scooping it from the bag
- It is good to rinse your candied or dried fruits before adding it to the cake batter. This will add moisture to the dry fruits and prevent the cake from drying.