This rich and moist Gluten-free Christmas Fruit Cake is the perfect centerpiece for your Christmas table. It’s rich, gluten-free, really easy to make and it tastes like the traditional fruit cake you know and love. Enjoy this cake over the Christmas holidays with your friends and family without worrying about consuming carbs. Okay, let’s bake the best gluten-free fruit cake ever.

Over at Nookies Boutique Cakes, I have baked and decorated tons of cakes. One of the cake flavors that are so popular over at my home bakery during the holidays is a Fruit cake. It’s not difficult to understand why it’s a fan favorite because fruit cakes are rich, festive, and loaded with dried fruits and zesty goodness. I recently introduced this gluten-free version of fruit cake to cater to my clients who are sensitive to gluten or don’t consume gluten and it tastes exactly like the fruit cake you know and love. This version, however, is moister than the regular fruit cake (which is a plus any day anytime).

This version of fruit cake is easier than the traditional fruit cake which requires soaking the fruits in brandy and juice for serval days and whipping the butter and sugar with a mixer. In this method, we boil the dried fruits in liquid which makes the dried fruits soft and plumpy, and thus the cake turns out deliciously moist. No mixer needed, all you need are a large pan, wooden spoon, baking pan, and an oven.

This cake recipe makes a thick 8inch layer, which is perfect to share with friends and family. Double this recipe to make two 8inch layers and share one as a delicious homemade Christmas gift.

Gluten-free Christmas cake ingredients

For this gluten-free Christmas cake recipe, you will need a few staple pantry ingredients along with some popular gluten-free flours.

Almond flour
Coconut flour: Substitute with oat flour if you can’t find coconut flour.
Dried fruits: A combination of raisins, dried currants, candied citrus peel, and sultanas work really well in this recipe. I just buy a 500g pack that contains all these fruits.
Coconut flakes & almond flakes
Fresh orange & lemon juice
Brandy or Cherry
Light brown sugar
Butter
Eggs
Spices: Allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg are the classic spices for fruit cakes.
Baking powder

How to make gluten-free Christmas fruit cake

This fruit cake comes together really easily. Here’s what you’ll need to do to make this cake.

Add the dried fruits, butter, zest, and juice of the lemon and orange, brandy, and sugar into a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and transfer into a large bowl. leave to cool down for 30minutes.
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Add the eggs into the cooled fruit mixture and stir well. Add the flours, spices, coconut flakes, almond flakes, and baking powder and mix well till combined.
Transfer to a lined 8inch baking pan and flatten the top with a spoon. Top with some cherries to decorate the top. bake for 1hr 30minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and poke holes with a skewer. Soak the cake with 2tbsp of brandy and leave to cool completely. Unmold the cake and transfer it to a serving plate.
Serve and enjoy.

This fruit cake is best to serve the next day so it’s a great make ahead dessert. The flavour and the texture of the cake improves a lot with time.

How to store the fruit cake

The more this cake sits, the more the flavour develops, so try your best to not eat it all in one sitting. To store the cake, simply wrap it tightly in cling film and store in the fridge for up to 1 month. Store in the freezer for longer.

I hope you enjoy this cake with your family and friends this Christmas. I would love to see your pictures over on Instagram, so do tag me @nookies_diaries or use the hashtag #nookiesdiaries. Have a lovely Christmas celebration.

More easy recipes to make this holiday

Oven-Baked Basmati Jollof Rice

Oven-Baked Lemon Fried Rice

Bok Choy & Bacon Slaw

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