A healthy Christmas fruit cake recipe that’s gluten free, dairy free and grain free. Made with almond flour, coconut flour, dried fruit, mixed spices and a little orange zest for a lovely authentic festive feel.
Published: December 2015 | Updated (mainly the images!): November 2020
If you have suddenly decided that you’d like to make a Christmas cake this year but you want to get it all in the oven with a minimum of fuss, then this Healthy Christmas Fruit Cake recipe is made for you. There’s a little bit of soaking of the fruit involved, but no more than 15 minutes; then you just get to stir everything up, pop it in to the oven and glaze or ice it (if you want to). Too easy!
I designed my Christmas cake recipe to be as simple and straightforward as possible because I think that December is stressful enough already. I don’t know about you, but for me December is always so insanely busy. Family events, work, trying to see some friends too…not to mention the Christmas planning, shopping and cooking. This cake doesn’t add too much work to the list.
Need to cater for allergens? This recipe has you covered there as well. The cake is gluten and grain free and it can easily be dairy free as well, it’s only a swap from a small amount of butter to coconut oil.
What dried fruit should I use in Christmas Cake?
You can use any dried fruit that you like in this recipe. Many times I have taken the easy option and just used a store-bought mixed dried fruit, which always seems to be on sale around Christmas time! Typically this is a mix of sultanas, currants, raisins, mixed peel and sometimes glace cherries.
However, you can also mix together your favourite blend of dried fruits. This can totally change up the flavour of the cake, and if you are motivated to do it I think it is worth it. You can pick all the lovely gourmet dried fruits and make the cake so special. Some of my favourite dried fruits to use in my Healthy Christmas Fruit Cake are:
- figs;
- dates;
- apricots;
- sultanas;
- currants;
- cranberries.
For larger dried fruit like figs, dates and apricots, chop them into smaller pieces first if you purchase them whole.
What you need to make healthy Christmas fruit cake
In addition to the dried fruit mix, you will need:
- Almond meal
- Coconut flour
- Walnuts – you could use pecans instead, or a mix of walnuts and pistachios is also really lovely
- An orange
- Eggs
- Butter or coconut oil – use the coconut oil for a dairy free cake
- Mixed spice
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Bicarb soda
- Amaretto or another liqueur of choice – optional but if you don’t mind a little bit of alcohol in the cake it is SO nice. If you don’t want to use liqueur, then substitute in some extra orange juice for moisture
- Honey or maple syrup for the glaze – you can also add a few tablespoons to the cake batter if you want the cake to be sweeter, it is quite sweet already from all of the dried fruit but this will take it to the next level
A final tip for making this cake, please WEIGH the ingredients if you can. If you measure by cup, loosely pack in the flour, do not press it into the cup. The cake will turn out too dry if you add more than is needed, especially if you add too much coconut flour which is super dry in texture, it absorbs so much moisture.
If you make this cake, please leave me a comment below to let me know how it turns out, and don’t forget to take a snap and tag me on Instagram, you can find me over at @moniquecormacknutrition!
p.s. need more Christmas recipe inspo? I also love making my Cranberry and Date Chocolate Truffles!
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2019: A number of people have left me a comment asking if I have made this cake well in advance and preserved it by soaking the cake with alcohol. Unfortunately I haven’t done this yet! Despite my best intentions I never seem to get my Christmas cake done very far in advance. Now at least I have a good excuse, I’m a new mum of twins this year! 🙂
Healthy Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 500 grams mixed dried fruits
- 75 grams walnuts (3/4 cup)*
- 1 orange
- 125 grams almond flour/meal (1 1/4 cups)
- 67 grams coconut flour (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp mixed spice *
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 5 eggs
- 50 grams butter or coconut oil, melted (1/4 cup)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 60 mL amaretto or other liqueur of choice (optional) – if you don't use this I recommend adding an extra 60mL of orange juice instead
Instructions
- Start by soaking the fruit. Fill your kettle and pop it on to boil while you organise all the dried fruit into a large bowl. If you’re using larger fruit like dates and apricots, roughly chop them up first (my quick tip: snip them with kitchen scissors – it will save you so much time!). Pour the hot water over the fruit and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to soften and then drain and allow to cool to room temperature (get on with your cake prep while this is happening).
- Preheat your oven to 150 C. Line a 20 cm cake tin (preferably spingform) with baking paper along the base and sides.
- Combine the almond flour, coconut flour, bicarb, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Zest the orange and roughly chop the walnuts, and add the zest and walnuts to the bowl too. Keep the orange.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter (or coconut oil), vanilla and amaretto (or extra orange juice if you aren't using liqueur). Squeeze in the juice of the orange (doesn't matter if some pulp goes in).
- Create a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and gradually stir in the wet mixture, stirring as you go (coconut flour is very absorbent so it’s better to add it gradually). You should end up with a very thick batter, almost like a wet crumbly dough.
- Make sure your soaked fruit is well drained, and then add this to the cake batter. Fold it in with a spoon until combined evenly.
- Scoop the cake batter in to your lined baking tin and press down with your fingers or the back of a spoon until there are no gaps and the top is smooth.
- Bake the cake for between 60 – 70 minutes, or until the top is well browned and the centre feels firm to touch.
- If you’re going to glaze the cake, do so immediately while the cake is hot, brushing on your glaze of choice with a pastry brush. You can also poke a few holes in the cake and then drizzle it over, if you want to use a lot and really soak the cake. To use the glaze I have suggested above, simply heat up the honey so it’s really runny, mix with the amaretto and then brush over the top of the cake.
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 30 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. (Store in the fridge for about 1 week or freeze for a longer life.)
Notes
Nutrition
Fantastic and so easy to make!
I have made this cake twice this week because we ate the first one so fast. I added apple sauce, coffee instead of orange juice and a little bit of molasses. No booze. Just wonderful and I love it so much. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Renee, thank you so much for this lovely review. YUM I love the idea of adding coffee, I will have to try that next time!
This is by far the yummiest christmas cake I have ever tasted. Thanks for helping us gluten/dairy/refined sugar free with a festive treat!!
Thank you so much Kylie! This review made me so happy and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the cake 🙂
Hello Monique,
Do you think it would be okay if I left out the coconut flour and used only almond flour?
Best wishes,
Jan
Hi Jan, I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you. The cake might be a bit more soggy/moist without the coconut flour, I would recommend adding a few tablespoons of a drier flour like plain flour, spelt flour, wholemeal flour.
I made this cake yesterday. It came out of the oven looking very dry–my top wasn’t smooth like yours–but the cake itself is moist and delicious. You’d never know it was sugar-free.
Thanks for your feedback Krys! It does take quite a bit of smoothing over to get the top like that, sometimes I dampen my fingers slightly and press the top down and then smooth it over with a spatula to really get it flat 🙂
I just finished making this recipe today. I turned it into individual small cakes in muffin paper holders and it turned out fabulous. I saw some comments that their cake was dry. not all ovens are the same and my oven helps keep cakes moist. In a drier oven some cakes require covering to keep them moist. When I measured the flour I kept it nice and loose. Also I think soaking the fruit for longer is better – the fruit was really plump and moist as that as what adds moisture to the cake. I soaked mine in brandy for a week prior. Plus I used a really big orange which gave lots of juice. My mixture was quite sloppy and wet and sticky, which is how my mother’s fruit cakes always were, rather than crumbly and it has turned out spectacular. Plus I used coconut oil which I find is much better than butter for moist cakes. For the glaze I took some of the Juice from the soaked fruit As I had no brandy left and mixed it with a little coconut sugar and it was nice and brown and tastes great.
Hi Ginny, thanks so much for this really detailed message with some tips on how to keep the cake moist! You are right that all ovens are different, there are so many factors that affect how a cake turns out. Definitely soaking the fruit for as long as possible and a big orange are helpful too 🙂
Hello Monique
Thank you so much for this lovely recipe. Baked it yesterday.
I used just two spoonful of honey to sweeten it. We all love it.
Best wishes from the West of Ireland.
Claudia
Hi Claudia, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a message about this cake! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe – it means a lot to me when people leave feedback. I hope you have a fabulous Christmas!
My all time favourite Christmas cake recipe. Like in the above comment I also soak my fruit in brandy for 4-5 days, and brush the cake with brandy after baking for a couple of days and wow. Just beautiful
Thank you so much for this lovely message, Amber! It always makes me happy to hear people enjoying this Christmas cake, as it’s one of my favourite recipes on the blog. Soaking the fruit in brandy makes the cake even better I agree!
Followed recipe carefully but was surprised at only 50 g of butter ……very disappointed ….dry and crumbly ….wasted money on best ingredients and no one would eat it !
Hi Wilma, I’m sorry that this cake did not meet your expectations. Honestly, I used to bake this Christmas cake very frequently for a market stall, and I did not receive any feedback about the cake being dry. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have turned out this way.
Did you weigh out the flours or measure by cup? If you measured by cup then possibly the flours were more tightly packed (and so weighed more) and this may have made the cake more dry. I also find there can be variability between coconut flour brands so perhaps the coconut flour you have was very drying – it’s so incredibly absorbent so can really change a cake dramatically.
The only other thoughts I had were whether the fruit was soaked sufficiently and whether you glazed the cake?
I hope you will not be offended by all of my questions, I am just trying to troubleshoot and think of things that may have altered the cake’s texture. It should be a dense and slightly crumbly cake, but not dry.
Kindest
Monique
Nutrition is that per whole cake
Hi Robert, the nutrition facts are for a slice of the cake 🙂
I made this gluten free fruit cake today but only cooked it for 60 mins and still it was sooo dry ……50 grams of butter seems to be insufficient……..Could not taste cinnamon or mixed spice even though I put in a little more than required .
Wilma
Hey Monique. I’m trying this recipe on Friday, and I have contacted you about possibly using this recipe for a YouTube video (I will still make it even if it is a no, it looks wonderful :P). Of course, in the description of the video I will reference your website and blog. There are more details in the email, but I am just commenting this so that you are more likely to see my request :).
Thanks for this recipe (even though you posted it 5 years ago lol)
Jenica
Lovely, moist rich cake. Easy to make and lasts in fridge. Also easy to freeze.
Thank you for such a lovely review Lyza 🙂
Hi, do i need to substitute the ?amaretto inside the cake? It says optional. But 60 ml makes me think perhaps i need to substitute it with another liquid? Is it ok if i leave this step out
You can definitely leave it out, but if you are worried about the moisture and want to use something alcohol-free, I would use orange juice 🙂
Thank you so much. I made it without amaretto It is so delicious! I was worried because it didnt raise much. But it is so yummy!
Just out of interest. How long to beat the eggs with liquids and butter for?
So glad you liked it Enas! This cake is not supposed to raise much at all – it’s a very dense fruit cake and also uses almond meal, which never really “fluffs” up like ordinary wheat flours do. No need to beat the egg mixture for long, just until well combined 🙂
Just made this recipe and it’s amazing everyone loved it ! I was worried it was gonna be dry so I just added 1/4 cup of orange juice as well as the liquor, and it was just perfect, I socked the fruits for 15 min in hot water they were moist enough, I made the cake in a bread pan (long pan) and it was perfect! The fruits are what adds the sweetness but for those who like the cake on the sweeter side add a bit of maple syrup or honey.
Thank you so much for this lovely review Leah! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment and happy to hear everyone enjoyed the cake 🙂
Great Christmas cake. I soak the fruit in brandy up to 3 days instead of hot water; makes it richer and more flavourful (4 TB to 1/4c).
I haven’t tried the glaze yet; usually decorate the top with slivered almonds prior to baking.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks so much for this lovely feedback Carol! Soaking the fruit in brandy would be so yum, one year I’ll actually be organised enough to do this myself! 🙂
Baked this today – so easy and delicious. Very impressed and hard to believe it is gluten free. Made my Christmas 🙂
Aw thank you SO much Maria! This is such a lovely thing to read. Hope you had a great Christmas 🙂
Just made this for my daughter who’s on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet … it’s a winner ! I varied it slightly according to ingredients I had and to comply with the SCD.
I used my homemade pumpkin spice instead of mixed spice, ground dried mandarin peel instead of orange zest… and commercial sugar free orange juice as I didn’t have an orange. More orange juice as substitute for Amaretto…. and used whiskey and honey for the glaze.
Oh… and I also added a tsp of pure almond extract…. and forgot to add the walnuts 🙁 Delicious just the same 🙂
Thank you…. she’s going to love it….if my husband hasn’t eaten it all first 🙂
Hi Ros, I’m so glad to hear you were able to make this work as an SCD compliant recipe! I love pumpkin spice so I think that would have been great to use regardless of the requirements 🙂 Hope you had a great Christmas!
She did love it Monique ! In fact I made another similar cake from a different source, using all almond flour…. she much preferred your version…it was a lot more moist. I agreed! Thank you again 🙂
This is so lovely to hear! Yay! 🙂
Hi, can i steam this instead?
Love the sound of the cake, will make it for my wheat allergy boss this year. Congratulations on the twins.
Thank you so much Issy! Hope the cake turns out well 🙂
Hi, I decided to try this cake this year but I plan to cook it ahead because of lack of time and freeze it. When I come to serve it do I simply defrost it naturally or do I reheat it in the oven considering that it would already have been baked.? Can I freeze it unbaked and bake it once defrosted please? Thanks for your help
Hi Yanika, I would not freeze the cake unbaked. I would bake it and then freeze it. You can simply thaw it rather than bake it again when it comes time to serve it, though warming it in a gentle low oven heat might produce a nicer result rather than just simply naturally defrosting.
Um wow?! This is extremely impressive!!! For years, I have been making a ‘traditional’ Christmas cake for the family, but wanted to try this one this year and holy moly I’m glad I did! Super super yummy- very much like the ‘real thing’ ! Thanks xx
Hi Alice, thank you SO much for this lovely positive review, I am so happy to read this! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake xx
Hi Monique,
I wondered whether I could make this in advance (around now) and feed it with alcohol like you would do with a normal christmas cake?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Casey, I’ve just replied back to Sue who has commented just before you on my thoughts on this 🙂 Just check out the other comments!
Hi Monique
I couldn’t find your reply to Sue, but like Sue and Casey, I wondered if it is OK to make in advance?
Thanks
Tessa
Hi Tessa, I’m sorry but I haven’t had the chance to make this cake very far in advance yet. I’m actually planning on making it this week (have all the ingredients) so long as the babies nap long enough for me to do so! 🙂 I think this cake will keep pretty well for at least a few weeks so long as it’s stored in the fridge wrapped very well to keep in the moisture, or alternatively I would just freeze it.
Hello, I’m having a small Christmas and want to make Christmas cake but won’t get through anywhere near a whole cakes worth, so was wondering if you think this recipe would work as muffins and as a half batch? Thank you, Megan
Hi Megan, I’m so so sorry about the delay in replying to your message. I was in hospital for an extended period due to a health issue and I’m only just catching up now. I hope that you were able to experiment with this recipe – muffins or a half batch would both work, I think, so long as you change the baking time 🙂
Hi,
Thank you so much, my first fruit cake ever. Tastes so awesome.
Thanks again for making the recipe so easy to follow.
Big Cheers from Australia
Hi Roger, thank you so much for this lovely message! I’m sorry for the delay in replying to you, I’ve been in hospital for quite an extended period of time due to a health issue. 🙂
Hi monique.. I am writing as I seem to be in the minority as far as a baking success.
This is not to criticise, but I am wondering where I went wrong.
After making 5 x 12cm flourless christmas cakes from an old Taste recipe which was ok,,I had about 400gms of very boozy hand cut dried fruit left over. Looked for another recipe and came across yours,
I purchased extra fresh dates and soft pitted prunes..chopped them up and added to the other fruit.
I ended up with approx 625gms of fruit,,so basically a quarter more than the recommended 500gms. Upped the flours by one quarter and added one egg.
So no need to boil water and the fruit mixture was very moist.
All went well until the final mix of wet and dry had a very sandy feel..and after one hour that is how the top of the cakes still felt to the touch. I looked at your pic and my result and was extremely disappointed.
By turning the cakes over, and glazing the bottoms with a mix of strained marmalade and date syrup, they look ok,
but I do wonder about the gritty nature of the original surface of the cake. I bake a lot of flourless cakes for friends and school fundraising using only almond meal. Coconut flour will never again be seen in my kitchen as I cant help but think it maybe the culprit. Apologies for being so long winded
Hi Grant, thank you for your honest feedback about the cake. I apologise for the delayed reply, I have been in hospital for an extended period of time and I’m only just catching up on my blog now. From the way you describe the mixture, it sounds like the “gritty” texture might have been from the coconut flour; it does have more of a grainy feel than almond meal and I’m wondering if you maybe just don’t like it? I don’t mean that in a rude way at all, just maybe it’s honestly not for you! I feel the same way about certain ingredients! However another factor is that in my experience the consistency and quality of coconut flour varies incredibly from brand to brand, so I would perhaps encourage you (if you ever want to try coconut flour again) to purchase a different brand that produces a more finely milled, softer flour. The reason I added it to this recipe was for sweetness and also to make the result slightly more “cakey” as almond meal is so dense. Perhaps upping the quantities also affected the result and it might have been better to only increase almond meal. Coconut flour is SO absorbent, just the tiniest amount makes a huge difference. Best wishes, Monique
Hi Monique, would it be possible to use GF flour to substitute the coconut flour (which I’m not a fan of)? Plain or self-raising? I realise that coconut flour requires additional liquid so I am wondering if the same amount of orange juice would be required if using the GF flour. Also, is it possible to use another nut? Thanks so much! Look forward to trying your recipe!
Hi Christine, thank you for your message. I’m so sorry that I have taken so long to reply, due to a personal health issue I was hospitalised over the Christmas period for a month and I am only just catching up now. I assume that you have either already tried out this recipe or you made something else for Christmas. Either way I hope whatever cake you had was delicious 🙂 To answer your questions, you could just use plain GF flour as the substitute, and correct I would reduce the amount of orange juice. I’m not sure about using another nut, do you mean instead of the almond meal? I have never tried the cake with another nut meal, I tend to use almond meal for nut-based cakes as it’s so readily available!
Any info please on the specific nutritional info on this cake please, Specifically fat, saturates and sugar?
Hi Kenyon, thank you for your message. I’m so sorry that I have taken so long to reply, due to a personal health issue I was hospitalised over the Christmas period for a month and I am only just catching up now. I do not have a nutritional calculator on my website at present, it’s something I’m researching but I’m not sure how I feel about putting so many numbers on my foods as it’s not really how I eat intuitively myself. If you would like to calculate it, it’s possible to use a website like happyforks.com which I understand offers a recipe nutritional calculator. 🙂
Hi did anyone try this with the storing and soaking method yet?! Just making mine would love to know
Hi Beth
Would love to know if you tried the soaking and storing? Thanks, Sue
I can’t find coconut Sugar where i live, can i use regular Sugar? Would it be the same amount?? Thank you!
Hi Danielle, yep you can just use regular sugar – I would suggest perhaps using half regular sugar, half brown sugar if you can 🙂
Is there supposed to be coconut sugar in this recipe? I can’t find it in the list of ingredients?
Hi Aditi, no there is no coconut sugar in the recipe. I just read over the recipe again and I don’t think I mention it anywhere?
Great recipe and first Christmas cake ever. Thanks!
Christian, thank you so much for stopping by to give feedback! I’m super happy to hear you enjoyed the cake 🙂
Hi Monique cakes in the oven can’t wait smells so good. My brain is just ticking over what to do now with leftover juice from fruit soak – any special ideas perhaps I’ll use it for pork marinade🤞
Oh so lovely to hear this Susan! Thank you for taking the time to let me know 🙂 I think you could definitely use it for a pork marinade, or alternatively you could boil it down into a syrup and make an extra sticky glaze for the cake maybe! I hope the cake turns out super well for you.
I want to use nut pulp that is left over from making nut milk. Do you think it will make a difference from dried nut flour. More moisture obviously but I’m thinking that it won’t make too much difference?
Hi Jenny! Oh that would be awesome if you can use up nut pulp in this. I think you should be able to make it work… I would suggest either drying the nut pulp out in the oven first (maybe bake it on a low heat), or maybe adding an extra spoonful or two of coconut flour / or reducing the liquid ingredients to balance the moisture in the cake. Let me know how it goes 🙂
I want to get this made for our family get together on Christmas Day. It calls for 3 tsp mixed spice. I’ve never seen anything called “mixed spice”. Can you tell me what spices to use and quantities?
Hi Gwen, of course, happy to help! Mixed spice is sometimes called “pudding spice” and there are different variations of it depending on what brand you buy. A simple substitution would be to use: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ground ginger. (I know there is already cinnamon in the recipe but still add more). Hope this helps, let me know how you go 🙂
Hi my name is Robyn. I want to make a Christmas cake using pineapple pieces and walnuts no sugar. Your recipe looks great to use. I have Monica’s Mix Paleo flour can I use these ingredient?
Hi Robyn! Sounds like you have a super delicious Christmas cake planned this year 🙂 Thank you for the kind words – I really like this Christmas Cake recipe!
I have never used Monica’s Mix Paleo flour myself. Would you substitute it for all of the flour in this recipe? i.e. are you planning on replacing the almond meal and the coconut flour? I would suggest you could definitely substitute it for the coconut flour, but I’d try to use at least some almond meal in there as well because this has a different texture and helps to keep the cake moist with a nice crumb. I had a look at the ingredients in Monica’s paleo mix and think it might turn out too dry if you just use that. Hope this helps! Do let me know how you go!
Has anyone wrapped and stored the cake for 2-10 weeks as you would a traditional Christmas fruit cake? Or is the freezer the only option?
Hi Iona! Thank you for your comment. I have been very tempted to try this cake soaked in liquor and stored as you would a traditional fruit cake – comparing the ingredients to a traditional fruit cake, there’s nothing to suggest that it wouldn’t work. However I must be honest, I haven’t done it yet! Provided an appropriate amount of alcohol is fed to the cake as you would do normally it should keep well. If you try it please let me know how you go 🙂
Hi Monique. Have you had any news from others on storing the cake for say 8 weeks, or have you tried it yourself yet? If I wrap it in wax-proof paper and foil and put in a cake tin/plastic tub in the fridge, would that work, do you think? And I would feed it regularly, of course, with ..rum probably.
Hi Sue, thank you for your message. I’m sorry but I haven’t received an update from anyone who has stored and fed the cake for an extended period yet. I had intended to do this last Christmas myself, but ended up on hospital bedrest pregnant with my twins! I think if you wrap it securely and store it in the fridge, and feed it with alcohol, you should be ok to make it an advance and store it. The biggest risk would be food spoilage but with alcohol, wrapping and being stored in the fridge this risk is kept to a minimum.
Such a lovely fruitcake, and so easy to make too!
Thank you so much, Sylvie! I just spent ages checking out your website – it’s fabulous, I’m flattered you stopped by to comment! Just subscribed for your newsletter! 🙂
mmmmm Amaretto! I’m sold! I also love that this is grain free!
Thank you Libby! Amaretto is the best, right!? I only recently discovered it and can’t believe I’ve been missing out on something so delicious for so long 🙂
Ohhh but that glaze! That would definitely not be optional for me! So nice! This looks great!
🙂 The glaze totally makes it I agree! It wouldn’t be a Christmas cake without a sweet boozy finish!
Definitely pinning this. I’m a closet fruit-cake fan, and this is looking pretty good! 😉
Haha I am a secret fruit cake fan too (fruit toast too shhh :P). Thank you for your kind words!
This sounds delicious. I love all of the dried fruit. Yum!
Thank you Emily! Glad to see you finally got here with the comment 😛 Monique x