Nici Wickes: it's time to bake the Christmas cake!

It’s time (actually we’re a bit late this year) to make the Christmas cake. We’re going gluten free because why not?
Here’s other ways to serve Christmas cake:
· Warmed with custard
· Fried in butter and served with fresh blueberries and yoghurt
· Alongside decent aged cheddar (like Eccles cakes)
· Crumbled and stirred through softened vanilla ice cream
Overnight soak:
1 ½ kg mixed fruit
½ cup sherry or brandy or whatever
1 apple, grated
1 tbsp honey or golden syrup
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Cake:
1 ¾ cup gluten free flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
½ cup orange juice
4 medium-sized eggs, beaten lightly
250g melted butter
Almonds for decorating
1. Set the oven at 130 C. Line base and sides of a 20-23cm square cake tin, first with a few layers of newspaper then two layers of baking paper.
2. Soak fruit, liquid, honey/syrup and apple in a large bowl over overnight.
3. Add sifted flour, baking powder and mixed spice to soaked fruit and mix well. Stir in eggs and orange juice. Lastly, add in the melted butter and mix to combine. After mixing, let it sit for 5 minutes and should the mixture be a little stiff add a bit more orange juice. You’re aiming for a sloppy batter as gluten free flour absorbs more liquid than regular. Scrape into the prepared tin. Decorate top with almonds.
4. Place cake in oven on a magazine (it won’t burn at this temperature) and bake for 3 ½ hours with a piece of baking paper loosely covering it to stop it burning on the top but uncovering it for the last 30 minutes.
5. Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing to cool fully on a cake rack.

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