Gluten-Free Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why did my gluten-free cake turn out gummy? ›

Gluten-free baked goods often benefit from extra liquid to hydrate the flour blends, eliminate grittiness, and achieve a less dense or dry texture. However, it's very important to drive off this extra moisture during baking, or you'll wind up with a gummy texture.

Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.

Best alcohol for soaking fruit cake:

This includes options like rum, brandy, whisky, and port wine. These types of alcohol will help to keep the fruit cake moist and also add some extra flavor to the cake. You can also soak the fruit in orange juice, apple juice, or any other type of fruit juice.

If you want to keep the cake for a very long time, it is helpful to reinvigorate the cheesecloth with a new infusion of rum, juice or brandy every month, taking care to rewrap the cake as outlined above. A good quality apple left in the container with a stored fruit cake helps to keep the moisture in the cake.

Let Your Batters & Doughs Rest

We recommend covering your batters and doughs and letting them rest for at least half an hour. Note: This will also help batters become thicker and doughs to firm up.

Some say you should make your Christmas cake 6 weeks before eating, but the advice given on Nigella.com is that 12 weeks before is the optimum time to get baking. Your Christmas cake should be fed every 4 to 6 weeks but in the meantime, after baking, it should be stored away in a secure, air tight container.

The parchment paper and brown paper linings provide some insulation against the heat of the oven, which means that the cake bakes more evenly. If the tin is not lined in this way then the outside of the cake can cook too quickly, leaving the inside undercooked.

Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.

Rehydrate the fruits: Dried fruits can be quite hard and dry, so it's often a good idea to rehydrate them before adding them to your baked goods. To do this, simply soak the dried fruits in warm water or fruit juice for 15-20 minutes until they are plump and tender.

Might just give one last go this week then leave it til ready to ice it. I overfed mine last year. It tasted fine (I love a boozy cake!) but it was very very soggy.

What is the traditional cake eaten at Christmas? ›

Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries.

We recommend wrapping your fruitcake in plastic wrap before placing it in an airtight container. Then, place that container in the fridge. Doing this can ensure your fruitcake stays fresh for up to two months.

Gummy on the inside- bake for a longer time. Gluten free bread takes much longer than a regular loaf to bake and therefore a sticky crumb is generally the result of under baking. It is easy to see why this can happen, gluten free bread dough needs more moisture and is often difficult to knead with conventional methods.

Trimming Troubles: If the cake is only slightly gummy, consider trimming off the outer layer to remove any overly dense or undercooked portions. Moisture Management: Brush the trimmed cake with a simple syrup or flavored liquid to add moisture and enhance the cake's tenderness.

Gluten is a protein that gives baked goods firm and elastic structure but overdoing it can mean a chewy texture, and that's no good. Apart from the Gluten, insufficient creaming of sugar and eggs will also make a tight texture because there isn't enough air trapped in the mix to give it a lift.