Paleo Christmas Cake!
It has my dad's 'fruitcake tick of approval' — and that's saying something!
‘Twas the week before Christmas and all thro’ the house,
there was whining coming from my lovely spouse,
He looked so sad and his head gave a shake,
“Please tell me you are making a Christmas Cake?”
So here we go, Paleo Christmas cake — still pretty high in natural sugars so take care! Mix and match your fruit and nuts to suit your tastes. And if you really feel the need to drizzle it with a little alcohol once cooked – I won’t look! Merry Christmas :-)
Ingredients
1 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried dates
1/2 cup dried figs
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup prunes
1 orange (zest & juice)
3 tablespoons macadamia nut oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
quick grate of nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans or almonds)
2 cups ground almonds
Method
Preheat oven to 150˚C. Line a 20cm tin with baking paper.
Slice all the dried fruit and mix together in a bowl. Grate the orange zest and add to the bowl along with the juice.
In another bowl, put the eggs, oil, vanilla, spices and salt and whisk lightly. Mix the dried fruit through then add in the nuts and ground almonds. Stir to combine and spoon mixture into the tin. Fold the paper flaps in to stop top from browning too much or cover the top loosely with foil.
Cook for about 1 hour and 15-25 minutes.
Cool in the tin, then store in a cool place or in the fridge for up to a month.
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December 19, 2014
[…] a walk, then have christmas cake if you must. (FYI here is a great kiwi paleo Christmas cake recipe https://www.cavegirl.co.nz/paleo-christmas-cake/) Grab your cousins and bring on the pull-up/push-up/squat/burpee competition, get the kids involved […]
December 1, 2015
I asked my husband this morning if he wanted a Christmas cake this year. Paleo? he asked. So of course I went looking and found yours which sounds delicious.
Have you tried the recipe with booze of any kind/quantity?
December 1, 2015
Hi Barbara – yes, last year I made two and poured one with Brandy after it was cooked, I think I used a generous 1/4 of a cup all in one go. To be honest I didn’t notice much difference between the two cakes so we decided this year not to bother … hubby was going to have a small glass of brandy on the side!
I’d say it needs a little bit more and perhaps a couple of drizzlings a few weeks apart?
December 17, 2017
pour sherry or brandy or rum over cold cake that has been pierced with a skewer ,be generous and feed the cake every week ok or 2 with sherry ,or rum keep wrapped in baking paper and foil
October 22, 2016
Has anyone tried this with soaking the fruit in alcohol before making??
October 25, 2016
Hey Janine — I’m sure it would be fine, Hubby says I have to try that now … in the interest of research …
December 9, 2016
Can I replace the macadamia nut oil with coconut oil instead?
Thank you
December 9, 2016
Hey Sally — no problem, you can replace with any oil or fat. Yum I was just thinking this morning it was time to make mine! Enjoy x
December 11, 2016
Thank you for this will be making it tomorrow so looking forward to it.
December 26, 2021
I love this cake! I’ve made it the last 3 Christmases and soaked the dried fruit overnight each time in ginger beer and spiced rum. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. ❤
December 19, 2016
Thank you for this recipe, I’m so glad it came up on my search. I made it yesterday using coconut oil instead of macadamia, missed out the prunes because I didn’t have any and added 3 tablespoons of brandy. Hubby and I “tested” a bit last night and it’s amazing. Thank you!
December 21, 2016
Hi Katy — lol, those test pieces are always the best! Have a great Christmas xx
October 26, 2017
This looks like a great recipe! Will be making it this xmas. I’ll be soaking the fruit beforehand I think, thanks to the comment suggestion from a poster above ?
October 26, 2017
Why not — it is Christmas after all! Enjoy x
December 25, 2017
This is one AMAZING cake!! So good I’ve come back to comment ? I didn’t use the fruits as suggested, but rather just went with Honest to Goodness mixed dried fruit in the same quantity as in your recipe. Also soaked fruit in brandy for 2 days prior and made it a month in advance.
My 7yo who does not like any cake ( like he has a fresh watermelon cake for his birthday ) LOVES this cake. Fab recipe!!! Thank you ?
I also got your cook book for Xmas!
December 30, 2017
Great idea — I might even make another to take on hols now, I really hate cutting up the fruit! Lol, one of my girls is the same with cake but happily puts this away in large quantities. Hope you had lovely Christmas. x
November 18, 2017
I would like to make this as a traditional round Christmas cake with marzipan and royal icing. What size of cake pan could I use, and how would the deeper pan affect cooking time?
November 21, 2017
Hey Sheena — I’d go to a 20-20cm round pan, if you go to a smaller size just increase the cooking time another 5 mins, it probably would be fine at the same time, it’s just the eggs which need to cook. Icing sounds pretty!
December 2, 2017
I made this last year and it was a hit! Simply delicious and as good as any traditional Christmas cakes that my grandmother used to make. My mother was visiting from NZ and coincidently she gave me your recipe book as a present. Great recipes – Thanks Cavegirl!
December 2, 2017
Oh I forgot to say- I never saved the recipe so thankfully I just found it again in google and am making this today!
December 5, 2017
Hi Annie — so glad you enjoyed it! It’s probably about time I made mine too … although if I make it too soon it inevitably gets eaten before Christmas!
December 17, 2017
this looks so good, thank you. I will have to tweak it a bit as I have a couple of family members who are allergic to oranges. I thought lemon juice and zest might be a bit tart and wondering if limes would be a good substitute or maybe cranberry juice. I would appreciate your input. You have made my Xmas, just not the same without Xmas cake
December 18, 2017
oooh limes and cranberry juice sound divine!! Damn, now I’m going to have to try that!
December 31, 2017
Third year making this cake. This year I have made more than one. I put nuts and a sugar free apricot jam glaze on top for decoration. But actually love the undecorated version too. I’ve also changed up the dried fruit to use what I had in, and just kept to same quantity. It’s so easy, it’s fool proof and so yummy. Thank you for giving us this perfect recipe.
January 2, 2018
Hi Verity — that sounds so pretty! My mum used to decorate her xmas cakes like that and they were amazing, I never have the patience for it lol. Hope you had a very Merry Christmas! x
January 20, 2018
[…] 6. Paleo Christmas CakeThis cake is a real deal with with pure sugars within the type of apricots, dates, figs, cranberries, currants, raisins, and prunes. Fancy it up with vanilla, cinnamon, and powdered ginger. You may even make it boozy by drizzling with rum when it’s all completed. […]
December 27, 2018
I made this perfect Christmas cake last week. Between my partner and I we have enjoyed eating it every day. This cake holds together beautifully and the flavours of the fruit and nuts are a great combination. This is the best cake I have made and tasted. Cheers
December 29, 2018
Hey Ana — Merry Christmas, glad you enjoyed it!
January 9, 2019
I would like to use alcohol for this cake. May I know how much alcohol do we use for soaking the fruits? And how long do we need to soak them? Can we then also mix the soaked alcohol into the cake mixture? Tq
January 10, 2019
Hey Christina — just pour enough alcohol over the fruit to barely cover it. You can then soak for anywhere from just overnight to 3-4 weeks, topping up with alcohol as the fruit soaks it up. The fruit should soak up the alcohol so there shouldn’t be much liquid, if any, in the fruit (if there is just drain it a little — save to use in some cooked berries for a quick sauce). Sounds delicious!
January 24, 2019
Can we use 2 cups blanched almond flour instead of 2 cups ground almonds. Tq
January 24, 2019
Hi Christina — yes of course, that would be totally fine! x
February 27, 2019
[…] 6. Paleo Christmas Cake This cake is a true treat with natural sugars in the form of apricots, dates, figs, cranberries, currants, raisins, and prunes. Fancy it up with vanilla, cinnamon, and powdered ginger. You can even make it boozy by drizzling with rum when it’s all finished. […]
January 21, 2020
I made this cake for Christmas and it was magnificent!
I left out the currants (because I don’t like them) and left out the figs (because I didn’t have any), added a pack of glace cherries and increased the apricots to make up the volume.
Yum! Thank you
January 24, 2020
Omg yum — heavy on the apricots sounds absolutely delicious! Hope you had a fab Christmas x
December 12, 2020
Any thoughts on how you could modify it to be nut free? Just replace the volume or does it play a part in the binding.
December 14, 2020
Hey Robert – it’s really just the ground almonds you need to bind it but you could replace with a gluten-free or rice flour (probably a little less than 2 cups … 1.5 maybe, just until it starts to look like it will hold together) or replace the 2 cups of almond with 1/5 cup coconut flour (it’s super absorbent hence the reduced amount).
December 16, 2020
Just started on paleo lifestyle to help my daughter with ME and so as Christmas is approaching was hunting for a paleo friendly cake ! Well what a discovery ! Your cake is absolutely delicious !! My husband tried it and has kept trying it ever since so am now making another one to keep for Christmas!! Really delicious !! Thank you x
December 16, 2020
Hey Alison — yay, glad you like it! And yep for sure, one cake is never enough!
Enjoy your Christmas x