Clean Eating Christmas Cake {Classic Recipe}

A Clean eating Christmas cake that no one will realise is a healthier version of a classic recipe. The Holidays are no time to go without the usual treats and while we bend the rules a little over Christmas, if I can find a Cleaner alternative to a traditional classic and no one even realises, I'm going to do it!

Clean Eating Christmas Cake

Do you like Christmas cake? It seems to be one of those love it or hate it kinds things. Half of us here love it and half hate it. So that's good enough for me to be making one every year!

Christmas cake is made much like any other cake structurally, except for the fact it's packed to the rafters with sweet dried fruit and so it becomes much denser than a regular cake. And this is a good thing as it means we can not add any extra sugar without losing any taste since the dried fruit (and alcohol, if you're using it) overpowers any other flavor.

Speaking of alcohol, as the kids have gotten older I soak the fruit in Brandy before I bake this cake which I didn't do when they were smaller. I don't use a huge amount as I 'feed' the cake weekly in the run up to Christmas and I think it keeps the cake moist. Using alcohol is totally up to you. Before I used Brandy, I'd feed it with orange juice so feel free to use whichever you like but feeding it with something really helps to cake from drying out.

I buy dried fruit in a big bag and then soak it myself at home. I have seen you can buy bags of pre-soaked fruit so if you see these, check the ingredients label and make sure it's just fruit and whatever they've soaked it in, with no added nasties.

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with dried fruit and we don't really have it that much. Dried fruit is simply dehydrated and because of this removal of the water, it condenses the natural sugars in fruit into a much smaller 'package'. So you eat more of it, which means more sugar.

We're not sugar phobic at all (and still use unrefined sugars in our diet) and believe in everything in moderation, but it's not an all the time thing. But this cake is for Christmas, so we overlook this :)

You may also notice I don't use nuts in this recipe. I've tried it with and tried it without and the nut free version works better and we prefer it. If you do want to add nuts into this, you can replace a quarter of the dried fruit with a mix of chopped nuts. They'll add some extra texture and give you some extra nutrients so feel free to do this if you like, the rest of the recipe stays the same.

I don't ice this cake! Yep it's true. I don't ice a Christmas cake. Before Clean eating was a thing in our house I did used to ice the cake. It nearly always got picked off and left on the side on plates. There are so many other Christmas treats on offer during Christmas that no one here misses having the cake iced and it's often too thick and too sweet. So now I don't bother.

When To Make A Christmas Cake

I make this cake about 6-8 weeks ahead of Christmas so it really is the prefect make ahead cake freeing up your time to think about other things.

Many people make fruit cake far further ahead than I do but the last weekend in October or the first in November is the time I usually make it. It becomes a yearly ritual and something the kids really enjoy, as do I. It sort of makes the start of thinking about Christmas and planning what we're doing.

Why Does Fruitcake Last So Long?

Fruit cakes are one of the sturdiest cakes around, if not the sturdiest. This is because of the dried fruit the cake is packed with. Being already preserved, having so much of the fruit packed into the cake means there's no room for much moisture meaning bacteria is just not able to reproduce.

If you've soaked the fruit in alcohol this adds even more preserving power but even if you're not using alcohol, the cakes good for a pretty long time. While there have been reports of fruit cakes still being edible after 100 years, I'm not really prepared to test that theory :)

Instead, once the cake is cut I keep this for 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.

How To Feed A Christmas Cake

I keep feeding a Christmas cake to simply unwrapping it every week piercing it with a skewer several times and poring a couple of tablespoons of Brandy on the top if the cake so it seems into the cake with the skewer holes helping the alcohol reach the whole way through the cake. Ditto orange juice, except i'd use just 1 table spoon.

Do this every week or so until Christmas, making sure to rewrap the cake well afterwards.

Make Ahead

Christmas cake is the ultimate 'make ahead' cake. This is quite a nice thing to do over a weekend and can mark the start of the Holiday season. Yeah, 8 weeks ahead might be a little soon depending on your love of Christmas, but my kids used to look forward to this every year. So I went with it!

As time goes by the flavor of the Christmas cake will develop and the cake becomes slightly denser. Fruit cake is heavy in it's nature as it's so packed with fruit so it's normal for the cake to become denser. Plus, it's part of its charm I think :)

Storing And Freezing

Storing

So. Once this cake is baked and cooled you can feed it straight away before you wrap it up. Once you've fed it, wrap it up tightly in parchment paper to it's completely sealed and then for extra air tightness seal it in an airtight container until you're a going to eat it.

Freezing

After the Holidays are over you can freeze fruit cake for a few months, wrapped in parchment paper. If I have a fruit cake to freeze, I slice it up and freeze it in individual slices so I can defrost only what I need.

To defrost a fruit cake leave it out over night and it's good to eat as soon as it's fully defrosted. With most baking I defrost I pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds to take any left over chill off it, but you don't need to and it's good to eat as it is.

More Clean Eating Cakes

• Clean eating birthday cake
• Healthy carrot cake
• Easy clementine cake
• Simple carrot and walnut cake
• Banana and date cake

How To Make A Clean Eating Christmas Cake

Ingredients

• 3½ Cups Dried fruit Pre-soaked if you can find it
• 2 Cups Wholemeal flour
• 3 Eggs
• 3 tbsp Butter Melted, or you can use Olive oil
• 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 1 Juice from one orange
• 1 Cup Brandy or orange juice To soak the fruit before cooking

Instructions

• If your fruit is not pre soaked, soak the fruit on the alcohol or orange juice for at least a couple of hours before making this cake. Overnight is better
• Heat the oven to 190° and line a 6 inch round cake pan with baking paper including the sides
• Whisk the eggs
• In a large bowl add the soaked fruit, whisked eggs, orange juice and butter. Combine well
• Add the flour, nutmeg and cinnamon to the wet mix and fold in well
• Spoon the cake batter into the greased cake tin, using a spatula to get every last bit and then smooth the cake once it's in the tin
• Bake the cake for 45 minutes until golden on top and then take the cake out and test it by inserting a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. If there is any cake batter on the skewer, pop the cake back into the oven for 5-6 minutes. Repeat until the cake is cooked through
• Once fully cooked let the cake cool down before feeding and wrapping

Clean Eating Christmas Cake Recipe