So I had seen this recipe for Chocolate Fruit Cake by Southern-in-law, which looked very enticing. It was a refined sugar free and gluten free recipe. Last year I had baked an Indian Style Christmas Cake which is brown in color not due to chocolate but due to caramelization of sugar. In India it is commonly called as ‘Plum cake’. However this year I wanted to make a paleo cake and so started looking for paleo cake recipes. And that’s when I came across a paleo chocolate cake recipe by Otto’s Cassava flour. I was thrilled to see that recipe since it was egg and nut free too which meant I could definitely try it. But then the Chocolate Fruit Cake by Southern-in-law kept haunting me 🙂 Since I wanted to incorporate the dried fruits into the cake too. So I thought ‘why not combine these two recipes?’.
That’s how this recipe came into being! I looked at both the recipes and then doing some math in my head (since I wanted to make a small batch and since I was mixing both the recipes), I then came up with a recipe of my own, which I then wrote down on a piece of paper. I felt like I was back in my ‘pharmaceutics’ lab in undergrad pharmacy school where we used to create different formulations of medicines by changing up the proportions of the various ingredients and then testing to see which one was the best 🙂
Well, I am pleased to report out the results of my experiment. The cake turned out great – it was a tad less sweet (which could be corrected by adding more quantity of dried fruits or by adding a little bit maple syrup). I have mentioned both those options in my recipe below. But whoa, I finally have a normal looking chocolate cake that I can eat! I used carob powder instead of cocoa making this cake AIP compliant. However, I decided to add some walnuts (AIP reintro)last minute since I have been able to re-introduce them successfully and I really wanted this cake to be a ‘Christmas fruit and Nut cake’ 🙂 I added a combination of dates, apricots and unsweetened cranberries. I love these cranberries from ‘ Honestly Cranberries‘. They do not have any sugars, juices or oils – just pure cranberries that are dried naturally.
Orange peels as well as some rum is my latest addition to this cake! Alcohol is ok on AIP as long as it is cooked off and the rum just gives it a deeper flavor! Over the years I have made some modifications to this recipe and I feel like I have perfected it now.
Anyways, a big thank you to Southern-in-law and Ottosnaturals for inspiring me to come up with this cake. I hope you like my Paleo/AIP version of Christmas Cake! I have made this cake many times now and have made it in a loaf pan as well as a round 8 inches cake/springform tin.
Here’s a video for this recipe. Check it out as I am sure that will want you to try the recipe!
Wishing all you guys a Merry Christmas! May you have a happy and peaceful holiday season!
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”– John 3:16
- 1½ cups chopped dried fruit (You can use any combination of dates, apricots, dried figs and dried unsweetened cranberries) soaked in ¼ cup hot water.
- 1 tbsp dried orange peel, chopped fine (optional)
- 2 tbsp rum (optional)
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 2 tbsp tigernut flour
- 2 tbsp carob powder or cocoa powder (use carob for AIP)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter (optional -omit for AIP)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans (omit for AIP)
- About ¾ cup hot water
- extra dried cranberries for topping
- About 10-12 hours before baking the cake, soak the dried fruits in ¼ cup hot water. Add the rum to this too (if adding). Cover and keep aside until it is time to bake.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F. Line an 8 inch round cake dish OR a 9 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and grease it with coconut oil. Dust with cassava flour and keep aside.
- In a small sauce pan add the water and the coconut sugar and heat for 2-3 minutes until you get a dark brown caramel. Turn heat off and keep this aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients except the hot water and stir with a large wooden spoon or a hand mixer to mix well. Then add the soaked dried fruit along with all the soaked water too. The batter should be fairly thick. Now slowly add the hot water until you get a batter that is thick but flowing. If needed add a couple tbsps extra hot water.
- Pour the batter onto the baking pan. Place the pan in the oven to bake at 350 deg F (or 180 deg C) for about 45-50 mins. (Check after 40 mins by inserting a knife or toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, then the cake is done). Let cool completely for at least two hours before cutting it.
If you skip adding the maple syrup or honey, your cake will be less sweet than a regular christmas cake.
After mixing the batter, the cake has to be baked immediately.
Hello again! Do you think this would work and still be good without the chocolate or carob? If so, do you think any other adjustments would need to be made to the recipe? Thanks!
I think it will work without the carob or cocoa. you may need to add a bit more flour but it should work.
Thanks!
This looks delicious and simple to make! We can’t tolerate cassava flour, but sometimes eat almond flour. Do you think almond flour could be substituted for the cassava flour? Or maybe another sub? Also, would it work to stir the nuts into the batter, instead of putting them on top? Thanks! I’d love to try this for Christmas next week.
Yes I think it will work well with almond flour. Yes absolutely you can stir the nuts into the batter too! Good Luck and Merry Christmas!
Thank you! Same to you!