Dr Shamilah Lachal is always the first to usher in the festive spirit at our practice, and this year is no exception.

She’s delighted to share her much-loved gluten-free fruit cake recipe, an adaptation of Charmaine Solomon’s classic Sri Lankan Christmas Cake. Over the years, Shamilah has refined and balanced the ingredients to perfection, creating a version that everyone can enjoy. It’s rich, fragrant, and completely gluten-free.

SHAMILAH’S TIPS

  • Soak the fruit 1-2 weeks ahead, store in cool, dark spot 
  • You can bake the cake a few weeks before and if you wish, douse it in a little bit of alcohol each week in the lead up to eating!
  • Preheat the oven, 130 degrees (fan-forced)
  • I line the cake tins on the sides and base. I actually line the base 3 times !! There’s lots of sweet dried fruit in this cake and I am careful to avoid burning the bottom. My Mum taught me to do this, she would even use 1 layer of brown paper too.
  • The cake mix gives you a 25 cm cake and I always have extra batter left to fill another 1-2 slightly smaller cake tins that I have. Once you see how much batter you end up with, you’ll know :)

INGREDIENTS

  • Dried fruit- I use about 1.25 kg. I use sultanas and raisins to make up about two thirds of the fruit mix and then for the remaining third, I add glace cherries, glace ginger and some mixed peel. (I happen to LOVE glace fruit, so I add more, but if you are not as much of a fan, you can use other dried fruit that you like). You can use up to 2kg of dried fruit, depends on your preference.
  • Raw almonds (skinned) 250 g 
  • 1/4 cup brandy or rum (I prefer brandy)
  • 375g butter, softened
  • 500g caster sugar (I tend to add a bit less as the fruit is so sweet, but again, personal preference)
  • 12 egg yolks, 6 egg whites
  • 2 tsp lemon rind
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamon, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 3/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 tbsp vanilla essence,1 tbsp almond essence, 2 tsp rose essence
  • 1 tbsp honey (soften in microwave if very firm)
  • 125g almond meal, 3 tbsp mung bean flour, 3 tbsp rice flour – I’m sure you can use your own gluten free mix, if you already have one.

* For NON gluten-free version, you would use 250g semolina instead of this mix.

METHOD

Cut up the fruit and nuts and leave to soak/macerate in the brandy for 1-2 weeks

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, add in the egg yolks one by one, then add in the rind, spices, essences and honey, and cream further

The kitchen will be filled with the most irresistible festive aroma by now!

Add the macerated fruit and nut mix to the bowl and combine

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites till stiff and GENTLY fold them into the mixture. This cake is dense and the egg whites lighten it a little.

Bake cake in pre-heated oven slowly for 1 1/2 to 2 hours

My oven’s temperature isn’t always even, so I cover the cake with foil so that the top doesn’t burn. You could always add foil at the beginning and remove halfway through the cooking time.

For darker, drier cake, you can bake it for longer if you like.

Let the cake cool completely, then douse with a little brandy before wrapping in foil till ready to serve.

I hope you like it. After many trials of many different fruitcakes, this is my absolute fave.

Serve as little pieces as it is a pretty sweet dense cake.