“It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas”…. Woohoo my favourite time of the year!! I remember as a little girl, my folks would turn Christmas into the most magical time for us, my brother and I would always decorate the tree together, and then on Christmas Eve we would go to bed early bursting with excitement. My parents would then spend the rest of the night decorating the living room from top to bottom. We would wake up in the morning to find streamers hung and twirled in colour co-ordinated pattens, twinkling lights in every corner, candles burning, loads of presents, and then before we woke, Dad would sneak through and manage to get on a record to play Christmas carols. This would just blow my little mind that Father Christmas even knew how to work our record player (yes I’m giving away my age!)
Christmas cake and puddings are hands down my best treats, well…besides presents of course (dah) which is why I just had to work on a cake recipe. My family utterly adore Christmas cake, and they love nothing more than a big chunk of cake, smothered with organic clotted cream and berries. I have made numerous cakes from this recipe over the last couple of years, and they work beautifully every time, super simple and easy, you really do not need to be a fancy home cook to be able to make this one. Once you have made it, I guarantee your family will go bonkers for it!
I’m often asked how long this cake keeps for, to be honest I have no idea because I start to make it around November and probably make one a week until Christmas purely because by guys eat it within a day or two. I’m not one for a big unveiling of the cake on Christmas day but prefer to rather have cake available for when friends pop over or to enjoy a slice hanging out around the fireplace in the evenings. I do know my sisiter-in-law made it successfully a few weeks before Christmas and it lasted well, but I cant be held to that, so my suggestions would just be to make it and enjoy…then make it again and again!
If you love this recipe, please pop a comment on my website for others to see – feel free to share any changes or substitutes that you have made?
Save to BigOven 
Ingredients
- 3 organic eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut oil , melted
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup brandy OR orange juice
- zest of 2 oranges (one grated fine and one course)
- 2 cups grated carrot
- 3 cups almond flour/ground almonds
- 1 cup organic pitted dates/8 medjool dates
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1 cup organic raisins
- 1 cup organic cranberries
- 1 cup raw pecans nuts, broken into pieces
Instructions
- Soak the raisins in the brandy/orange juice overnight
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC
- Prepare a bundt tin by oiling it down with coconut oil and if you have add a sprinkle of arrowroot powder or tapioca flour.
- In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla and vinegar
- In a food processor pulse the almond flour, dry ingredients and dates, until chopped and fine
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently.
- Stir in the orange zest and grated carrot, raisin with the brandy/OJ
- Stir through the pecan nuts and cranberries
- Spoon the batter into the tin
- Bake for 1 hour - but do keep checking it from about 45min (oven temps vary so you dont want to burn it)
- Press firmly around all parts of the top of the cake to confirm it is cooked through, the density should be even throughout the cake (sides should feel the same as the centre). If it has more give in the centre then bake it for a few more minutes.
- Leave to cool properly before removing from the tin
- To decorate sprinkle a touch of tapioca/arrowroot over the top, wrap a festive ribbon around and decorate with fresh berries.
Love it Donna…. got out all my my baking goodies and ordered the ingredients!
You have awesome recipes, thank you for being an inspiration to bring out the “cook-baker” in me! I’m sure my oldest two daughters are going to be loving your recipes and waving a few whisks around.
Brilliant Jenn, I’m so glad it has inspired you. Please let me know how it turns out, any tips or changes? Happy baking darling xx
What a gorgeous looking cake! I’m going to making this for Christmas Day – can’t wait!
Hi Molly, apologies for the late reply, I’ve just back from a trip. Hope your cake turned out well? Happy New Year to you… xx
This looks fab Donna!
Ingredients are perfect for my dad’s Alzheimer’s protocol so he’ll be getting his fave cake after all! And great for the rest of us as well 🙂
Oh Nicola, you have made my day, thank you so much! I’d love to chat more to you about his diet and see what we can come up with?
Love your recipes! Very creative!
Thank you so much Susan xxD
Donna,
hope your doing well, can’t wait to make this for my brother he loves Christmas cake but hasn’t eaten it in years (health issues) but he could eat this one!
YAY makes my day when I hear that someone can have a slice or two of much loved cake again…thank you for letting me know!