INGREDIENTS
QUINOA FRUIT CAKE
- 1 cup / 175g Quinoa
- 8.8oz / 250g Dried fruit like Sultanas, Cranberries and Apricots
- 4 Clementines or other orange citrus fruit
- 1/2 cup / 50g Ground Almonds
- 1 Lemon
- 4 tbsp Chia Seeds
- 4 tbsp chopped Pecans
- 1 tbsp Blackstrap Molasses
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Mixed spice
- 1 tsp Ginger powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Water
- 1 tsp turmeric (optional but adds colour and nutrition)
- pinch of black pepper (optional but works well with turmeric)
RAW MARZIPAN TOPPING
- 2 cups / 200g ground Almonds
- 6 tbsp Maple syrup or similar liquid sweetener
CHRISTMAS CAKE TOPPINGS
- Anything you like such as dried cranberries or goji berries. Dried fruit and nuts to make a pattern also works out well if you have the time and inclination
INSTRUCTIONS
- Soak the quinoa in enough warm water to cover it by a few inches and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
- Juice the clementines and lemon then pour over the dried fruit and leave it to soak in a bowl for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 190C / 375F.
- Rinse and drain the quinoa then add with the freshwater (3/4 cup) and chia seeds into a small blender and blend until all is broken up and no hard bits remain.
- Pour the quinoa and chia seed cake batter in to the bowl with the fruit.
- Cut the rind off half a lemon skin and half a clementine then slice thinly and add to the cake mixture bowl.
- Add everything else (apart from the frosting and topping ingredients) to the bowl and mix well.
- Pour the gluten free fruit cake batter into a lined tin that's about 8" in diameter. Can use a loaf tin or individual tins if you prefer.
- Place quinoa fruit cake into the oven in the middle and bake for 40 minutes. Remove when the top is golden. As it's gluten free it's difficult to tell by sticking a knife in if it's cooked as it will still be soft even when cooked.
- Leave to cool for half an hour for the healthy fruit cake to firm up before removing from the tin.
- Enjoy the cake! Or if frosting your quinoa fruit cake; blend together all the ground almonds until they become creamy. This will take several minutes and need breaks to push the almond powder down on tothe blade. A small bullet is best for this.
- Once the almond frosting comes together in a ball and starts to release it's oils stir in the sweetener like maple syrup. Once the sweetener is added don't blend anymore.
- Use a shiny surface like a plate or non-stick paper on a chopping board to push the raw almond marzipan down and spread to make a flat disk. Use your fingers to push it out, turn regularly to stop it sticking then use a spoon to smooth it off once you've got the right size.
- Place the raw marzipan on top or just use normal marzipan if you prefer then decorate with dried fruit such as cranberries and goji berries or nuts.
- Enjoy easy vegan fruit cake within a 5 days and keep in the fridge. As it's a quinoa cake it won't last as long as a normal Christmas cake that's made with flour, butter and sugar.