Christmas / Xmas Cake Recipe (Gluten/Dairy/Egg Free)

I have been so exited to share this recipe on my blog as it is wonderful.

My Healthy Christmas Cake Recipe is Gluten/Dairy and Egg Free ! Yet it is the most delicious xmas cake you will ever taste, that I promise you, the taste is outstanding.

My Christmas cake recipe does not need to be soaked in brandy, does not need marzipan or royal icing, yet it is moist with a fudge texture, packed with flavour and has a wonderful roasted almond topping with a tasty dust of icing sugar on top.

My xmas cake recipe is gluten free, so uses no wheat or gluten products, this Christmas cake recipe is also dairy free which means it uses no cream, milk or even butter or eggs.

How can a christmas cake taste so good, without those added ingredients ?

Well.. Try it yourself and you will see why, as this is the most delicious xmas cake you will ever taste! I promise that if you served this cake to your family or friends they would be certain they were eating an "indulgent cake" full of butter and wheat etc, but the truth is they will be eating a very tasty cake that is so healthy and good for you !

My gluten/dairy free christmas cake is truly AMAZING.

Ingredients for my xmas/christmas cake recipe:

1 Vanilla Pod (chopped in half)
2 Heaped Tbsp Honey
2 Level tsp Candied Peel
1 Handful Almonds
5 Figs (chopped into quarters)
6 Dates (chopped in half)
8 Dried Apricots (chopped into 3 pieces)
1 Handful Sultanas
3 tsp Molasses Sugar
2 Level tsp Olive Oil
1 cup of Hot Water
1/4 Cup Hot Water
3 Large Tbsp Buckwheat Flour
3 Large Tbsp Brown Rice Flour
1 Large tsp Sweet Mixed Spices
3 Tbsp Honey
120g Tin Prunes
1 Level Tbsp Brown Rice Flour
1 Level Tbsp Molasses Sugar

For the Topping..
5 Tbsp Ground Almonds
2 Tbsp Honey (I used white English honey)
Powdered Sugar to Dust
Honey to Spread
Almonds
Apricots
Cocoa Powder or Carob Powder to Dust

Getting Started on your Gluten free Christmas Cake Recipe...

Place 2 heaped Tbsp of honey into a bowl with your vanilla pod that has been cut into half.

Add your 2 level tsp of candied peel, handful of almonds, figs, dates, apricots and sultanas.

Now add your 3 tsp of molasses sugar and 2 level tsp of olive oil. Mix well.

Now carefully add your 1 cup of hot water and your 1/4 cup of hot water. Stir well and leave for 2 hours.

After 2 hours you will see that your fruit and nuts have softened and plumped up. Take out both vanilla pods, scrap out the seeds and discard the pod shells. Place the seeds back into your Christmas Cake mixture.

Now sieve into your bowl 3 large Tbsp of buckwheat flour, 3 Large Tbsp of brown rice flour and 1 tsp of sweet mixed spice.

Mix your xmas cake mixture very well.

Stir your other 3 Tbsp of honey into your mix. Take 12 prunes out of your tinned prunes and discard the prune juice.

You MUST TAKE OUT THE SEEDS FROM THE PRUNES! Once the seeds have been removed from the prunes mush them a little in your fingers as you add them to your cake mixture.

Mix very well.

Add your 1 level Tbsp of brown rice flour and 1 level molasses sugar. Stir very well.

With olive oil and brown rice flour grease and dust a flan dish or cake tin. Pour your cake mixture into your oven dish.

Place into the middle shelf of a pre-heated oven at 180C for exactly 40-45 minutes. Take your christmas cake out of the oven and turn the oven down to 125C - place your cake back into the oven and cook for another 40 minutes.

When 40 minutes is up turn off your oven and leave your cake inside it for another 5-10 minutes. When you take out your christmas cake it will be quite dark in colour but it should not be burnt.

Leave your cake in its tin for 15 minutes or so then take a small sharp knife and gently help the cake from the sides of your tin. Turn it upside down then gently remove the bottom.

Leave your christmas cake upside down on your plate.

Put your cake to the side. Take a flat pan and warm it up with your ground almonds, make sure you keep stiring your almonds around with a spatula until it turns golden brown. If you take your eye of the pan for a moment they may burn so make sure you keep stiring, this takes only a minute or two.

Place your ground pan roasted almonds into a little bowl straight away. Now add your 2 tsp of honey (here I used a white set honey you can use which you like).

Mix well.

Spread a thin layer of honey on top of your xmas cake, this is to help your roasted almond topping stick to the cake. Spread your almond mixture ove rthe top of your christmas cake.

Dust generously with powdered sugar.

Place a christmas tree biscuit cutter in the middle of your cake, dust gently with cocoa or carob powder. Remove the tree shaped biscuit cutter and decorate the edges with strips of almond nut and dried apricot.

Enjoy your Gluten,Dairy, Egg Free Christmas Cake!

I hope you have enjoyed reading Jeenas Christmas Cake Recipe!

Do you enjoy eating Christmas cake ?

Ris a la mande – Danish Christmas pudding

The original name is probably riz à l’amande (French for almond rice), but the Danish call it ris a la mande. Whether it is originally French or the name simply got Frenchified, I don’t know, but I do know this is a delicious pudding if correctly made. In some Icelandic households it is served instead of rice pudding (see previous recipe) at Christmas. The first time I tasted ris a la mande, I didn't like it at all. This is perhaps because it was lumpy and the cook had left out the vanilla. I have since made peace with it, and like it just as much as the traditional Icelandic rice pudding.

50 g rice (not quick-cook or instant)
600 ml milk
1/2 vanilla bean
30 g sugar
15 almonds, blanched and slivered or chopped
370 ml heavy cream, whipped
6-7 (12-14 grams) sheets gelatine

Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan. Add the rice and vanilla bean and cook up a rice pudding (see previous recipe for method). When the pudding is done, remove the vanilla bean. Add the sugar, almonds and gelatine (prepared as indicated on the packaging). Cool and fold in the whipped cream. Decorate with slivered almonds before serving.

Traditionally served with hot caramel sauce or cherry sauce. (I’m looking for the recipes and will add them to the recipe when I do).

Syrup cookies – Sírópskökur

These are popular spiced cookies you often see around Christmas in Icelandic homes.

200 g golden syrup (may be replaced with runny honey or corn syrup, but will be less flavourful if corn syrup is used)
250 g brown sugar
200 g unsalted butter
500 g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg

Mix together flour, spices and baking soda. Add soft butter and mix until crumbly. Add syrup, egg and brown sugar and knead until smooth. Store in a refrigerator for 2-3 days. (BTW, this is not my recipe – I can not imagine that it needs to be stored for this long before baking. Overnight should be plenty of time).
Flatten dough until about 2-3 millimetres thick and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes.
Put on a lightly floured baking sheet and bake at 175°C on the centre rung of the oven until the edges of the cookies turn dark. Cool and decorate with icing.

Bibliophile’s shrimp sandwich

I'm bringing this to the top because I wanted to add a note about the best mayonnaise to use in the recipe.

While this is hardly Icelandic, I will say that Icelanders have a fondness for sandwiches filled with mayonnaise-based salads. Shrimp salad is one of the most popular. This is a healthier option that uses less mayonnaise.

2 slices of sandwich bread (I prefer whole-wheat, but French is just as tasty). When I intend to eat a sandwich like this while reading, I use pita bread.
1 small handful frozen arctic shrimp, thawed and drained
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
1 slice sandwich ham (optional)
mayonnaise (see note)
pepper or fresh chives

Spread mayonnaise on each bread slice according to taste. Put ham slice (if using) on one bread slice and top with egg. Top egg slices with shrimp, grind some pepper over it or sprinkle it with finely chopped chives and close the sandwich.
OR
Finely chop the ham and mash the egg with a fork. Put into a bowl with shrimp and 2 tbs mayonnaise. Give it a grind of pepper and mix everything together and fill the sandwich. This method requires more mayonnaise than the other.


Variation:
2 slices of bread
1 handful of frozen arctic shrimp
2 slices of sandwich ham
1 pineapple ring, finely chopped or mashed, and drained
mayonnaise (see note)
garlic to taste

Same processing methods as above.

A note on mayonnaise:
The favourite brand of mayonnaise in Iceland is Gunnars Majónes, which is thick and creamy with a slightly sour flavour that reminds me of sour cream or yogurt. If the ingrdients in a salad or dip are well drained, it holds well together. I tried using Hellmann’s mayonnaise to make this shrimp salat and I do not recommend it. The mayonnaise becomes soupy and merely coats the ingredients rather than hold them together and the salad has an unpleasant, almost metallic, vinegary taste that does not go well with those ingredients. If you want to approximate the taste of Icelandic mayonnaise, try making it at home, make it thick, use oil with a mild flavour, use as little vinegar/lemon juice as possible, and add a bit of mustard.

Icelandic liver patties - Lifrarbuff

It's the season when fresh offal is to be had in every self-respecting supermarket, and liver is one of the things I enjoy at this time of year. My mother used to make Lifrarbuff fairly often when I was a kid.

500 g. lamb's liver 1/2 - 1 cup flour
1 egg 3 ea. potatoes, raw
1/2 - 1 cup milk 2 medium onions
1/2 tsp baking powder to taste salt, pepper and/or other favourite spice

Remove all membranes and blood vessels from the liver and peel the potatoes. Peel onions and chop coarsely. Mince together liver, potatoes and onions. Mix in flour, baking powder and spices. Add the egg. Thin the mixture with milk until it is the consistency of porridge.
Drop the mixture by the tablespoonful on a hot frying pan and fry on both sides until firm. Serve with butter-fried onion rings, mashed potatoes, green peas and rhubarb jam. Fried eggs are also good with this dish.

Fried sheep's hearts

Slaughter season is in full swing in Iceland. This means that besides lowered prices for fresh unfrozen lamb, mutton and horse meat, you can also get fresh offal, which is not only cheap, but also nutritious and often quite yummy. While it is generally possible to get these products fresh year round now, it is more usual to find them frozen and when fresh they tend to cost more off season because there is less supply. This is also the only time of the year when you can get fresh sheep's blood to make blood sausages.

In the next week or so I am going to revisit some offal recipes I have published here in the past, but I am going to start with a recipe I haven't published before: Fried sheep's hearts.

2-3 sheep's hearts, or 1-2 pig's hearts
1 bunch parsley
1 tbs butter or margarine
50 g margarine or butter
1 tsp salt
300 ml water or milk
2 tbs flour
100 ml cold water

Wash the hearts well under cold running water until there is no blood left in them. Soak in cold water for a while. Dry inside and out with a cloth. Chop the parsley and mix well with the 50 g of butter and stuff the hearts with this mixture. Melt the 1 tsp. of butter and brown the hearts in it. Put the hearts in a cooking pot, add milk or water and salt. Cook for 30 to 60 minutes. Small hearts need less cooking and if the hearts come from an old sheep they need longer cooking.

Remove the hearts. Make a paste out of flour and cold water and use it to make gravy from the cooking liquid.

To make gravy, strain the cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring it to the boil. When it is boiling, you add the flour paste, stirring constantly. It takes a bit of experience to know when to stop adding the paste – just pour it in slowly and stir the gravy with a whisk and when you feel it getting thicker, you stop pouring the paste. Then cook it for a couple of minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste, and adjust the flavour with salt and spices and if you think it looks too pale, add a couple of drops of gravy colouring.

Slice the hearts and arrange on a serving dish. Pour a little of the gravy over them. Serve with cooked or mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables with the sauce on the side.

The hearts can also be stuffed with prunes and dried apples or browned mushrooms, in which case they need to be sewn closed, OR they can be cut into 6-8 strips, in which case they only need 30 minutes of cooking.