Gluten free Cranberry and Apricot Cake

Good morning everyone. Nearly made it to Christmas - yay! Life has been hellish, so I can't wait 'til I get some down time.

I am determined to keep giving you my pre-Christmas posts, so I am taking some time out to post about a lovely gluten-free, dairy-free cake that I gave my friend Craig for Christmas. It is a Cranberry and Apricot Cake from the December 2010 edition of Australian Good Food. The photo in the magazine was so pretty that I had to make it.

I am not sure what this cake tasted like, but it looked adorable - see the photo at the top of this post. In the magazine, they dusted it with icing sugar with a star shape left uncovered, but I think it is handsome as is.

If you would like to make this gluten-free treat, you will need:

1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup brandy
grated rind and juice of an orange
100g butter (or dairy-free spread like Nuttelex, in my case)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup gluten free self raising flour
1/4 cup gluten free cornflour
1/3 cup white rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup chopped pecans


Put the cranberries, apricots, brandy, orange rind and orange juice into a saucepan over low heat. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the fruit from the heat and set aside to cool.



Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.

With a stand mixer, beat the butter (or dairy free spread) and brown sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flours, baking powder and spices together. Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients, together with the cooled fruit and the pecans, and fold with a spatula until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top:


Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Before serving, dust with icing sugar if desired.