Flourless nut and glac! fruitcake?

lostinrates

Long shot but can anyone help?

My mother use to make a glace fruit and nut cake in a bundt tin that I am almost certain she got the recipe for from a broad sheet news paper, but might have been a magazine.

It almost needed a saw to cut through and the only sweetness, I think, was from the glace fruit, but might have been some it whatever bound them and the nuts together. It was there for people who didn't have alcohol in fruitcake or had other allergies iirc. She has lost the recipe and cannot recall any of it apart from the fact I didn't like it much then. I do remember it was a nightmare to cut through but was beautiful, wreath like, and perhaps a little dry. The adult me remembers it fondly though, and with increasing difficulty with food it might be something I can eat this Christmas!

It will not have been a cheap cake, because it was all expensive fruit and nuts, The nearest I have found is this

http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/11/04/christmas-fruit-and-nut-cakes/. Which I might have a go at.

But I wondered if any old stylers had any similar recipes for something like it? I'm looking for preferably Flourless and definitely dairy free, ( or adaptable to be so) just a ring of nuts and glace fruit bound together!

katieowl_2

Recipe I was thinking off which is similar to the one you mention is called murrumbidgee cake but a quick look at the recipes online do have flour in...and eggs? Can your cake have eggs?

lostinrates

katieowl wrote: »

Recipe I was thinking off which is similar to the one you mention is called murrumbidgee cake but a quick look at the recipes online do have flour in...and eggs? Can your cake have eggs?

I CPU
D probably replace flour with ground almonds. Eggs, I'd be interested in the recipes.

Because my diet has had to change so much I'm having to think of new things to bake. I don't mind not eating some of my baking, but nice to have some recipes I can try.

We don't know about eggs yet, I'm still eating them with mixed results.

katieowl_2

Will have a poke around and get back to you...


Kate

lostinrates

katieowl wrote: »

Will have a poke around and get back to you...


Kate

Thank you very much!

gsymoo

Theres a type of cake called a cathedral cake. So called, because it has alot of dried fruit and nuts in it (and vary little cake holding it together) When you cut it thinly its meant to look like a stained glass window.

I seem to remember my mum having a recipe in a Jane Asher book and theres a few recipes online as well. (Sadly she doesn't have it anymore)

Hope that helps.

lostinrates

http://www.foodlovers.co.nz/recipes/cathedral-christmas-cake.htm

Wow, and its beautiful!

It has flour I could probably replace. Haven't eaten dried fruit for a while, now, love it though.

katieowl_2

lostinrates wrote: »

http://www.foodlovers.co.nz/recipes/cathedral-christmas-cake.htm

Wow, and its beautiful!

It has flour I could probably replace. Haven't eaten dried fruit for a while, now, love it though.

That link isn't coming up for me, but have a look at this one :http://www.recipelion.com/Cake-Recipes/Old-Fashinoed-Cathedral-Window-Cake it's only got 3/4 cup of flour in, so I'm pretty sure if you replaced that with Doves farm GF it would work ok

One of the ones I was thinking of is this:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4969/fruitfilled-clementine-cake

I was thinking of running with that as a GF Xmas cake for my cake stall. I trialled it and it was a bit wet, so it either needed longer cooking or I think a ring pan would work really well. The taste was great though. I make two cakes regularly one is lemon berry which has polenta and almonds, and frozen summer berries and a Spanish orange cake, which has whole boiled oranges and ground almonds, the clementine cake is a bit of a hybrid of the two which is why I thought it might work out well. If you want either of my usual recipes give me a shout.

I also found this: http://suite101.com/a/rich-fruit-cake-with-orange-whiskey-marmalade-in-ten-easy-steps-a324261
which looks nice you could easily leave out the rum and add a little OJ if it needs more liquid. The ratio of flour to fruit in that is quite small which would suggest that the cathedral cake would work quite well.

Kate

lostinrates

katieowl wrote: »

That link isn't coming up for me, but have a look at this one :http://www.recipelion.com/Cake-Recipes/Old-Fashinoed-Cathedral-Window-Cake it's only got 3/4 cup of flour in, so I'm pretty sure if you replaced that with Doves farm GF it would work ok

One of the ones I was thinking of is this:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4969/fruitfilled-clementine-cake

I was thinking of running with that as a GF Xmas cake for my cake stall. I trialled it and it was a bit wet, so it either needed longer cooking or I think a ring pan would work really well. The taste was great though. I make two cakes regularly one is lemon berry which has polenta and almonds, and frozen summer berries and a Spanish orange cake, which has whole boiled oranges and ground almonds, the clementine cake is a bit of a hybrid of the two which is why I thought it might work out well. If you want either of my usual recipes give me a shout.

I also found this: http://suite101.com/a/rich-fruit-cake-with-orange-whiskey-marmalade-in-ten-easy-steps-a324261
which looks nice you could easily leave out the rum and add a little OJ if it needs more liquid. The ratio of flour to fruit in that is quite small which would suggest that the cathedral cake would work quite well.

Kate

Kate they all look fabulous. The clementine one looks just my sort of thing, and to that end I'd love both your recipes if you don't mind sharing! Citrus and almonds are probably my favourite things in the world for cakes.

(And I'd swap chocolate for a prune d'agen any day of the week ....)

I don't need a lot of cake at all, but something to stop me looking prissy. Pious and unsociable, especially with clients and people popping in now in the seasonal build up is going to be fabulous.

katieowl_2

I'm not one of those mean GF bakers who won't share It's bad enough to have to eat GF we need all the treats we can get:


Lemon Berry cakes

350g Butter
350g Caster sugar
6 Eggs
200g Ground almonds
300g Fine polenta
4 tsp baking powder
Rind two Lemons
4 teaspoons lemon juice
500g frozen fruit – checked for stones! (Mr T. non branded summer fruits is the nicest...has cherries in, but do check them for stones!)

Icing sugar to finish

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, beat and add polenta, almonds, baking powder, rind and juice of lemons. Mix in frozen fruit, put into lined tins. Makes 4 X 1lb Loaf tins or two of the 20cm Square tins. Cook for 45 mins @ 180c Dust with icing sugar when cold.
Bear in mind this is my market recipe which is why it makes so much cake - it freezes perfectly, so worth doing in bulk if you have enough tins!


Spanish Orange cake

Three oranges
255g Caster sugar
6 free range eggs - separated
340g ground almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of salt


Boil the oranges in water for two hours, drain and cool for 20 mins, cut up and remove pips putting whole orange pieces and any juice into magimix/blender. Liquidise with the sugar and egg yolks, almonds and cinnamon.
Whisk the egg whites use a hand held/stand mixer for best result with pinch of salt until firm and fold into the cake mixture. Spoon into prepared lined (Bottom and sides) 9 " tin and bake @180c for about an hour and a half. Turn it down if it gets too brown or cover with baking paper. Will still be slightly moist when cooked, but firms. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar. Also freezes beautifully.

You can boil the oranges the day before and leave to get completely cold before liquidising, I've even boiled them then frozen them cos' I ran out of time, defrosted a week later and carried on as normal.

Kate

PS the lemon berry is one of my best sellers, even to non-gf people and is based on an italian recipe, and the Spanish Orange is a traditonal recipe. So they are not 'GF' substitues for real cake ISWIM. There is also a River Cafe Lemon and almond polenta cake - recipe here: http://foodfromflossie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/river-cafe-polenta-almond-and-lemon-cake.html which is really nice too...but it's a 12" tin recipe. I think I've made it in smaller tins, I can't remember, but if you have tins you can zero the mixture in each tin is around 500g

lostinrates

Thanks Kate!

Presumably I can swap the butter for another fat? (I think I miss butter and milk most of all ATM on my crazy health imposed food issues). I'm not keen on that alternative that begins in m, (cannot even type it ) coconut oil might work?