In this recipe series, we bring you recipes by Julia Toon, culinary motivator and author of the book ‘Good Eating: A Taste of Qatar’. New recipes every week, 
straight from Jules of the Kitchen.
Organic Festive Cake Wrapped For Friends
A non dairy, gluten free, festive fruit cake for loved ones, family and friends.
My cooking philosophy is to be able to offer recipes for all interests. I am not a qualified nutritionist but I do understand that for some dairy, wheat, sugar etc are all intolerable and can cause dietary problems. So this delicious all organic cake is for those who wish to still enjoy ‘the same food’ as others but of course, fit within their dietary needs.
Happy Festive Season to you all.
20cm round or square cake tin
Dried fruit soak – 48 hours
Preparation time: 20 – 30 minutes=
Cooking time: 4-4½ hours
Oven: 140C
Ingredients
1 kg luxury mixed dried fruits – raisons, currants, sultanas, chopped pitted prunes and apricots
50g almonds – chopped (optional)
150ml of fresh citrus juice – approximately 1 lemon and 1 orange
150g coconut oil – chilled firm
225g sugar – caster, coconut sugar or brown sugar
3 large organic eggs – lightly beaten
125g plain brown gluten free flour – sieved
90g self raising white gluten free flour – sieved
1 tbsp mixed spices – cinnamon, cloves powder, nutmeg
1 orange – zest only
1 lemon – zest only
Decoration
Few additional blanched whole almonds
Festive ribbon and a decorative plate
Method
Prepare dried fruit
First clean all fruit by washing well in plenty of cold water; place in either a large bowl or colander and run under plenty of cold water.
Chop apricots and prunes into small bit size pieces (use a food processor if in a hurry!)
Place in a large bowl and add whiskey or citrus juice. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave in a cool place for 48 hours.
Before baking prepare cake tin
Use a 20cm round or square cake tin, lined with double layers of non stick paper, including a round circle for the top, with a small hole cut out the size of your thumb.
Make
Beat coconut oil and sugar together until thick and creamy.
Add eggs 1 tbsp at a time and beat well into the creamed coconut mixture.
Now add in alternative amounts stir in the soaked dried fruits, nuts, sieved flour and spices.
Add zest of orange and lemon and mix well.
Place the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin.
Smooth the top, allowing a slide indentation in the middle, decorate with a few whole blanched almonds, and gently cover with the baking paper top, aligning the cut piece to sit centre.
Cook
Bake cake slowly on the lower shelf of your oven and after 4-4½ hours check cooked by placing a skewer into the middle of the cake. If cooked the skewer will come out clean, and if not, put back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so and check again.
When cake is ready, remove from oven and cover with clean tea-towel and leave to cool in the pan.
When cold remove from tin, keeping original lining, wrap well in extra non-stick paper and several thick layers of newspaper. Store in a cool, dark place until required. Cake will keep a couple of weeks like this.
Decorate
Unwrap cake and place on a decorative cake board. Tie with an attractive ribbon and bow or add a decoration of your choice. If you wish to add marzipan and icing go ahead.
If sharing as a gift for someone special, wrap with cling film and tie with a festive bow (as in main photograph).
Jules’ tips: Always top cake with a circular lid of double non-stick paper with a hole in the centre – allowing steam to escape, enhance even cooking and prevent burning.
I always recommend wrapping the cake in newspaper rather than foil, as this allows the cake to breathe whilst maturing and preventing ‘sweating’ which would end in a soggy wet cake.Play around with different types of dried fruit – if you want to put in dates or figs go ahead, just as long as the total weight is the same.
Contributed by: Julia Toon, Jules of the Kitchen
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