Festive Gluten-Free Christmas Cake

This luxurious loaf delivers holiday cheer with its medley of spices, fruit and nuts. It can be eaten right after preparation, or be aged to develop flavors. Makes 1 loaf in a 9 in pan.

Oven temperature: 300 F
* Prepare and soak the fruit mixture the day before making cake.

Fruit mixture instructions:
• 1 cup golden raisins
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup currants
• ½ cup dried apricots
• 1 cup dried dates
• ½ cup cranberries
• ¼ cup crystalized ginger
• 32 g dried cherries
• 100 g rum
• 1 cup apple sauce

Fruit Mixture Instructions:
• Chop apricots and dates.
• Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl.
• Cover with saran wrap and store in the fridge for a day so that the dried fruit becomes moist and takes on the flavors of the rum and apple sauce.

Ingredients for the batter:
• 113.5 g unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup apple juice
• 42.5 g dark corn syrup
• 180 g whole grain, milled Glenn’s Floury Corn
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp all spice
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp coco powder
• 1 cup nuts (Almonds/ Pecans/ Walnuts/ Pistachio) ¼ cup each

Instructions:
• Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
• Add the eggs one at a time to the creamed mixture.
• Combine apple juice and corn syrup together, and then mix with the other wet ingredients.
• In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, making sure it is well incorporated and the sides of the bowl are scraped.
• Once the batter is well mixed, add the fruit mixture and nut mixture.
• Line the pan with parchment paper and pour in cake batter
• Bake at 300 F for 1 hour 45 minutes. The cake is finished once the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Brush glaze generously over cake and wrap in cheese cloth.

Every few days brush more rum simple syrup onto the cake. Cake can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in cling wrap or in a Ziplock bag.

Rum Simple Syrup Instructions:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup Water
• ¼ cup Rum

• Bring the water and sugar to a boil.
• Stir until sugar is dissolves.
• Remove from heat and stir in rum.
• Cool and keep in refrigerator