The Best Gluten Free Fruit Cake {Dairy-Free too!}

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This is the only dairy-free and gluten free fruit cake recipe you will need! It is moist, fluffy, and full of the holiday flavors you love! Use your favorite dried fruits to make this cake with more natural ingredients!

A stack of three slices of gluten free fruit cake on a plate.

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Why this gluten free fruit cake is so good:
Ingredient notes:
Recipe Step-By-Step directions:
Variations:
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
More delicious gluten free cake recipes:
📖 Recipe
Fearless Dining
💬 Comments

I am so proud of this new gluten free cake recipe. Fruit cake has such a bad reputation, and I have always wondered how to make this cake better. I used dried fruits instead of those icky food color-dyed fruits, which makes my gluten free cake have much better flavor!

I will walk you through every step of the way so you can make this delicious homemade fruit cake at home! If you are a cake fanatic like me, you will want to check out all of my delicious gluten free cake recipes!

After you make this cake, give my delicious Gluten Free Apple Cake recipe a try...it is totally fool-proof!

Why this gluten free fruit cake is so good:

It is moist but fluffy.
This cake is also dairy-free!!
No icky food color-dyed fruit.
I give some fun variations so you can enjoy this cake in a few different ways!

If you love how this cake sounds, you will also love this Gluten Free Honey Cake recipe!!

Top Pick

King Arthur, Measure for Measure Flour 3 lbs

This is one of my favorite gluten-free flour blends for cookies, cakes, pie crust, biscuits, and muffins! (Do not use this flour blend for yeast recipes.)

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Ingredient notes:

Gluten free flour blend - I tested this recipe using Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend, Cup4Cup, and King Arthur's Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn't mean others will not work; I just have not tested other flours, and I can not guarantee the recipe will work if you use other mixes.
Xanthan gum - Xanthan Gum - If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
Butter or Oil - I used a light oil, but unsalted butter works well.
Non-dairy milk - I used almond milk, but other dairy-free kinds of milk will work to make this dairy-free spice cake. I do not recommend canned coconut milk.
Dried fruit - Apricots, figs, apples, raisins, blueberries, cranberries, cherries. Use any combination of dried fruit you love.
Nuts - I used walnuts, but you can use any kind of nuts you like.
Brandy - You can use brandy or dark rum in my recipe. I didn't have brandy, so I used dark rum. Be sure your brandy is gluten free!

Recipe Step-By-Step directions:

Step 1: Add your chopped dried fruit to a glass container and add the dark rum. Mix well. Cover and place it in the refrigerator. Let this sit for at least 6 hours, or even better, 1-2 days. Stir a couple of times a day so all of the fruit absorbs the rum.

🔑 Sandi says: I recommend using a lot of different dried fruits so the flavors all come through in the cake. I used dried cherries, blueberries, apricots, and raisins.

Photos of steps 2 and 3 making the fruit cake.

Step 2: Start by mixing up the gluten free fruit cake mix! Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Whisk to blend.

To measure your gluten free flour, I recommend using the spoon method or leveling method. In a perfect world, people weigh their flour, but most do not own a kitchen scale.

Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.

Use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.

Step 3: Add the wet ingredients, nuts, and alcohol-soaked fruit to a bowl and mix well.

Photos of steps 4 and 5 of making the fruit cake.

Step 4: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Step 5: Mix the wet and dry ingredients until they are just barely mixed. Do not overmix your cake batter, or your cake will turn out dense. This is what your batter will look like.

The fruit cake batter in a loaf pan ready to bake.

Step 6: Spread the batter in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes. Actual baking time will depend on the loaf pan size you use.

To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is done baking. If you see batter or crumbs, the cake needs to be baked longer.

A whole gluten free fruit cake dusted with powdered sugar.

Variations:

Add mini white chocolate chips to the cake!
Dust powdered sugar on top.
Add in walnuts or pecans for a little texture.
Top it with this creamy Vanilla Cream Sauce

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

Can you make this fruit cake vegan?

You can definitely make this fruit cake vegan by using an egg replacer like Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer or flaxseed meal (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal to 3 tablespoons water.)

What is fruit cake made of?

My gluten free fruit cake is made with dried fruit soaked in alcohol, gluten free flour, baking powder, eggs, vanilla, sugar, spices, molasses, and salt.

Can fruit cake make you drunk?

Some of the alcohol will bake off, but not all of it. If you drizzle brandy over your cake every few days, it will boost the alcohol content even more.

How long will fruit cake keep fresh?

This cake will keep for up to 4 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.

Can you freeze this cake?

You can easily freeze this cake. I recommend wrapping the cake in plastic wrap, then in foil, and placing it into a freezer-safe zipper bag.

Why did the gluten free fruit cake turn out dry?

If you used a starchy gluten free flour blend or didn't measure your gluten free flour correctly, it is possible your cake didn't have enough liquid.