Christmas Fruit Cake: The star ingredient of all traditional Christmas Fruit Cakes is of course the dried fruit and spice. But did you know that good quality dried mixed fruit actually contains a heap of health benefits such as minerals, vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants.

Dried fruit contains polyphenol antioxidants that improve blood circulation, digestion and relieves constipation due to their high fibre content, as well as decrease oxidative stress (a process that causes disease and aging).

But can a diabetic consume dried fruits? The answer is a definitive yes, providing the choice of dried fruit is not candied fruit, meaning it is coated with refined sugars or syrups or saturated in refined vegetable oils. But the amount of dried fruits consumed should be kept to a minimum as they contain a larger amount of sugars compared to fresh fruits due to the dehydration process.

What makes this traditional Christmas Cake healthy is that its packed full of fibre (especially if you use freshly squeezed orange juice with pulp) that is known to control blood glucose levels. It also contains additional health benefits from the dash of cinnamon and cloves (contained in the all spice) that also has blood glucose lowering properties. So jump in there and spice things up with this simple, yummy and most importantly healthy fruit cake this Christmas.

Ingredients

1 kg mixed organic sundried mixed fruits
2 cups of fresh orange juice with pulp
1 tsp of almond essence
1 tsp of all spice
½ tsp of cinnamon
2-2 ½ cups of wholemeal self -raising flour

Preparation

Step 1
Soak fruit in orange juice

Step 2
Preheat oven to 150 degrees

Step 3
Add 2 cups of flour and almond essence to the fruit mixture and combine

Step 4
Add extra if required to make a firm cake mixture

Step 5
Place in a lined 20 centimetre cake tin and bake for 1 ½ hours, ensure centre is cooked and is firm and springs back when pressed firmly

Step 6
If not cooked cover the top with baking paper and cook for another 1 ½ hours, until firm

NB: Best left for a day to let flavours develop before eating. Serve in small slices as it is a rich cake

Per Serve:

  • Energy kJ (147 Cal)
  • Protein 2g (7%)
  • Carbohydrates 32g (89%)
  • Sugars 23g
  • Fat 0.4 (4%)
  • Fibre 4g
  • Sodium 19mg
  • Calcium 31mg

Serves 30

For other festive treats see: Pomegranate and Dark Chocolate Bark