Keto Holiday Fruitcake

Ingredients you need

• Sugar-free mincemeat: You want to prepare a batch of my sugar-free mincemeat head of time. You can even make it several days in advance.
• Butter: I usually use salted butter, but unsalted works just fine.
• Sweetener: I recommend a brown sugar substitute for the best flavor.
• Molasses: This is optional, but I add it for color and flavor. It will only add about half a gram of carbs per serving.
• Eggs: Bring them to room temperature first before mixing the batter.
• Almond flour: As always, a good finely ground almond flour gives your baked goods the best texture.
• Coconut flour:  This helps give the cake batter the right density.
• Xanthan gum: Because the cake lacks protein powder, a little xanthan gum helps bind it more and keep it from being crumbly.
• Brandy or dark rum: You can use water if you need to, but it does diminish the fruitcake flavor.
• Pantry staples: Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.

Step by step directions

1. Combine the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sweetener and molasses, if using, until well combined. Beat in the eggs.

2. Add the dry ingredients: All at once, add the almond flour, coconut flour, spices, baking soda, and salt and beat until well combined. Add the brandy or rum and beat in.

3. Add the fruit and nuts: Stir the mincemeat by hand until well distributed.

4. Bake the cake: Spread the batter a greased 8-inch round cake pan lined with parchment paper and grease the paper. Bake at 300F for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is browned and just firm to the touch.

5. Let cool: Remove and let cool completely, then run a sharp knife around the pan to loosen and flip out onto a patter or cake stand.

Tips for success

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making the mincemeat, you can simply soak some sugar-free dried cranberries and chopped walnuts or pecans in rum or brandy. I would do about a cup of each. I also recommend adding a little orange zest or orange extract to bring out more flavor. You may also want to add some sweetener.

You can actually purchase unsweetened dried cranberries that don’t contain any sweetener at all. They aren’t very good on their own but work perfectly in a recipe like this.

If you want to go seriously old-school, you can brush the cake with more alcohol and wrap it up tightly and store it in the fridge for a few days.

Sweetener Options

This recipe calls for brown sugar replacement, since classic fruitcake uses brown sugar. I like to make my own but you can use a store-bought one as well. If you choose one that has allulose in it, keep a close eye on the cake. It may brown on the outside more quickly.

You can also just use a granular sweetener and rely on the little bit of molasses for more of a brown sugar flavor.

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