This is our first gluten free Christmas and was very nervous about attempting the Christmas cake but I am so so so happy with it. This tastes just like the real thing and and is lovely, rich and moist. Merry Christmas!!

2 cups certified gluten-free oat flour (we grind up Freedom brand oats in a food processor or blender)
2 1/2 cups of Christmas Cake fruit mix (we use the Honest to Goodness one as it has no added sugar or nasties) 
1 cup dried cranberries (use ones that are sweetened with apple juice not sugar)
1 cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup roughly chopped skinless hazelnuts
1 cup milk (dairy or dairy-free)
3/4 cup basic prune jam (recipe below)
1/2 cup coconut butter (or shredded coconut blended at a high speed for 2 minutes)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoons of gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Ingredients for Easy Prune Jam
250grams of dried pitted prunes
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
Start by preparing a batch of easy prune jam.  To do this, place the prunes, water and lemon juice in a saucepan, cover with a lid and bring to the boil for about 5-10minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before blending in a food processor. (This can also be done in a thermomix for 5min, speed 2 on Varoma) You will only need 3/4 of a cup for this recipe and the rest can be kept in the fridge for jam or another cake.

To make cake, preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius and line a square cake tin with paper. Place the coconut butter, vanilla and milk together in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl along with dried fruit, nuts, prune jam and orange juice. Sift in oat flour, baking powder and spices.  Stir mixture until well combined before pouring into pan and baking for 2 hours. Leave cake to cool in tin for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack.

We are quickly approaching the Christmas season and over the weekend I made my very first batch of truffles. We become a little obsessed with truffle making at this time of year, as they are perfect to give as gifts and take to Christmas drinks and parties.

One of our favourite truffles are homemade healthy Ferrero Rocher’s. These are free of refined ingredients and processed sugar and taste just like the bought Fererro Rocher’s. They are also dairy, gluten and grain free and won’t leave you feeling sick or buzzing from all of the sugar.

In this recipe, I use raw cocao instead of cocoa powder. Raw cocao is very similar to cocoa but hasn’t been highly processed or had sugar and fillers added to it. It also has higher nutritional value than regular cocoa and can be found in the health food section of the supermarket or in health food stores.

Homemade Healthy Ferrero Rocher's
Truffle
1 Cup dried dates
1 Cup of skinless hazelnuts
2 Teaspoons raw cocao or to taste
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate layer
1/4 Cup coconut oil
1/4 Cup raw cocao
1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Hazelnut coating
1/2 Cup skinless hazelnuts

Place dates in a bowl, cover with warm water and leave to soak for 5 minutes before straining. In the meantime, toast the hazelnuts for both the truffles and coating in a moderate oven for 10 minutes. Remove hazelnuts from oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Place hazelnuts in the food processor and chop finely. Put half a cup of the hazelnuts aside in a bowl to use later before adding the rest of the truffle ingredients to the food processor. Blend at a high speed until chopped and well combined. Roll into balls and place in the fridge to chill while you make the chocolate layer.

To make the chocolate layer, mix the coconut oil, raw cocao and maple syrup together in a bowl. It is best to use solid coconut oil so if it is a warm day, you may need to place your coconut oil in the fridge for a few minutes to harden it up.

Remove truffles from the fridge, roll in chocolate and then roll in the extra chopped hazelnuts that you prepared earlier. Place the truffles in the fridge to set.