Easy Low Carb Christmas Cake 

This is a firm favourite and easily customisable, so you can have all that you desire in a Christmas Cake.  

Cake size: 20cm
Serving size: 10 slices 
Carbs: 3g per slice totally depends on your choice of add-in's 
To calculate work out the carbs for what you put in the mix then divide by 10 to get the per slice macros. 

Preparation - soak dried fruit in sweetened water/tea/sugar-free juices
75g golden berries* + 50g low-sugar cranberries soaked in ultra-sweetener 2g pure monkfruit extract* + boiled water/black tea/sugar-free Oceanspray brand juices the night before.

Ingredients (* = available here at Keto Store NZ):
110g Butter softened (10 seconds in microwave) 
8 Tablespoons Golden Sweetener* 
5 teaspoons Spice mixture* (or 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves aka pumpkin spice) 
1 teaspoon almond essence/extract
4 medium sized eggs
200g (2 cups) Almond flour* or (2 Cups) Keto Flour*
1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum*

Add Ins (total weight 375g of any of the following as a guide: 
100g (1 cup) chopped walnuts/macadamias/pecans/any other low carb nuts
75g (1/2 cup) golden berries soaked in sweetened black tea overnight 
50g low sugar 50% craisins soaked in sweetened black tea overnight 
75g goji berries 
75g dried cranberries 
50g (1/3rd cup) dried orange and lemon zest
-= OR =- go non-traditional and add in
Dark Chocolate Chips (2g carbs per 100g)
Protein Crisps (zero carb) 
Substitute hardened gummies for candied fruits

Method to prepare zero carb "KETO CANDIES" substituting candied orange / peel in Christmas recipes 
1 - Boil the jug and into a mug, tip in the contents of the Keto Store Orange or Raspberry or Blueberry or Vanilla Berry Gummies sachet*.  
2 - Add 1/4 Cup approx 62ml boiling water and stir vigorously until the mixture is completely dissolved. It will be really thick.
3 - Pour out the gummy mix into a 8cm x 16cm sized container. The size of the container determines the thickness of the orange gummy. Put into the fridge to set. Slice into your desired size, then separate out and freeze before putting them into the cake for baking. 

Equipment: 
Beater and bowl or food processor 
8inch 20cm round baking tin 
Lined with baking paper

Method: 
1 - Line an 8inch or 20cm round baking tin with baking paper, and butter up the sides of the tin very well.  
2 - Beat the butter until light in colour and fluffy
3 - Slowly sprinkle in a Tablespoon of Golden Sweetener* at a time while still beating the butter. Repeat 8 times for each Tablespoon. 
4 - Add the spices, essence and mix to combine. 
5 - Add the eggs, one at a time mixing in between.
At this point I preheat my oven to 180C 
6 - Fold through the almond flour and xanthan gum, mixing until well combined
7 - Stir through the nuts and any optional extras
8 - Put the cake batter into the tin
9 - Bake at 180C for 60 minutes, testing the middle to see if cooked
Oven times do vary, so if cooking longer, set a timer for every 3 minutes to avoid it drying out. 

Hint: if you want to add brandy, poke several rows of holes in the top of the cake after it's cooked. While the cake is still hot, pour a little bit of brandy into each of the holes.

Acknowledgement: this recipe is a tried and true one that's been a favourite for many many years now! originally inspired from Ditch the Carbs but with a few tweaks along the way.