My Gluten Free Christmas Cakes

Right, so… I wanted to create something super duper simple that you can put together in very little time, with very few ingredients and looks fab every time.

We all love a gingerbread house at Christmas but by the time you’ve got around to the manic panic of Christmas shopping, wrapping and tree decorating, not many of us have time for that. And they can be a bit tricky to make them look remotely respectable, right?!

So, without further ado, I introduce to you, my 3 little Christmas characters!! Ticking all the boxes – great tasting and simple-to-make… and looking cute whilst doing it.

All of my little guys are gluten & dairy free!

My Flour of Choice

I often receive messages from my lovely followers about their baking troubles – anything from why their cakes are flat to why their cookies crumble. My first question is always “what flour do you use?”. I really do think the blend of flour makes a hugeeeee difference and having tried loads of brands out there, I can hand on heart tell you FREEE is the best.

Also, its mega important to know that all FREEE products are produced in dedicated production facilities. We are safe!

My Confession

I have to confess, I used to be a packet mix snob. For some reason, I’d assumed they wouldn’t be as good baking from scratch but actually:
1) It means you barely need to measure ANYTHING – result
2) Prep time is minutes, at most – result
3) The end product is JUST as tasty – “really” I hear you ask?! YES, I promise.

I am now a mix convert, and can certainly promise this is all true for the FREEE mixes I’ve been trying out this week.

You’ve got so many delish choices in the FREEE range! The mixes range includes: Chocolate Brownie, Choc Chip Cookie Mix, Sponge, Pizza Base, Batter, Pancakes and evening White and Seeded Breads

Want to know where you can buy them?? Click here and you can buy direct from their website

The Recipe

Before you get constructing, you need to start by baking your chosen mixes – all the instructions are on the back of the packets and couldn’t be easier. Love you FREEE!!

Here’s a few extra bits to know:

• WHAT MIX DID I USE FOR EACH CHARACTER? Doesn’t matter, all 3 characters look fab on either the brownie or sponge bases.
• HOW MANY CHARACTERS CAN YOU MAKE FROM 1 PACKET MAKE? I created 6 characters per 1 packet.
• WHAT TIN DID I USE? I used a 20 x 25cm tin. The shape of the tin doesn’t really matter as you’re going to cut circles out of the mix anyway. Roughly the same as a 8 or 9 inch square tin or 2 x 7 inch rounds… you can make it work in whatever you’ve got – as long as the mixture is about 3 or 4cm in your tin and has the height to expand, you’re good to go.
  Haven’t got any tins? You could make either the brownie or sponge mixes in cupcake cases and top them too!

Pin Recipe

My Christmas Cakes: Construction

As per the info above, 1 packet mix will create around 6 characters. I wanted to create 6 polar bears (on sponge), 6 snowmen (on sponge) and 6 reindeers (on brownie)… so I've used 2 packets of sponge mix and 1 of brownie mix.

If you'd like to create a different number of characters, it'll be easy to scale the recipe up or down as needed!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 of each character

Ingredients

Sponge

• 2 packets of FREEE Sponge Mix
• 240 ml oil - I used sunflower
• 6 eggs

Brownie

• 1 packet of FREEE Brownie Mix
• 150 grams butter - melted, I used dairy free spread
• 200 ml milk - I used Soya (sweetened)

Snowmen

• 1 egg white
• 200 g icing sugar
• 6 white marshmallows
• Some decorations/sweets for buttons - double check they’re gluten free!!

Polar Bear

• 100 g butter/dairy free spread
• 200 g icing sugar
• 3 white marshmallows
• 6 pairs of edible eyes
• 12 white chocolate buttons - preferably giant ones but doesn’t matter if they’re regular size
• 6 milk chocolate buttons - size doesn’t matter haha

Rudolf

• Shortbread ingredients – 60 grams Stork block wrapped in paper, not in a tub, 90 grams FREEE
• self-raising flour - 30 grams caster sugar
• 12 gluten free pretzels
• 6 red sweets – skittles are gluten - dairy free
• 6 pairs of edible eyes

Instructions

Make the Mixes

• Pre-heat the oven to 180oC. Line your baking tin with baking paper.
• Make both the mixes as per the instructions on the packets and then allow to completely cool on a wire rack.
• Cut approx 6 circles out of each mix (I went for 7cm circles).
  >2 ways to do this: 1) Use a circle cutter or 2) Cut a circle out of a piece of paper, place it on your cake and cut round it like a template.
  >I just ate the scraps – you could turn them into cake pops too!

Snowmen

• Whisk your egg whites until stiff peaks (so it holds a peak shape when you take the whisk out of the egg mix).
• Add the icing sugar and whisk again for a few mins so it thickens up.
• Take a heaped tbsp of the icing and dollop onto the cake/brownie. Don’t worry if it runs down the sides, that adds to the melted snowman look 😉
• Take a white marshmallow. Draw a little snowman face on the front and poke into the icing. Add a couple of decorations/sweets for buttons.

Polar Bear

• Mix together the butter and icing sugar until smooth. You can just use a spoon but it takes a lot less muscle power to use an electric whisk!
• VERY roughly spread over the top and sides of the cake/brownie.
• Chop a large white marshmallow in half. Place onto the cake, along with 2 edible eyes and buttons for ears. Chop another button into a smaller nose shape and place onto the marshmallows.
• Draw on the polar bears smile (you can get an edible pen for this – or just use regular pen and pick that bit off before you eat it!!)

Rudolf

• Mix together the shortbread ingredients. I just use an electric whisk! Bring together with your hands and mould into a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 15-30mins.
• Pre-heat your oven to 180oC.
• Remove the shortbread from the fridge, bash the ball of mix until flat and then roll it out until a few mm thick. Cut small circles about 4.5-5cm wide.
• Place the circles onto a baking tray (preferably on baking paper) and into the oven for around 10mins, or until browning around the edges.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool before attempting to pick them up (otherwise they’ll crumble instantly!)
• Mix together the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder until smooth. Spread roughly over the top of the cake/brownie.
• Place two pretzels for antlers, the shortbread & sweet for a nose and edible eyes!

Print Recipe

**This is a paid partnership with FREEE but as always, the views are completely my own. You guys know that anyway, I go on about FREEE all the time haha**

ANY OTHER PREP?
o If you’ve baked one big cake/brownie in a tin, once it’s totally cool, you need to cut circle out of it. I went for 7cm circles.
o 2 ways to do this: 1) Use a circle cutter or 2) Cut a circle out of a piece of paper, place it on your cake and cut round it like a template.
o I just ate the scraps – you could turn them into cake pops too!