I love fruitcake, but the candied fruits used in most of them are filled with added sugar. This year I made plans in advance and candied my own fruits. This required quite a bit of preparation prior to baking day since I also made my own low sugar maraschino cherries weeks in advance by adapting this recipe and using sour cherries from my parents’ orchard then turned them into glacé cherries by substituting Lankanto monkfruit sweetener for sugar in this recipe. I candied my own citrus rind, again by exchanging monkfruit sweetener for sugar in a standard recipe. I diced my citrus peels prior to candying them to make it more convenient for baking. I used mandarin orange peel along with some salt preserved Buddha hand citron and Meyer lemon I had in my fridge. I rinsed the salt preserved peel well and cooked them in the monkfruit syrup a little longer to remove the saltiness. I planned to candy cranberries, too, but found some commercially made dried cranberries sweetened with apple juice and used them instead. You can use whatever fruits you prefer and have easy access to. I used half water and half homemade maraschino cherry juice for the liquid in the recipe, but realized the reserved pineapple juice would impart better flavor. Use whatever liquid you prefer; traditionally some type of spirit or fortified wine is used. You can bake this in cake pans instead of a loaf pan, just be aware the baking time will be lower.

2 1/4 cups super fine blanched almond flour
1 1/2 cups canned pineapple tidbits, drained
1 1/2 cups low sugar glacé cherries
3/4 cups dried or candied cranberries
3/4 cups mixed low sugar candied citrus peel (orange, lemon, citron)
3/4 cups salted butter, melted
6 Tbs coconut flour
1/4 cup pineapple juice or other flavorful liquid
1/4 cup stevia/erythritol blend
6 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp rum flavoring (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp orange extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a large 1.5 qt loaf pan with coconut or avocado cooking spray and parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, stevia-erythritol blend, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined. Add the eggs, melted butter, pineapple juice or other liquid, and extracts. Mix by hand with a large spoon or with an electric mixer until batter is well combined. Add candied and dried fruits and stir until they’re evenly distributed. Pour or spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, level the batter with the back of a spoon, and bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden brown and slightly cracked and a skewer inserted in the center comes out dry. Let cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove the cake from the pan. Allow to chill in the refrigerator overnight before slicing.