Christmas is a time of year when even the healthiest of the healthy relax their rules and indulge themselves with a few treats. Over the next week or so, almost everyone will be enjoying Christmas cakes, puddings and other holiday traditions, so imagine how frustrating it would be if you couldn't join in!

Now unless you have serious health concerns, it's unlikely that a few treats will do you any harm, especially if you eat healthily and exercise for the majority of the time. Yet for some people with food allergies or intolerances, even occasional treats can be off limits. This is because two of the most common food allergies these days are to gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, oats and rye) and dairy products. And unfortunately, most of our traditional treats contain either gluten or dairy, often both ? for example cakes and cookies contain flour and butter and chocolate usually contains milk or butter fat. How frustrating!

Now although gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives to cakes, cookies and chocolate have been around for several years, the products have previously been extremely disappointing. For someone who's living a gluten or wheat-free existence it's really exciting to find gluten free "bread" on the shelves, but crushing when you realise you've just bought reconstituted cardboard! And although things are getting better, few of the "alternatives" taste as good as the real thing.

But here is the good news ? there are some magic recipes out there that not only succeed in meeting your expectations, but also surpass them. One of the tricks (especially with gluten-free products) is to have them as fresh as possible, as they tend not to store well. Therefore, making your own ? although time consuming ? really can pay off!

Now although I promised you a Christmas pudding recipe, this is actually for Christmas cake. Before I print a recipe, I usually make it again as while I often just guess with the measurements, I know you'll all appreciate something more specific than "a couple of" or "a small handful". However, I'd completely forgotten that Christmas puddings need to be steamed for six to eight hours before serving, which as I'm a little last minute this week, didn't fit into my time frame. I was also nervous about giving you a recipe that demanded six to eight hours of anything! Who has the time for that!

So instead you have this Christmas cake recipe ? gluten-free and dairy-free so that every one of your family and friends can enjoy it. Merry Christmas!

Gluten-free, dairy-free Christmas cake

175g dairy free margarine (e.g. Earth Balance from Down to Earth)

110g molasses (I got mine from Lindo's, Devonshire)

75g soft, dark brown sugar

150ml Silk soy milk (red box)

110g dates, chopped

300g raisins

200g dried plums, chopped

110g glace cherries, chopped

225g brown rice flour (Down to Earth)

2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

110g ground almonds (I got mine from Miles)

2 lemons, the grated rind of

3 eggs

1. Place the margarine, molasses, sugar and soy milk in a large pan along with all the dried fruit. Heat gently and stir until all the margarine has melted.

2. Simmer for 1 minute and then take off the heat and cover. Leave the fruit to "swell" for at least 2 hours ? even overnight if you have time.

3. Line the base and sides of a round (8in) or square cake tin (7in) with baking paper. Make sure that the paper rises at least 5 cm above the rim of the tin.

4. Put all the other ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix roughly.

5. Add the fruit mixture and mix by hand or using an electric mixer on low speed. Mix well.

6. Pour the cake into the tin and smooth the surface with a wet knife.

7. Bake for 2 hours and 40 minutes at 250 F or 110C (fan assisted)/130C (no fan)

8. Leave to cool in the tin until cold

9. Ice as you would an ordinary Christmas cake, or make a "butter" icing using Earth Balance margarine, icing sugar and a little brandy!