Christmas is well and truly on its way. The tree is up and waiting to be covered in lights, tinsel and all the other tasteless baubles that we have collected since childhood and now feel too sentimental about to throw away.

I do draw the line though at my husband's one eyed-plastic Garfield decoration, so I have hidden it where he will never find it ¿ among the cleaning products under the sink. Foolish of me to reveal the hiding place here perhaps, but he rarely reads this these days ¿ although he does quite a good job of pretending he does.

I think he just checks the headline quickly before he comes home ¿ how cheeky. Anyway, I'm thinking that after a few glasses of mulled wine, he won't notice the absence of the Garfield tree abomination this year¿ here's hoping!

Jasper the golden retriever has also entered wholeheartedly into the Christmas spirit ¿ namely by rolling around in the heap of pine needles I was about to sweep out from under the tree. It's better than his usual antics though as he prefers to roll in roadkill the rest of the year ¿ normally just before people come over for dinner or I pick up my Mum from the airport.

However, if anyone out there has several days they would like to dedicate to pine-needle extraction from jasper's fur, please let me know.

Now, one day soon I'm sure I'll get through a column without mentioning gluten-free dairy-free cake, but today is not the day!

The highs and lows of gluten and dairy-free living is a favourite topic of mine, second only to the embarrassing but undeniably fascinating subject of poo. So for those of you who are just tucking into your breakfast, don't worry, I'm sticking with cake today.

If anyone is bored of cake questions though, email me through your queries and I will do my best to answer them. You can reach me at clinicalnutrition[AT]gmail.com.

Question of the week: I loved your gluten-free mandarin cake recipe ¿ you were right, not dry at all! Do you have a gluten-free Christmas cake recipe? If so, can you tell me how many calories it contains? ¿ EB, Paget

Last year I gave this out this recipe a week before Christmas. A little last minute and also frustrating for some who discovered there was a national shortage of dried plums¿ Further, if you are the type who likes to "feed" their cake with alcohol (not that I would endorse such a thing), you may want to make this now. It keeps for ages in an airtight container in the fridge.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you how many calories this contains. It's a recipe that I have adapted from a couple of others and so there is no official calorie count on it.

I will be able to work it out in a few days time so I will e-mail you the answer.

However, in the meantime, this falls into the "healthier than most" category. This cake is made from all natural ingredients and so avoids many of the artificial flavours and preservatives of bought cakes. Also, the ground almonds raise the protein content, which helps to steady the impact that the fruit-sugar will have on your blood sugar level. As it's gluten-free, it's also much lighter and easier to digest than many other Christmas cakes ¿ useful around Christmas time when your digestion usually has to work at max capacity!

Gluten-free, dairy-free Christmas cake

Ingredients:

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

110g molasses (I got mine from Lindos, 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

Method:

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 (8") or square cake tin (7") 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 110 C (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!

The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist. She can be contacted on 291-4725 or clinicalnutrition[AT]gmail.com