Fruit Cake...What! For real it's good and gluten free

My dad liked to make fruit cake at Christmas but my brother and I were never offered any. I didn't care really because I had heard about "fruit cakes." From a distance I quietly watched and listened, fascinated by the time and care that my dad put into this fruit cake. I don't remember much time going into the actual making of the cake but I remember, dearly, that he kept it in a holiday tin with a rubber band around it. Nobody ever talked about the cake in the Christmas tin but regularly I would hear my dad pop open the tin, releasing the smells of fruit, spices and alcohol. He was checking on the progress I guess. Why was he doing this, he never baked anything else? Wasn't it getting moldy and stale?
With a little thought, I've figured out the answers to these questions. First, it's apparent now, why Tim and I were never asked to partake in the eating of the fruit cake. It's the same reason that it didn't get moldy and hard. It took a whole lot of brandy to make that fruit cake just right. The reason that my dad felt the burning urge to bake was that his mother use to make fruit cakes every year at Christmas. I have a feeling she also had a fondness for a very brandied cake.
With delight, I'm following in the family tradition of fruit cake making, but putting my own twist on the classic.

Fruit Cake
preheat oven to 350
1/4 c red raisins
1/4 c golden raisins
1c roughly chopped mixed dried fruit (apples, pears, plums, apricots, figs are all wonderful choices)
1 c. water
2 T agave syrup (or you can substitute with normal cane sugar)
2 T Brandy
1/4 tsp orange zest
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper

combine the above ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min. Turn off heat and allow to sit for at least 20 min.

1 c Bob's A.P. Gluten free flour
1/4 c white rice flour
1/4 c tapioca flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 T flax meal
1/2 c butter, softened
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1/2 c + 2 T natural cane sugar
1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c Silk SoyNog (you can substitute with almond milk or regular skim milk)
1 T Brandy
1/2 c chopped mixed nuts
1/4 c chopped crystallized ginger

Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan.
Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer cream together butter and sugar. When butter and sugar are light and fluffy, add the egg and whites and beat on high about a minute. Scrap down sides and bottom of bowl. Add the apple sauce, vanilla, Brandy and orange zest and beat just until combined. Next, add half of the dry ingredients and flax meal and mix on low until just combined. Then add the SoyNog mixing on low briefly. Add the second half of the dry ingredients, nuts and ginger and mix lightly until combined.
Scrap down sides of bowl, and pour batter into prepared pan.
Place pan on a middle rack in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hr and 15 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It's a good idea to rotate cake 1/2 way through cooking time to ensure even baking.
In my father's honor I drizzled a little Brandy over the cake right when it comes out of the oven.
The optional next step is two wrap the cake in cheese clothe soaked in Brandy, then place it in a holiday tin with a rubber band around it, and keep it in the refrigerator. Because the cake is gluten free and won't hold up as long as a traditional cake, I'd only let the cake sit like this for two days. After one day add more Brandy if the cheese clothe is dry.