Christmas Fruit Cake / Kerala Plum Cake Recipe

H  ope everybody had a joyous Christmas with lots of fun and food with family and friends. We also had a great time and the last one week I was so busy baking cakes and cookies. It was a baking marathon for me. Made some Sugar cookies for my little one’s school party (recipe coming soon:)) and also 12 Fruit cakes in 2 batches and shared with family and friends….We never buy Kerala fruit cake from shops, as they always have a taste of essence and shajeera, which we hate… I am not someone who tries different fruit cake recipes every year, in fact I stick to either this recipe or the one I posted earlier … both were regularly used by my mom … if I had to choose I would pick this one over the other…. The difference in this cake is the steaming of fruits that makes the cake extra moist and melt in the mouth kind ….So here is my tried and tested Kerala Christmas Fruit Cake recipe, which was published in Malayala Manorama years back by Mrs. K.M. Mathew!

Christmas Fruit Cake / Kerala Plum Cake

Ingredients:

*Butter - 100gms
 Ghee - 125gm

*Powdered Sugar - 300gms
 Egg yolks - 4nos.
 Vanilla essence - 1tsp.
 Ground orange peel -1/4tsp.
 Sugar - 4tblsp (to caramelize)

*Mixed dry fruits – 600gms (I used dates, raisins, currents, cherries, mixed fruits, orange peels, apricot, prunes, cranberries etc)
 Cashew nuts - 100gm
 Brandy/Rum - 1/2cup

*All purpose flour/ Maida - 250gms.
 Baking powder - 1/2tsp
 Baking soda  - 1/4tsp
 Cinnamon power - 1/4tsp
 Clove power - 1/4tsp
 Nutmeg power - 1/4tsp

*Milk - 1/4cup

*Egg white - 4nos.
 Limejuice - 3tblsp
 Sugar - 4 tbsp

Method:

• To Prepare the fruits~ Chop all dry fruits and cashew nuts finely and soak them in Rum/Brandy in a clean dry bottle for minimum one week. Stir the fruits at least once a day. (I recommend soaking the fruits months or a year in advance, the more the tastier).
• On the day of baking the cake, transfer these fruits in to a heatproof container with lid and steam this in a appa chemu/pressure cooker/steamer for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the fruits to cool completely.
• To Caramelize Sugar~ Heat 4tblsp sugar in a pan stirring continuously. When it becomes dark brown add 1cup hot water and stir until it becomes thick.(this can be done a day ahead)
• Preparing the flour mix~ Sieve together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, clove powder and nutmeg power. Toss the steamed cooled mixed fruits in the flour-mix well in a large bowl, so that the fruit is completely coated. Keep aside. (Tossing fruits in flour is to avoid fruits falling to the bottom of the cake during baking time)
• For the cake batter~ Cream butter, ghee and sugar; add egg yolks one by one and beat in. Then add vanilla essence, ground orange peels, caramel syrup and beat well. Add flour-fruits mix slowly alternating with milk to the cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour-fruit mixture. Stir well with spatula to blend uniformly.
• Beat egg whites till stiff add 4 tbsp sugar and limejuice and beat again. Fold in egg whites in to the cake mixture.
• Baking ~ Pre heat oven to 170C/340F. Line the bottom and sides of cake pans with lightly greased parchment / butter paper. Pour cake batter in to prepared pan. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4hours or till a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. (Start checking after 1hr) Cool in pan on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
• Storing the Cake~ Prick holes on top of the cake with a skewer then sprinkle a teaspoon or two of Rum / brandy over cake, let it sink in for a few minutes. (Instead you can use a syringe to inject Rum/Brandy inside too; I do that sometimes;). Wrap well with parchment paper and then in aluminum foil for storage. Every week, drizzle / brush another teaspoon or two of Rum/brandy over the cake. Aim to keep it nicely moist but *not* soggy!

I have decorated one of my Cake with Sugar Paste Icing/ Fondant Icing, that I blogged earlier. I am re-posting the same recipe again.

Sugarpaste Icing / Fondant Icing
(Original Post here)

Ingredients: 

1 egg white
15 ml/ 1tbsp liquid glucose, warmed
350g/ 12 oz/ 3 cups icing (confectioners') sugar

Method:

• Put the egg white and glucose in a mixing bowl. Stir them together to break up the egg white.
• Add the icing sugar and mix together with a metal spatula, using a chopping action, until well blended and the icing begins to bind together.
• Knead the mixture with your fingers until it forms a ball.
• Knead the sugar paste on a work surface that has been lightly dusted with icing sugar for several minutes until it is smooth, soft and pliable.If the icing is too soft, knead in some more sifted sugar until it reaches the right consistency.

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