Sunday 26 December 2010

Christmas Fruit Cake / Kerala Plum Cake Recipe (With Video)

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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73 comments:

  1. The Christmas cake looks rich, moist and exotic, Swapana.

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  2. Cake looks fantastic :) yummyyyyyyyyy

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  3. Simply delicious and great looking plum cake..soooo beautiful!

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  4. What a great fruit cake. I'm going to try this next year. I especially like that you steamed the fruit...YUM! I'm going to try the fondant too. Thank you for the recipe. It does look quite simple. Hope I can manage it.

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  5. Looks so soft and delicious.. beautiful presentation :)



    Hari Chandana
    Indian Cuisine

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  6. wow, what beautiful color, love it.

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  7. Swapna...lovely cake, but what abt the rum/brandy part? where to u get that here?
    or, do u amange to get the original. which comes to around 45 kd plus??

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  8. Firstly i like to appreciate your efforts taken to present the cake so beautifully. And the second is that you have shared really a delicious and mouth watering recipe with all and that to free of cost. I will surely serve this to my family members and revert you back with their feedback.

    Thanks for Sharing,
    Cake Shop Mumbai

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  9. Hi there,
    This recipe resembles Indian flavored traditional fruit Christmas cake. This is rich of dry fruits and fruits which is a healthiest for health. To design it and make it look attractive try out the design ideas and Christmas cake designs which are available at: http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Shopping/christmas-cake.html
    Altius

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  10. Hi Swapna,
    I am going to bake your fruit cake for Chirstmas for friends and relatives.how did you bake 12 cakes in two batches? Do let me know.

    Cathy

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  11. Hi Cathy,
    I have a cooking range and in that I can bake 3 cakes in a batch :)... Glad you are going to try this cake... do let me know the outcome....

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  12. Hey, a different recipe for the x-mas fruit cake with ghee. Looking forward to experiment it. One doubt regarding the storage of the cake. Should I keep it in refrigerator or room temperature will be fine?

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  13. With the variety of wines u have offered, I am off to trying at least one this year. Pls. specify the size of pan for both the X'Mas fruitcake recipes.
    Thank you

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  14. @Nancy ~ You have to store the cake at room temperature... You can keep this at room temp up to 6 months:).. do let me know if you bake this cake :)

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  15. @Gracy ~ This recipe is for a ten-inch Bundt / round/ square/ loaf pan... Do let me know if you try any wine or cake...

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  16. Thnks for the reply,Swapna.
    Yeah, I am gonna try this for x-mas.Already soaked the fruts in rum.I' ve tried baking another recipe of fruit cake once.However all the fruits rested at the bottom layer. Appreciate if you could give any tips to make the fruits evenly layered in the cake.

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  17. Nancy~ Toss the fruits in mentioned flour in the recipe, then add the fruit (and any flour left in the bowl) to cake batter as normal in the recipe.The flour coating helps the fruit to grip the cake batter and rise better with the cake.

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  18. This cake looks fabulous, love the inside color. I want to make this fruitcake, just wanted to know what is the purpose of steaming the fruits. Is it okay if I cover a bowl with foil and then steam, I don;t really have a heat proof dish with a lid. Thanks, can;t wait to try this.

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  19. Hi Anju,
    Thank you so much for the kind words :)..By steaming, fruits will become very soft and the cake also will be extra moist... Yes you can cover the bowl nicely with a couple of layers of foil to make sure even a single drop of water doesn’t go inside the fruits while double boiling…. Do let me know if you bake this cake ok? :)

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  20. This is the time of year when one searches for fruit cakes. And I found yours after one year :-)

    Yummy and sumptuous it looks.I am tempted to try it out this year.

    Thanks.

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  21. 23 December 2011

    I have looked for a true fruit cake for years and ultimately found the perfect one. It was so easy to follow and the cake came out awesome. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the feed back... Glad you like the cake :)

      Delete
  22. The cake was tasty and good. Thanks.

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  23. Sharmila Bhattar Naufel12 January 2012 at 09:39

    Hi Swapna,

    I am going to try this Plum cake very soon. I want to know if the quantity mentioned can be made into one single cake? I want to make it for my husband's b'day?

    Sharmila Bhattar Naufel

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sharmila,
      Sorry for delay in replying... with this amount you can bake one ten-inch Bundt / round/ square/ loaf pan cake.... Do let me know if you bake the bake :)...

      Delete
  24. Sharmila Bhattar Naufel24 January 2012 at 10:30

    Hi Swapna,

    I made the plum cake and it turned out very well. I made sugar frosting on top as well. Thank you so much for the recipe. It was superb!


    Sharmila Bhattar Naufel

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Sharmila... Glad you like the cake :)

      Delete
  25. Thanx a tonn for this recipe.gifted my husband with this cake (his all time fav)on his b'day and he loved it. May God Bless You.....

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    Replies
    1. Hi Martha,
      Thanks for trying and glad to know your husband liked it :)... Belated b'day wishes to your husband....

      Delete
  26. Hey thank you so much for posting this recipe! I have seen my mother and all my aunts following Mrs K.M Mathew's recipe book. I just had one doubt.. Is it ok to skip ghee? I don't have ghee at home and I have never used ghee in any cake recipe.

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    Replies
    1. Yes Shoba you can skip ghee and use butter instead... but I must tell you ghee in this cake tastes awesome :)... Do let me know if you try this cake...

      Delete
  27. The cake was very tasty.....Ican't explain that much tasty.Thanks your receipy

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Rani for trying the cake and letting me know...I am so happy you liked the cake....

      Delete
  28. Hi Swapna,

    What exactly is heat proof container? glass ones with lid that u get in Lulu ? but then if the vessel is heat proof how will fruits get cooked..?

    Please excuse me for the dumb questions..

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    Replies
    1. Any container like stainless steel/glass/aluminium with tight lid will work... I use stainless steel Indian tiffin box for steaming....

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  29. Thank you Swapna..the tiffin box worked! and the cake turned out good!!!thanks a lot!

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  30. Thank you Swapna...the Indian tiffin box worked really well..the cale turned out good..Thanks a lot!

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  31. Let me know if you can submit a cake recipe for DNS. DNS is a blog cum magazine to support Indian food bloggers.
    Kindly mail me your recipe with a short bio of yours to ver.neha@hotmail.com
    (Make sure the recipe is yours).
    You can submit more than 1 recipe.

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  32. Hi Swapna, im gonna try this tomorrow { time permitting :) }. But would liKe to confirm that your storage instructions are no different for people living in hot and humid places like Chennai, right? Also, how long can I keep this cake unrefrigerated? I'd really love some advice from you. :)

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  33. Hi Rue, I have never refrigerated this fruit cake and even stored it for more than 6 months with out any problems here and also in Kerala too... make sure you bake it nicely, let it cool down completely and brush brandy / rum nicely... cover with parchment paper and aluminium paper and store in tins. Let me know how the cake turns out...

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  34. Hi Swapna,
    I baked this cake - it is currently soaked in brandy for x'mas(I made a few muffins with the same batter and it taste really good, even my 3 year old daughter ate 3 of them). However, my cake rose and then sank while baking (causing a depression in the middle of cake). Do you know why this happened? I am comparatively new to baking, but i think this happened because I did not mix egg white correctly?

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    Replies
    1. Cake sank while baking because of many reason mainly the oven temperature... your oven might be too hot and the cake might have baked well outside and undercooked inside.... there are other factors too will cause the cake to sink in the middle.. please do a google search...

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  35. Swapna,while steaming the cake ,should I add the liquid to the steamer.I mean the rum in which we soaked the fruit or just the fruits only?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jilu,
      First of all it is not steaming the cake. You have to steam the soaked fruits with the rum.

      Delete
  36. Swapna, can't thank u enough for this recipe... This is the third year I am making it and my family loves it...merry Christmas to you and your family...

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  37. Swapna, can't thank u enough for this recipe... This is the third year I am making it and my family loves it...merry Christmas to you and your family...

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the lovely feedback Archana... I am so glad to hear it :)... Hope you had a great Christmas. Wishing you family a very happy and Blessed 2014 ...

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  38. The powdered sugar mentioned in the recipe, is it just plain granulated sugar finely ground? or is this confectioners sugar

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    Replies
    1. Yes plain granulated sugar finely grounded

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  39. Thank You Swapna!
    I have soaked the fruits now for 2 days and noticed that the 1/2 cup rum has already been absorbed by the fruits. I soaked 700 gms of fruit, skipped cashew nuts. I was wondering why the fruit still need to soak for the remaining 5 days.

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  40. Thanks for sharing with us this wonderful recipe, Swapna! I have a question about beating the eggs. You mention here we should beat the whites separately until stiff. Are you referring to 'stiff peaks' since I don't have a motorized hand blender and it seems like a lot of effort to get the stiffness using a regular, manual blender. Is this the best way it should be done or do you recommend an alternative way to get the stiff egg whites? Thanks a lot for your time and inputs. Best, Akila

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    Replies
    1. Hi Akila, sorry for the late response... Yes egg whites have to be stiff peaks... if you don't have a hand blender you can use the mixy to beat egg white with it's whipping blade (circular blade)

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  41. Hello Swapna. You are ally a very talented person. so beautifully designed your cakes. I liked it very much. Thanks a lot sharing it here.
    Designer Birthday Cakes Pune

    Thanks!!

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  42. Nice cake Swapna. Plum cakes are nice to have. Really amazing. Thanks for the recipe, I iwll try it.

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  43. Amazing cakes Swapna. It is really good to visit your blog. I wish to add these cakes to my website.. Thanks for sharing..
    Cake Delivery in Hyderabad

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  44. Hi Swapna,

    I tried this cake last week , I just tweaked a bit by adding 2 spoons of kahlua too in the batter. This is the best recipe I tried so far. Thanks. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

    Regards,
    Anju

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anju,
      So glad to hear that & thank you so much for the feed back :) :) Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year to you and your family too.

      Delete
  45. Hi Swapna,
    Can i use brown sugar instead of white sugar and avoid caramelizing?
    If yes, please share the amount of sugar and water

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    Replies
    1. For plum cake you have to caramel the sugar for its real taste and colour. If you really wanted to avoid caramelizing just replace the whole sugar mentioned in the recipe with brown sugar. But I must tell you that the taste, flavour, colour and texture will definitely very different from the original plum cake. So make it at your own risk!

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  46. Hi,Swapna Can I use vegetable oil instead of ghee in recipe?

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    Replies
    1. Not vegetable oil you can substitute ghee butter or any shortening

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  47. Hi Swapna
    I tried out the cake. It came out well. My husband loved it. But it didn't have rich dark colour as shown in the picture.wonder why ?

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    Replies
    1. Glad to hear the cake came out well for you... Darker colour depends upon the caramelisation of the sugar... you maynot have caramelized the suagr to very dark borwn...

      Delete
  48. Hi Swapna,

    I don't see a link to any video in this recipe, though the description says with video.

    Thanks,
    Swetha.

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    Replies
    1. There is video in this post,, click on the third picture on this post or else here is the link to the video;
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZySGYJwJk&t=5s

      Delete
  49. Also is the stirring of the fruits for it to be evenly coated. Can this be skipped for few days as I'm going to be soaking the fruits for months.

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  50. best ever,been making it for 8 years, enjoyed by all. thanks

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