Maria's Menu Christmas Cake

One of the interesting things about Nagercoil town is that Christmas is celebrated with a lot of fervour - and the Indian snacks and Indianised western snacks were readily available in the local bakeries.  The locals are very fond of their plum cake (that is what a fruit cake is called in these parts) and so am I.  The bakery that makes them - is called the "Greatest Bakery" - and everyone got their cakes from there.  Unwrapping these rectangular little beauties and setting them free of the tissue paper is a joyful memory I have and relish.

Personally, I was always of the perception that a plum cake is very hard to make.  I found this recipe and read all the reviews of the people who had made it and decided it was time to let go of my fears and dive right in!

I am glad to say that the cake turned out really well. I used a couple of my own ingredients but the original recipe link is here: https://mariasmenu.com/desserts/christmas-xmas-fruit-cake 

Thank you, Maria, for a wonderful, delicious recipe. I can see myself making this cake every year!

Ingredients: 

For soaking: (start 4 weeks ahead of Christmas)

2 cups mixed fruit (I used sultanas, currants, cranberries, figs and dates)

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts, almonds and cashew nuts)

Rind of 2 large oranges, chopped finely

300 ml rum

Soak the fruit and nuts in the rum for at least 4 weeks - soaking it longer is better.

 

For caramel:

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon water

¼ cup warm water

 

For cake:

2 cups plain flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar

250 grams unsalted butter at room temperature

4 eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon orange marmalade 

 

For spice powder:

2 cloves

2 cardamoms

Small piece cinnamon

Small piece nutmeg

½ teaspoon powdered ginger

For icing: (optional)

125 grams icing sugar

15 ml rum ( you can use water, I used rum to blend in with the theme of the cake)

Mix well and apply on cake with a spatula.

Instructions:

Soak fruits and nuts for a minimum of 4 weeks, shaking the jar at least once a day and topping up the rum as the fruits use it up.  If you don’t top it up, the fruits on the top will go dry.  Ideally the fruits are meant to be soaked for a month at least.  I used Jamaican Rum for soaking the fruits and nuts. Very strong rum, but the smell and flavour of the cake is amazing!

Picture taken on the first day of soaking.

This is what it looked like after 4 weeks:

Preparing the caramel:

Combine 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tbsp water in a saucepan. Heat it & let the sugar melt. When the colour of the melted sugar becomes dark brown, remove the pan from fire & add 1/4 cup warm water to this.  Bring it back to the heat & boil for a few more mins, making sure that the caramel is runny and not hard. Remove from fire & let it cool completely.  

Preparing the Spice powder:

Grind all the spices to a fine powder and set aside.

Making the cake:

Preheat the oven at  180 C for 10-15 mins, before baking.  Grease the baking dish & line with baking paper.  I greased two 11 cm diameter and 4 cm height  round tins - perfect for gifting, one 22x11x6 cm loaf tin, and one small heart shaped tin - 10 cm at its widest point.

Drain the soaked fruits & keep aside. Retain 4 tbsp from the drained liquor. Toss the drained fruits in 1-2 tbsp of flour. (This will prevent the fruits from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Sift the plain flour with baking powder & baking soda. Do this a couple of times so that the baking powder and baking soda is mixed in well with the flour.  Separate the yolks & white of the eggs. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form. Keep aside. Beat the egg yolks & add the softened butter to it. Beat it till it forms a smooth paste.

 Add sugar to this, gradually. Beat after each addition. When it becomes smooth add vanilla essence,  cooled caramel and spice powder and beat again. Add the sifted flour in 2 batches. Beat after each addition. Add marmalade and combine.

Fold in the beaten egg whites in 2 parts & combine. Fold in the soaked fruits & 4 tbsp of retained liquor.  Pour the batter into the prepared tins. Bake in the pre heated oven for 40-45 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 

I didn't want to waste the left over rum from the soaked fruits.  So, when the cakes come out of the oven, while they are still hot, spoon over the remaining rum among all the cakes.  It gets absorbed immediately and makes the cake moist and fragrant.

Unmould cake and let it rest on a wire rack overnight.  

To ice the cake, cut the top of a cake and turn it upside down so you get a smooth flat surface to work on.  Apply icing and smooth down with a spatula and decorate.

This was for a friend so I packed it after decorating.