Special rich plum cake is perfect for Christmas and comes loaded with dry fruits, nuts, spices and alcohol.
Ingredients
For soaking dry fruits
1. Mixed dry fruits (black raisins, cherries, papaya, ginger, dates, cranberry, apricot, prunes, almonds, pecan, etc) – ½ kg
2. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, dry ginger powder – ¼ tsp each
3. Blueberry jam or orange marmalade – 1 Tbsp
4. Caramel syrup – 2 Tbsp
5. Rum/ brandy/ whisky/wine – 1 cup
For the cake
1. Eggs -3 (beaten)
2. Maida – 250 gm
3. Spice powder (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, dry ginger, nut meg) – ½ tsp each
4. Baking powder – 1 tsp
5. Baking soda – 1/8 tsp
6. Salt
7. Sugar powder – 200 gm
8. Strained juice of the soaked dry fruits – ¼ cup
9. Butter – 100 gm
10. Grated orange rind – 1 tsp
11. Grated lemon rind – 1 tsp
12. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
13. Almond essence – ¼ tsp
14. Pineapple essence – ¼ tsp
15. Plum essence – ¼ tsp
Preparation
For soaking the dry fruits
1. Chop the dry fruits and nuts and add the spice powder, jam, caramel syrup and alcohol.
2. Mix well and transfer to a glass bottle. Keep it at least for a week shaking the bottle in between.
For the cake
1. Heat ½ cup of sugar in a pan. Let it melt. When it turns to dark brown add ½ cup of hot water little by little on low flame. Boil till it melts. Keep aside to cool.
2. Strain the soaked dry fruits and keep aside.
3. Mix the strained dry fruits with the rinds, ½ cup of chopped cashew nuts and 2 or 3 Tbsp of maida.
4. Mix maida, all spice powders, baking powder, baking soda and salt and keep aside.
5. Beat butter, add sugar powder. Beat well.
6. Add beaten egg little by little and beat well adding essences. Add the cooled caramel. Beat on low speed.
7. Add the strained juice of dry fruits. Mix well.
8. Add maida mix. Beat on low speed.
9. Add soaked and drained dry fruits. Fold well.
10. Transfer to a greased cake tin lined with butter paper.
11. Garnish with dry nuts.
12. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 1½ hours or till done.
Tips
1. The older the soaked fruits the tastier will be the cake.
2. Once the cake is baked prick with toothpick and brush/sprinkle 1 or 2 Tbsp of alcohol on top 2-3 times’
3. Cool and wrap in butter paper and store.
4. It is better to make the cake at least one week in advance.
5. Treacle (dark caramel) recipe and spice mix recipe are there in this blog in Christmas special recipes.
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