Wish u all a Merry X-mas and Happy Newer 🙂

Kerala Plum Cake -Fruit Cake

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour(Maida)-1 cup

Sugar(panchasara)-1 cup

Butter(Venna)-150gms(room temp)

Egg-3(room temp)

Baking Powder-1tsp

Vanilla Essence-1tsp

Salt-1/4tsp

Cinnamon Powder(Patta)-2 pinch

Cardamom Powder(Elakkaya)-2 pinch

Cloves(karayam poo)powder-1/4sp

Dry ginger Powder(Chukku)-2 pinch

Nutmeg Powder(Jathikka )- 2 pinch

Sa Jeerakam powder(Cake jeerekam)-2 pinch (opt)

Honey-1tbsp

Wine -2tbsp(opt)

Rum-2tbsp (opt)

Orange Juice-1/4cup

Dry fruits of ur choice -1cup(cherry,dry ginger,kismiss,sultanas,tutti fruity ,dates,prunes )

Chopped cashew nuts-1/2cup

Orange Peel-1tsp

For caramel

Sugar-1/2cup

Water-1/4cup

Method

Preheat oven at 180 degree/350F ..

Chop nuts and dry fruits ..

Here i used black raisins(sultanas) 1/2 cup , 1/2 cup of tutti fruity ,dates,cherry ,prunes,kismis all together ..

In a pot add these dry fruits and nuts, pour wine and 1/4 cup of orange juice  along with honey..

Cook for 10 minutes in low flame ..

Then add rum and cook for another 5 minutes or till all the water content absorbs  ..

Remove from the fire and allow to cool ..Keep aside ..(there must be no water left .it should be completely soaked in wine and rum)

Now we have to prepare caramel ..

For that heat a heavy bottomed pan and add 1/2 cup of sugar ..(medium heat)

With in few minutes it will change into liquid then begin to change colour ..

When the colour becomes darker than golden colour pour 1/4 cup of hot water ..

Very careful while pouring water to the caramel.. Don’t burn ur face 🙂

Then mix well and cook for 5 minutes and then transfer into a bowl and allow to cool …

Powder the sugar and keep aside ..

Then prepare a baking tin ,grease it with butter and dust with flour ..

2nd Stage

Now its time to prepare our cake batter ..

From the flour ,take 3 tbsp of flour and keep aside ..

Add all the spices,baking powder and salt into the remaining flour and Mix well..

Then sieve three times ..Keep aside ..

Now take big bowl and beat the butter until soft..

To this add powdered sugar little by little and beat until light and fluffy..(about 10 minutes)

Then add vanilla essence and combine ..

Its time to add egg one at a time ..Beat well till all the three eggs are mixed well ..

Now no need to use the mixer ..

Pour cooled caramel to the mixer and mix well with ur hand (u can put gloves if u want 😉  )

Then add finely grated orange peel ..

Then add flour little by little and fold very slowly..

Add 3 tbsp of flour to the cooled dry fruits and mix ..we r doing this procedure not to sink all the nuts in the bottom..

Add this fruits-nut mix  to the cake mix and gently fold …

Now pour this batter to the greased pan …Level the pan to avoid air bubbles..

Bake for 50-55 minutes until the top turns dark brown and  or until a tooth pick or skewer inserted to the middle of cake comes out clean ..

My cake took exactly 55 minutes .. Don’t worry about dark brown colour on the top..It won’t be burnt inside 🙂

Now take it out from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes ..

Then dust with icing sugar and cut into desired shapes… Enjoy this yummy soft and moist cake …

The highlight of this cake is easy to make ,no pre soaking is needed and tastes divine ..

So my dear friends why u r waiting ,go and get the things and make this yummy cake for this x-mas …

U can keep this cake in a air tight container and the taste will increase while sitting ..

So don’t forget to share ur experience with me 🙂

Wish u a very Happy New Year  and Merry X-mas ..

Note : If u don’t want to use wine and rum,don’t worry u can cook the fruits in orange juice only ..  :)U can prepare caramel early and keep in the fridge …

A tip for my readers .. My dear friend and follower of curry world Shwetha Sethu Shared me this ..Thank u Shwetha dear for the tip ..How to make caramel in microwave ..

In a microwave safe glass big  bowl,add 3 spoons of sugar and just half a teaspoon of water to it.Microwave it for 2 minutes continuously,but keep an eye.it will start bubbling. Now again microwave it for one more minute or till the color starts changing. Make sure ,it doesn’t flow off the container. Once it’s caramelised,take it out and pour half a cup of water and microwave it for half a minute more and let it cool down(BEWARE whiling adding water ).now it’s ready…

 

Special Note : Some of u faced problems while baking cake ,i mean the top portion is getting burnt but inside very soft .. so as i mentioned earlier each oven temp differs ,so better to bake at 160 degree Celsius for more than one hour .. so after 45 minutes do check in 5 minute intervel.. otherwise after half an hour bake at 180 then decrease the temp ..or one more option ,after 30 minute wrap a foil paper and cover the cake tin so the top portion won’t get burn … try these remedies to get perfect cake .. 🙂

Love

🙂

Veena