Christmas Fruit cake:

Day before yesterday, my daughter V was asking, ‘amma, everywhere I can feel the Christmassy atmosphere, why haven’t you made anything?  Please make plum cake.”

Immediately, daughter A said “No need to do that grrrrrrrrrrr, It has raisins, I don’t like raisins in any baked goodies. Make Red velvet instead of plum cake.”

Finally, mamma came up with this win -win cake for both –

This cake has no booze or fruit juice or raisins.

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Ingredients:

Dry fruits to soak – 1 cup (dried cranberries, tutti-frutti)

For the Caramel:

Light brown sugar – ½ cup

Water – 1 cup

Butter – 1 tsp

For the Cake:

All-purpose flour – 1 ½ cup

Baking powder – ¾ tsp

Baking soda – ¾ tsp

Dry ginger powder – ¼ tsp

Cinnamon powder – ¼ tsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Pinch of salt

Eggs – 2

Light brown sugar – 1 cup

Melted Butter – ¾ cup

Grapovin essence – ½ tsp

Orange essence – ½ tsp

Caramel – ½ cup

Dry Nuts – ½ to 1 cup (cashew and almonds)

Method:

• Make caramel in a thick bottomed vessel. Heat sugar and butter until it melts, lower the heat and add water, mix nicely and boil this liquid for 2 to 3 minutes and cool.
• Take dry fruits of your choice for soaking. Here I took dried cranberries and tutti-frutti.

• When caramel cools down, add in dry fruits, for soaking and keep aside for at least for 10 -12 hours.
• When you are ready to bake the cake, drain these soaked fruits, separate caramel and fruits and keep aside.
• This caramel can be used while mixing cake batter.
• Next step is preparation of the cake batter-
• First we will mix all the dry ingredients starting from flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, salt in one bowl and dry mix by using wire whisk.
• Now drop all the dry fruits like soaked and drained fruits, chopped cashews and almonds.
• Once again mix the flour nicely and keep it aside.
• This is the dry ingredient mixture.
• Next step is- preheat the oven at 180 degree centigrade.
• Line the cake tin in which you want to bake. I have used bread tin over here.
• Here I have used Grapovin and orange essence, instead of fresh fruit juice.

• Next we should make wet ingredient mixture. Break the eggs, beat properly, and mix in butter, caramel, sugar and both the essences. Beat all these together until sugar dissolves.
• Now wet ingredient mixture is ready.
• Usage of beater is over. Take one wooden spatula and fold in dry mixture and make a uniform batter of wet and dry ingredients by using very light hand.
• Don’t over mix this.

• Now pour this ready batter to lined cake tin and bake this for 40 to 45 minutes or until done at 180 C.

Enjoy this fruit cake in this festive season!!!