Christmas Fruit Cake recipe. This rich, flavourful cake starts with perfectly soaked dry fruits and is baked to perfection with hints of rum. Addition of spice powder is optional.
Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake
Recipe Link: Soaking of Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake
Ingredients for Soaking:
½ cup candied peels
½ cup cherries
½ cup tutti frutti
½ cup raisins
½ cup currants (deseed if needed)
Old Monk Rum
Soaking of dry fruits
Recipe link
Instructions:
Soak the dry fruits in Old Monk rum at least 1 month in advance. If short on time, soak them for at least 4 days to a week before preparation.
Preparing the Fruit Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
250 grams soft unsalted butter
250 grams plain flour
250 grams fine brown sugar
3 eggs (separate yolks and whites)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon soda bicarbonate
½ teaspoon rum essence
Method:
1. Strain the soaked fruits and set aside the rum liquid for later use. Deseed the currants.
2.Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks form.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and mix well using an electric hand mixer.
4. Mix in ½ cup of the reserved rum liquid from the soaked fruits.
5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and soda bicarbonate. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Pour in another ½ cup of the reserved rum and ½ teaspoon rum essence. Mix well.
6.Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the batter until fully incorporated. Add the strained soaked fruits and chopped cashew nuts, folding them in gently with a spatula.
7. Pour the batter into a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for approximately 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (Baking time may vary depending on your oven.)
8. Brush with Rum:
Once warm, poke the cake with a fork or toothpick and brush it with the reserved rum. Repeat the process at least 3 times at intervals of 2 hours once the cake cools.
Baking tray 8 inch x 10 inch
Homemade Spice Powder for Christmas Cake
Ingredients
50 grams cinnamon sticks
20 grams cardamom pods
8 grams cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1 teaspoon dry ginger powder
Method
1. Lightly dry roast each spice (cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and cloves) separately over low heat until aromatic. This step enhances the flavours of the spices.
2. Allow the roasted spices to cool completely before grinding.
3. Dry grind the cinnamon sticks to a fine powder, sift, and set aside in a bowl.
Dry grind the cloves and cardamom pods together to a fine powder. Sift this into the same bowl with the cinnamon powder.
4. Mix in the nutmeg powder and dry ginger powder with the ground spice mixture until well combined.
This recipe yields approximately 80 grams
Transfer the spice powder to an airtight bottle and store in a cool, dry place. Properly sealed.
please note: {optional}
To incorporate the spice mix powder into your cake recipe , add 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mix to the dry ingredients{ flour , baking powder and bicarbonate of soda } . Sift the mixture well before proceeding with the recipe.
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