Fruit Cake

If you have lived in Madras you have heard of Plum Cake in all the Kerala/Malayalee bakery shops. Its so tasty, available throughout the year.. and indescribably rich. It has tutty-fruity- mixed fruits cut into very very small cubes and either dried, or soaked in sugar syrup to retain its flavor. The advantage in Madras is that this tutty-fruity of mixed fruits is available in all seasons and in any grocery shop.

In the U.S fruit cake is baked during Christmas, and the mixed fruits container is available fresh only during the Christmas season. In any other time, we just find one fruit per container. So taking this opportunity, I decided to bake a vegetarian eggless Fruit cake. There are 2 versions to this cake. 1. traditional method - were the fruits are soaked in brandy/sherry from a few hours to a few days before baking. 2. quick fix - no liquid soaking.

I followed a recipe from a U.K vegan website but had to modify it quite a bit to get my desired fruit cake.

Ingredients:

Mixed fruits - 2 cups
Butter - 4 oz (1 stick)
Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Dark brown sugar - 1 cup
Mixed Spice - 1 tsp (I used Garam Masala)
Sherry/Brandy - 1/4 cup (can be omitted)

Procedure:

1. Soak the fruits in brandy or rum for at least few hours. Cover, keep aside. Keep stirring in between so the fruits get coated well, and all the fruits absorb the sherry.
This step can be omitted if using alcohol is not desired.

2. Mix butter and brown sugar into a fluffy consistency. Keep aside.

3. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices.

4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, little by little.

5. Finally add the fruits to the above flour-butter mixture.

6. Pre-heat the oven at 300F.

7. Pour the dough into a greased baking pan. I greased a round baking tray with butter and floured it, so the cake will not stick to sides and bottom.

8. Bake for about 1 hour at 300F, or until the cake is firm and a toothpick/knife comes out clean.

9. Let the cake cool for about 10 mins before cutting. Enjoy the warm vegetarian fruit cake on this Christmas day.

Note:
** flour the fruits before adding them to the flour-butter mixture if you suspect that they would sink to the bottom of the cake pan while baking. If you do use the above procedure that should not happen at all.
** If you like to use alcohol, but not soak the fruits in it - After you take the cake out of the oven, pour the sherry/brandy on the cake, and let the cake cool while soaking in the alcohol. In this case, you need no more than 3 Tbsp of sherry/brandy.

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