Ringing in the new year....

Happy new year, dear readers!

This new year, I start by bringing to you this very special Christmas fruit cake recipe. I cannot boast of a favourite family Christmas cake recipe which has been passed on from previous generations. So, I thought, I get to choose/discover one of my own!

I love the Christmas fruit cake, or plum cake as it is called in southern India. I have been trying different recipes over past couple of years. And this time around I can proudly say that I nailed it. Well, I found what I was looking for. A fruit-rich, moist, dark and flavourful christmas cake. It is easy and quick too.

I watched couple of videos and read couple of recipes before finalising the recipe. The main inspiration for the recipe is the Easy Fruit Cake by Stephanie of Joy of Baking. This cake is also called 'Boiled fruit cake' because the fruits are cooked in a mixture of sugar, water and spices. It aids the fruits to soak in all the flavours. This is a good news for those who did not soak their fruits in advance, this recipe doesn't call for it!

The recipe does not contain too many spices. Just three of them, which can be easily found in any Indian kitchen. For dry fruits, I used a combination of raisins, cranberries, prunes, apricots. Prunes add a lot of moistness to the final cake. You can also add chopped nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios. The last time I used walnuts, they tasted bitter in the final cake. So I skipped it this time. The amount of fruits is slightly less that the original recipe. For candied fruit, I used candied papaya (tutti-fruiti) and candied karvanda/karonda. I didn't have candied orange peel at hand so I used orange zest instead.

I added a small amount of cocoa powder to boost the dark color I was aiming for. But I think the major ingredient which lends to the color is dark brown sugar. I replaced some of the water with rum. You can also use other alcohol like brandy, grand mariner etc. Or you can skip it completely like the original recipe. And for those who do not use egg, I think ground flaxseed can be used to replace it.

Also, no special equipment is called for. Just few pots and a large spoon to stir. So, a lots of plus points. What are you waiting for? Bring out your dry fruits and spices and get going! Here is the recipe.

Christmas fruit cake

Ingredients:

2/3 cup (140 gm) demerara sugar or dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/3 cup (70gm) white granulated sugar

1/6 cup (40ml) rum

5/6 cup (200ml) water

1/4 cup (57 grams) butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 pinches of salt

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

250 grams mixed dry fruits like raisins, cranberries, figs, prunes, apricot

Zest of one orange / kinnow / malta orange

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

slightly less than 1 cup (125 grams) candied raw papaya (tutti-frutti for those in India) and karvanda/karonda

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease, line and dust the baking pan(s). Makes a large loaf and a mini loaf or one 9" round cake. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a large saucepan or a heavy bottomed pot, put the sugar, rum, water, butter, spices and dry fruits. Mixed candied fruit will be added later. Over medium heat, bring this mixture to boil. Stir occasionally. Let simmer for 5-8 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool till lukewarm.

Add slightly beaten eggs to this mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla and flour mixture and mix. Stir in the candied fruits/peel.

Pour the batter in prepared pan and level the top and place it in the oven for baking.
It will take 25-28 mins for a mini loaf, 35-40 mins for a regular 9"X5" loaf and 50-55 mins for a 9" round. Test using a toothpick around 5 mins prior to above mentioned baking time.

Once done, remove from the oven. Cool the cake in cake pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Although this cake can be consumed immediately, I suggest to let it rest at least overnight for the flavours of mature. If storing for more than a week, wrap it in cling wrap and store in a cool and dry place.

Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or a shot of rum!

Happy Baking!

Shwe

P.S. : Regarding the long absence of posts on this blog, well, "What are new year resolutions for?!" I say.

May you stick to your resolutions this new year.

Happy New Year, again!

It's about time...

It's about time I log what I bake and what better way to do that than a blog. A little bit of history is called for here. I used to bake, learnt basics from mom, internet and books. My creations were savoured and appreciated by friends and family. They would encourage or suggest me to do 'something' with my 'talent'. So here I am taking a small step, putting into words and pictures the recipe, the final output and what goes behind the scenes in baking.

Here I present a banana almond raisin bundt cake. It is eggless, whole-wheat and yummy. This is an any-time-of-the-day cake, breakfast, snack or munch time.

I have tried banana in cakes earlier but this was my first try without eggs. The inspiration for the recipe is here. It includes cardamom (ilaichi / veldoda). I like cardamom but was a bit skeptical as to how it will work with vanilla and chocolate.  Since I was going to use cardamom, I decided to give it a desi twist. So out went the chocolate chips and the vanilla, and instead entered raisins and almonds. And while I was at it, I replaced some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I threw in some wheat bran as well. The bran adds to the fiber content and gives the crumb an interesting look as tiny golden specks. The original recipe calls for brown sugar. Since I didn't have any at hand, I used part white sugar and part jaggery.

The combination of banana, jaggery and cardamom was a winner I think. The fruit I used was the small yellakki you get here in southern India. It has a slight tang to it which gave the cake a nice flavour. Plump raisins added moistness.

I baked the cake in a bundt as it is camera, eyes and slicing friendly. And more importantly it was easily reachable in the rack. A warning for the first time bundt users though, a bundt pan needs proper greasing and dusting. Here's the recipe:

Banana almond raisin bundt cake

Ingredients:

1 Cup minus 2 Tbsps All purpose flour

1/2 Cup whole wheat flour / atta

2 Tbsps wheat bran*

1/2 Cup sugar, powdered

1/4 Cup firmly packed jaggery/gud

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 pinch salt

75 gm butter, softened at room temperature

3 yellakki bananas, mashed (about 1/2 cup) or 1 large banana

3 to 4 Tbsps milk

2 cardamom pods, powdered

2 Tbsps soaked raisins

2 Tbsps chopped almonds

*wheat bran is optional. You can use full 1 Cup all-purpose flour instead.

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Sift the flours, bran, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Mix the ingredients again using a whisk to ensure that all ingredients are distributed evenly.

Put the softened butter, sugar and jaggery in a bowl and beat till the mixture is fluffy and creamy. Then add the mashed banana and beat till smooth.

Add the flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with milk, starting and ending with flour, and mix till combined. You can add a tablespoon or two of milk, adding just a teaspoon at a time, if the batter seems too dry.
Fold in the raisins and almonds.

Scrape the batter out into a greased and floured 6-cup bundt pan and bake at 165°C for 30 minutes. That would be 180°C for 30 mins for a regular square or round pan.

Test using a toothpick or a skewer. Remove pan from oven when done. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then unmould the cake. Cool completely on a rack and serve yourself a thick yummy slice!

All in all the experiment was success. My kid, lets call him T (16 months old), loved it too. He seems to have a very developed sense of taste. Just the other day I tried something with blueberries, was my first attempt with the berries, and he didn't eat a second bite. hmm-mph.

I would suggest you try the original recipe too, banana and chocolate-chips is a great pairing.

Happy Baking!
Shwe