Christmas Fruit Cake

Things to be done before the actual preparation of fruit cake:

1. Mixed Dry Fruits – Mix together 60% raisins – sultanas – black raisins and 40% dry fruits of different kinds (glace cherry, cranberry, blueberry, fig, apricot, Tutti frutti etc) and soak in brandy/rum/wine for at least 2 weeks. You can keep it in an air-tight container to preserve for a long time.

2. Orange Vilayichath (deep fried for a long time adding a few ingredients) – Wash  ½ orange or orange skin and boil it adding a lot of water. Then strain it to extract the juice. Repeat the process once more. Then add a little water to the remaining orange/orange skin and boil in low flame for 1 hour. Then wash it in cold water. Once cooled, cut into small pieces and add ½ kg sugar to it. When about half amount of sugar is dissolved, place it in flame and boil it till sugar completely melts. When water content is fully dried, take off from flame. Once cooled store this jelly in refrigerator like orange jam.

3. Caramel syrup – Burn ½ cup sugar in a thick bottomed pan. When it turns dark brown colour, take off from flame. Pour water through the edges of the pan. When a little caramel syrup is added to a little water, it should dissolve completely. If water is excess, boil it to reduce the consistency. You can keep this syrup in refrigerator. Store this syrup in air tight containers.

Ingredients for Christmas Fruit Cake:

1. Butter – 250 gm

    Sugar powdered – 200 gm

    Pine apple jam – 1 big spoon

    Honey -1 big spoon

    Caramel syrup – ¼ cup

2. Maida – 200 gm

    Semolina – 50 gm

    Baking powder – 1 small spoon

    Spice powder (garam masala powder) – ½ small spoon

3. Cashews blended well in a mixer (not powdered) – 100 gm

    Almonds, walnuts etc blended well in a mixer (not powdered) – 50 gm

    Dry fruits soaked – 500 gm

    Brandy/rum/wine – ¼ cup

4. Orange fried (vilayichath) – 200 gm (optional)

5. Eggs – 4

    Vanilla essence – 1 small spoon

     Aman essence – ½ small spoon

How to prepare Christmas Fruit Cake?

1. Mix together ingredients no: 1 and blend it well.

2. Mix together ingredients no: 2 and keep aside.

3. Add a little maida mixture to nuts and fruits separately.

4. Beat eggs well adding essences.

5. In the butter mixture, add fried orange (vilayichath), mix it well followed by beaten egg-essence mixture.

6. Beat the contents well, and add maida mixture and ingredients no: 3.

7. Place paper in two layers in cake tin and grease it adding oil or butter.

8. Pour cake mixture on its top and spread well.

9. Pre-heat oven in 180 degree celsious.

10. Bake your fruit cake for 1.5 hours.

11. After that reduce the flame to 150 degrees and cook for one more hour.

12. When the cake cools off (after taken from oven), pour a little rum or brandy on its top and wrap well in butter paper.

Note: The cake turns nice after 1 or 2 weeks. So prepare this cake 2 weeks before you want to serve for a special occasion like Christmas or New Year. You can substitute Orange vilayichath by a small spoon of grated orange skin.

Courtesy: Vanitha Magazine Dec 15-31, 2017

One more recipe for Christmas Fruit Cake 

Ingredients for Christmas Fruit Cake (Recipe 2):

1. Prunes cut into two after removing seeds – 1/3 cup

    Golden raisins – 1.5 cups

    Black raisins – 1.5 cups

2. Brandy – ½ cup

3. Butter – 125 gms

    Brown sugar – ½ cup

4. Eggs – 3

5. Mixed fruit jam – ¼ cup

6. Maida – 1 cup

    Self-rising flour – ¾ cup

    Cinnamon powder – 1 small spoon

7. Glazed cherry – 1.5 cups

    Dates split into two – 1.5 cups

    Cashews – 2 cups

    Walnut broken – 2 cups

How to prepare Christmas Fruit Cake (Recipe 2)?

1. Mix ingredients no: 1 with brandy, close it tightly and allow it to rest overnight.

2. Pre-heat oven in 180 degree celsious.

3. Take a cake pan of 23 cm size of good depth and grease it.

4. Take butter and brown sugar in a small bowl and blend well using an electric mixer.

5. Add eggs one after another and beat again.

6. Transfer the contents to a big bowl and mix with mixed fruit jam.

7. Blend ingredients no: 6 and divide into two halves.

8. Add one half to jam mixture bowl and mix it slowly followed by remaining half.

9. Strain soaked dry fruits from brandy and keep brandy aside.

10. Add dry fruits and ingredients no: 7 to the batter and mix well.

11. Pour this batter to greased pan and bake it in pre-heated oven.

12. Take the cake from oven when it is done and apply the remaining brandy on its top as a thin layer.

13. Place it back in cake tin and allow to cool.

Courtesy: Vanitha Magazine, December 1 – 14, 2019

Note: To prepare self-rising flour, take maida and baking powder in the proportion 1 cup: 1.5 small spoons: 1/2 small spoon salt. Mix all these contents to prepare the flour.

You can read a few more delicious cake and bake recipes. Here is the page link. Click on the images in the gallery to read.