Christmas Fruit Cake

(from Usha Mithralini’s recipe box)

Yields Two 9 inch round cakes

Source: LifeScoops Blog

Ingredients

Ingredients for Soaking the fruits
2/3 Cup (150gm) - Sugar
5 Cups (600 gms) - Dry Fruits(Raisins, Sultanas, Currants, Cranberries, Cherries, Apricots, Figs, Prunes)
1 Cup - Water
1/2 Cup - Brandy/Rum
Ingredients for Cake
2 1/2 Cup (310 gms) - All Purpose Flour (Maida) 1 1/2 Tsp - Baking powder
1/2 Tsp - Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp - Salt
1/4 Tsp - Cloves
3/4 Tsp - Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp - Nutmeg powder
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1 3/8 Cup (310 gms) - Butter
2 3/4 Cup (310 gms) - Powdered Sugar
5 – Egg Yolks
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1 Tsp- Vanilla essence
4 Tbsp - Orange marmalade
1/2 Tsp - Orange Zest (Refer Notes)
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5 - Egg Whites
3 Tbsp - Lime Juice
3 Tbsp - Powdered sugar
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1 Cup - Chopped nuts (walnuts, cashew nuts)

Directions

Soaking the fruits (A few weeks, preferably a couple of months ahead of baking the cake)
• Finely chop the dry fruits
• In a non-stick sauce pan, add the 2/3 cups (150gm) sugar and let it caramelize. Once the sugar caramelizes or turns into brown color, take the sauce pan off the heat and carefully add water little by little. Be careful to avoid splashes as the caramelized sugar would be extremely hot. Stir well.
• Add the chopped dry fruits and reheat mixture until it starts boiling.
• Take it off the heat and add ½ Cup Brandy or Rum
• Let the mixture cool completely; cover and seal in an air tight container
Making the cake batter
• Preheat the oven to 350F/ 175C
• Grease the cake pan and line it with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg) and keep it aside.
• Mix the butter and sugar together and add the egg yolk one by one until everything is incorporated.
• Add the soaked dry fruits and mix.
• Stir in the flour mixture in batches and mix.
• Add Vanilla essence, Orange marmalade, Orange Zest and chopped nuts
• In a big bowl, beat the egg white until they form stiff peaks. Add the lime juice and powdered sugar and mix again.
• Folding egg white into cake – Pour 1/2 of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter, and stir it in. This thins and lightens the batter, making it easier to incorporate the rest of the egg whites. Mix until there are no visible streaks of egg white in the batter.
• Pour remaining egg whites into the batter. This time, instead of stirring, gently lift batter from the bottom of the bowl and gently fold it over top of the egg whites. Handle the batter gently, in order to preserve the foam as much as possible. Repeat, until the egg whites are dispersed throughout the batter but still visible.
• Pour the cake batter into prepared pans and bake for 1 hour or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Storing the cake
• Let the cake cool completely
• Prick holes in the cake with a toothpick and brush/drizzle brandy or rum.
• Wrap and seal the cake with parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil; cling wrap it and store it in Ziploc bags.
• Repeat the process of feeding the cake with rum/brandy occasionally, to keep it moist and rich.
Notes and Tips
• Good quality dry fruits translates into a good Fruit Cake
• You can substitute Rum with Brandy, Whisky or Cognac
• Be extremely careful while pouring water into the caramelized sugar.
• Fruits can be soaked in rum for a few weeks, preferably a couple of months ahead of baking the cake
• There is a delicate balance when incorporating the egg whites. When folded in correctly, they should still be clearly visible as small streaks or pea-sized clumps in the batter. If the batter is completely homogeneous, it has been mixed too much and will not rise as well as it might have. On the other hand, too large an area of unmixed egg white will be visible after baking as a white spot in the cake.
• Orange Zest is prepared by scraping or cutting from the outer, colorful skin of orange. You can use a grater to get the zest.If grater is not available, use a peeler or paring knife and chop the peel finely

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