Plum/fruit cake

Wish You all a very happy and prosperous NEW YEAR!!!!!

Back in India , during Christmas we used to receive plum cakes as gifts from our friends.Thought I would give it a try this year... Its the first time Iam baking this cake.... I followed the recipes of RP, and Mishmash and the cake turned out really great. Mishmash's recipe was classic and was very useful. Its completely their recipe and just for my own records I have blogged it.

Ingredients

All purpose flour- 1 cup

sugar- 1 cup

butter- 1 stick

dried fruits-(dates, raisins, dried cherries,plums,pears, prunes and apricots)- 1 cup

dried nuts-(almonds, cashews and walnuts) 1/2 cup

eggs-3

baking powder-1 tsp

baking soda-1/2 tsp

salt-1/4 tsp

vanilla extract -1 tsp

candied lemon and orange peels- 1tbsp

spice powder(cinnamon, nutmeg,clove and dry ginger)- 1 tsp(I used the ready made one)

Rum or Brandy- 1/2 cup or grape juice- 1/4 cup and orange juice- 1/4 cup
For caramelising

sugar-1/4 cup

water - 1tbsp + 1/2 cup

Method

Chop the dried fruits and soak them inRum /Brandy or grape and orange juice for a few hours.

Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tbsp water in a sauce pan and allow it to boil. Do not stir it and after a few minutes ,the sugar syrup changes to a cherry wood coloured caramel.Remove the pan from fire immediately ,keep under sink and add 1/4 cup of water to it. Be very careful as the caramel is very hot and it may splash. Let it cool completely. Add the vanilla essence to it.

Powder the sugar, chop the nuts and bring the eggs and butter to room temperature.

Sift the flour, baking powder,baking soda and salt. Add the spice powder to it and mix well.

Seperate the egg whites and yolks. Beat the whites until soft peaks are formed. keep aside .

Beat the powdered sugar and butter in a mixing bowl till light and fluffy.Now add the egg yolks to it one by one and beat well until the mixture is creamy.

Add the sifted flour and the caramel to it and mix well. Add the beaten egg whites and fold them in gently .

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the cake pans with parchment paper and butter and dust them.

Now its time to add the chopped nuts and the soaked dry fruits to the cake mixture. Fold them gently into the cake batter. Spoon them into the greased cake pans and bake them for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

Cool completely before storing it.