Christmas Fruit Cake

Makes 1 loaf cake

For Soaking the Fruits

Dry fruits 190 gms

Caramel syrup - 2tbsp

Rum- alcoholic or non Alcoholic- 1/2 cup

Orange Juice- 1/2 cup

For caramel

Sugar - 150gms

Water- 1/2 tbsp

Hot boiling water - 6 tbsp

Cake

Butter - 113gms

Pwd Sugar - 150 gms

Eggs Yolks - 2

Egg whites - 2

Jam - 1 tbsp

AP flower- 150 gms

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Vanilla Essense - 1 tsp

Clove pwd - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom pwd -1/4 tsp

Ginger pwd- 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon pwd - 1/4 tsp

For the caramel syrup- heat the sugar with 1 tbsp water on medium heat in a deep saucepan. stir the sugar once in a while with a wooden spoon. Let it melt slowly. Heat water and keep ready. the caramel will turn dark very quick once its Starts browning so keep an eye on it. The caramel should look amber to brown. Take it off the stove and add the hot water and stir well.

NOTE: Keep a distance and use safety gear to ensure not to burn your self.

Soak dry fruits with the caramel and other ing’s at least 2-3 weeks in advance.

Or for quick method like in the video, boil the fruits with the same ingredients. And keep aside to cool.

For the Fruit Cake1. Preheat Oven to 175-180C. grease and line the loaf or 7 inch round pan or you can use a bundt pan.

2. Sift dry ingredients - AP Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, Spices. Note you can add 2 tbsp powdered Almond for a nice texture.3. Reserve 2 tbsp of powdered sugar aside for the egg whites and Beat butter with remaining powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add  in the egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated. Toss in the dry ingredients slowly and mix until well combined from bottom to up ensuring no dry pockets.4. Add the Vanilla essence, jam, half the remaining Caramel syrup and combine everything together.5. Toss in the soaked fruits into the batter, but If the fruits have juice at the bottom, strain and add the fruits and reserve the juice. Using a spatula fold the fruits into the cake batter.6. Beat the Egg Whites until soft peaks form, add 2 tbsp powdered sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are stiff. Using the folding method gently fold it into the cake batter.7. Pour the cake batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 50 mins or till completely done. Check with skewer to see if it comes

out clean. Once done. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 10 mins and turn over to cool. Unmold and Later brush with the remaining caramel and rum syrup and keep to completely cool. You can brush daily if not consuming same day. Cover and store in a box with a tight lid.

Note: its its browning too quickly cover with foil, and don’t touch at least first 30- 40 mins or the cake will sink in the center.