Fruit and Nut Cake

Fruit and Nut cake/plum cake always bring the fond memories of Christmas days. Fruit and Nut cake or Plum cake as we call in Kerala, is a rich cake with lots of dried fruits and nuts soaked in rum/brandy. I am a great fan of this fruit cake and have been baking this during Christmas time for the past few years. So, here is my version of authentic Kerala Style Plum/Fruit and Nut Cake.

Cook Time:

55-60 Minutes

Ease of Cooking:

Moderate

What all you'll need?

• Dry Fruits - 2 cups ( I used golden and black raisins, dates, cranberries, candied orange peels, tutti frutti)
• Nuts - 1 cup ( I used cashews, walnuts and almonds)
• Spices - (1" Cinnamon stick, 5-6 cardamoms, 5-6 cloves, 1/4 nutmeg- all powdered ,1/2 teaspoon ginger powder)
• Fruit Jam - 1 tablespoon ( I used homemade pineapple jam)
• Rum/Brandy - 1/2 cup ( I used dark rum)
• Lime Juice - 1 teaspoon
• Orange Juice - 1/4 cup
• All purpose flour - 2 cups
• Butter - 1 cup ( 2 sticks) at room temperature
• Dark Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
• White sugar - 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs -3
• Baking Powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Warm Milk -  About 1/2 cup

Let's cook it!!

1. Mix dry fruits, nuts, spice powder, fruit jam, rum, lime juice, orange juice together in a jar and keep it aside for at least overnight. The longer the fruits soak in rum, the greater the flavor. I soaked my fruits and nuts for about 3 months. If you are planning to soak it for a while, make sure you place it in your refrigerator and shake the jar once in a while to mix everything well. 
2. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add 1/2 cup of white sugar and keep the heat in medium. Sugar will start melting and wait until it turns dark golden brown in color. Make sure you don't stir the pan. Once it's dark golden brown in color, turn off the stove add 1/2 cup of water and stir until it's mixed well. You will have stand back while pouring the water as it will splash.Keep it aside for later use.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degree F/180 degree C. 
4. Prepare a cake tin by greasing with butter/non stick spray and lining with a parchment/butter paper.
5. Separate egg whites from the yolks and keep the yolks aside. 
6. In a bowl whisk the egg whites with 4 tablespoons of white sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Keep it aside.
7. Add butter, brown sugar and rest of the white sugar to a bowl and whisk well until it form a creamy batter. Add the egg yolks (Step 5) one at a time to the bowl and whisk well. Add vanilla extract to the batter and mix well.
8. Mix all purpose flour and baking powder. Add it to the cake batter (Step 7). Whisk until everything is mixed well. Add the soaked fruits (Step1) and mix well.
9. Add caramel syrup (Step 2) to the cake batter and mix well. Add warm milk as required to get the cake batter consistency.
10. Fold in the beaten egg whites (Step 6) to the cake batter.
11. Pour the cake batter to the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven to about 55-60 minutes depending on the oven temperature or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 
12. Remove the cake from the oven and after  about 10 minutes transfer it to a wire rack and let it rest, until it's cooled completely. 
13. Once its cooled completely you can brush it with 2-3 tablespoons of rum so that the cake will stay moist. 
14. Enjoy a piece of moist delicious cake with a glass of wine!