Christmas Cake- Part 2

Christmas baking would be incomplete without making this traditional fruit cake. This is a dense cake packed with booze soaked fruits and nuts. This cake is made months ahead traditionally, and is fed with alcohol until you are ready to serve it. You will definitely feel the warmth of the alcohol in every bite you take.

If you haven’t soaked your fruits yet, head back to Christmas cake- part 1 to know all the details about soaking the fruits. If you don’t have enough time, you can soak the fruits overnight as well.

The addition of brown sugar makes the cake moist and gives the cake its characteristic brown colour.I know few recipes call for using molasses or treacle syrup, which gives a darker colour but I haven’t yet adapted to the use of either of the two and I am working on it, so this recipe is slightly lighter in colour when compared but I can assure you it taste amazing. The time and temperature is very crucial in baking this cake. This cake bakes as a lower temperature for a longer time. If you bake this at a higher temperature the outsides of the cake will get burned quickly.

As mentioned earlier this is a dense cake, since we use equally quantities of butter, flour and sugar. But if you are looking for a moist or less dense cake then feel free to use a mixture of butter and oil so that the cake becomes moist. But if you are adding oil, using a neutral tasting oil such as vegetable oil. Read the notes to know more details.

The below mentioned quantities makes a slightly more than 2 kgs cake. I have made these in loaf pan cakes too and they were perfect to be sliced and served. This recipe quantity gave me 3 loaves of cake each weighing approximately 750 grams each. I have used the disposable aluminum foil baking pans which also have a lid to cover it when I am feeding the cake.

Christmas Cake- Part 2

Recipe by Samrudhi MaheshCourse: DessertCuisine: Other world cuisine, IndianDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

30

minutes

A traditional Christmas cake.

Ingredients

• 300 g flour

• 300 g unsalted butter (softened; read the notes below)

• 300 g brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 5 eggs

• 75 g almonds

• 40 g cashewnuts

• 8 pcs cloves

• 4-cm stick cinnamon

• ¼ tsp nutmeg

• 15 pcs allspice berries (optional)

• zest of one orange (optional)

Directions

• Grind the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to a fine powder. Grind the almonds separately. Chop the cashewnuts into small pieces and set them aside. Zest the orange, if using (careful not to zest the white pith as it may taste bitter)
• Preheat your oven at 150°C.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until it is airy and pale. Add in the brown sugar and cream again.
• Now whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the grounded almond, spice mix, and orange zest. Mix everything well.
• Sift in the flour and fold it in using a rubber spatula. Make sure to not overmix the batter after you add the flour as the cake may turn chewy.
• Add the chopped cashew and your alcohol -soaked dried fruits.
• Mix everything until well combined, but don’t overwork the batter.
• Pour the batter into your cake tin, pushing it into all the corners and leveling the top. Tap out any trapped air bubbles.
• Place it in the preheated oven and bake for 3 hours, checking on it regularly after the first 2 hours. Your cake is done when a skewer comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely in the tin.
• Feeding the cake: This step is optional but I prefer to do it.. Poke holes in the cake with a skewer or a toothpick. ‘Feed’ a spoon of rum, brandy, or whisky through the holes. You can do this once a week for as long as you want, until you are ready to cut the cake. Store it at room temperature wrapped in baking paper and aluminium foil.

Notes

• You can use 200 grams of butter and 100 grams of any neutral tasting oil.
• These quantities make an approximately 2 kg cake. You can bake the cake in individual loaf pans as well.
• If using salted butter skip the addition of salt.
• This recipe does not require any baking powder or baking soda, the eggs provide the required lift.

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