Christmas Special -The adored fruitcake from India

Season’s Greetings !!!

Holidays are a time to spend with friends and family , have a good time,

reminisce and to make new memories. Coming to the reminisce part - my

childhood was spent on the beautiful verdant coast of Kerala. . “Unity in diversity” is

the mantra that we grew up. I remember taking a trek as part of the scouts

program and coming across 3 temples, 3 churches and 1 mosque all in a 5 Km

distance. Each one of these existed within earshot of each other and coexisted

peacefully. This is an image that stays with me even today.

If you visit Kerala during December, almost every porch will be decked with a

star. During Onam every front yard will be adorned with flower rangolis. A part of

the celebration that everyone loved was the Christmas Cakes. These are a

spiced up version of the Victorian Plum Cakes introduced to the country by the

British. Over the years it has undergone various revisions and has become

very much part of the local culture and cuisine. Rich, sweet and filled with fruits

nuts and spices these were a treat worth waiting for .

Christmas Fruit Cake

Chopped dry fruits - 500 gm (roughly 3 C )

Rum/brandy - 1/2 C

Chopped nuts - 100 gm (3/4 C)

Butter - 225 gm (1 C)

Sugar - 250 gm ( 1 to 1 1/4 C)

Eggs - 4

All Purpose Flour / Whole wheat Pastry Flour - 250 gm (1 1/2 C)

Baking Powder - 1 Tsp

Salt - A Pinch

Cloves - 1 Tsp

Cinnamon - 1 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp (freshly grated)

Caraway Seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 Tsp

Orange Zest - 1 Tbsp

Milk - 1/2 C

Hot Water - 1/2 C

Lemon -1

Pour the brandy/rum over the chopped fruits , toss well and set aside covered

for several hours.

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature . Prepare the caramel by heating 4

Tbsp sugar over medium heat . Once the sugar turns brown add 1/2 C hot water

, stir and bring to a vigorous boil . Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 °F (Refer to notes ).

Sift the dry ingredients - the flour , baking powder, salt , and the spice powders

together and set aside .Cream the butter and sugar , reserving 2 tbsp sugar

.Separate the eggs whites and yolks .Add the yolks one by one to the butter

mixture and mix well .Mix in the orange and lemon zests and vanilla essence .

Toss the dry fruits in 2 tbsp flour add to the butter mix.

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks along with 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp lemon

juice . Add 1/2 C milk to cooled caramel to make 1 C liquid. Add 2 tbsp flour mix to

the chopped nuts and toss to coat well.

Add the remaining flour and caramel mixes in parts to the butter mixture to form a

thick lump free batter . Fold in the nuts . Stir in part of the beaten egg whites to

loosen the thick batter . Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites .Transfer to the

prepared pans .

Bake 40 to 60 minutes (refer to notes ) or until the tops are browned and a tester

inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely

.Store in an airtight container.

Originally Published at  http://oventales.com/index.php/2016/07/18/xmas-fruit-cake/