fruit cake – CafeGarima

My first Christmas cake ever! And what a delight it is 😀
Thanks to my dear friends Aruna , who blogs at ãhãram and Freda, who blogs at Aromatic Essence, for inspiring me with their gorgeous bakes.

Here is my simple Christmas Fruit Cake with a fair amount of fruit and a hint of spice.
A simple step-by-step recipe!

250 grams/2 levelled cups of maida/ all purpose flour + 32 grams/ ¼ cup for coating the soaked and drained fruit
250 grams/ 1 cup softened salted butter (I used Amul)
200 grams brown sugar ( I weighed and powdered it)
4 large eggs ( they should weight around 250 grams)
1 ½ tsp Baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp ginger powder *
350 grams of mixed fruit soaked in 200 ml freshly squeezed orange juice**
½ tsp vanilla extract

Soaking the fruit
A day before the baking day soak mixed fruit in 200 ml orange juice. I used equal amounts of golden raisins, black currants, dried cranberry, glace cherry, candied orange peel and candied fruit ( or tutti frutti), Add 2 tsp of rum to add a boozy hint. Two hours before baking drain the fruit well, saving the drained liquid to be used for brushing the cake later.
Add ¼ cup of maida to the drained fruit and mix so that the flour coats the fruit. This will ensure that the fruit does not sink to the bottom while baking.

Preparing the tin
Use an 8 or 9 inch round baking tin with high sides, preferably a springform pan.Line it with parchment. Alternatively use a heavy non-stick cake or bundt pan and grease it well. I used a heavy non-stick bundtlette pan and didn’t need to do any of this 😛

Baking the cake
Pre-heat the oven at 150C.
Sift together 250 grams of flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger powder.
In a large pan, whisk the butter. Add the powdered brown sugar and whisk till creamy. Add the eggs one by one and mix after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.
Add the flour and mix with the spatula. It will be a thick batter.
Stir in the flour-coated fruit. Incorporate to mix evenly.
Transfer to pan and even out the batter with the spatula. Bake for 45- 60 minutes. About 35 minutes into the baking time cover the cake with aluminium foil to prevent over browning. Let cool completely in the pan and remove.
Brush with the leftover juice and serve.
To store, wrap in cling film and store in an airtight box.

* Spices may be skipped if you dislike the taste
** Can used un-soaked fruits if you forgot to soak. Toss them in flour and add. Do not use black currants if using un-soaked fruit. Use raisins, cranberry, glace cherry, candied fruit and tutti frutti

Give me a slice of a well made, simple,unfrosted cake with my cuppa and I need nothing else! I am especially partial to the fruity and nutty variety. So here is a very simple basic vanilla cake loaded with dry fruit and nuts.

Fruit and Nut Cake

APF/Maida- 1 Cup+1 Tsp (for dusting the fruit and nut mixture)
Baking Powder- 1 tsp
Eggs,at room temperature- 2 ( To make an eggless version- you may use 1/4 cup of curd/yogurt in place of each egg. Be careful not to make the batter runny though. We are looking for a thick dropping consistency)
Powdered sugar- 1 Cup
Butter,at room temperature- 80 grams
Vanilla extract- 1 Tsp
Mixed fruit and nuts- 1 Cup (I used cherries, tutti fruity, chopped almonds, cashews and walnuts, cranberries and raisins)
Milk,at room temperature- ¼ cup (use only if needed)

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C and prepare a cake tin by lining and greasing.
Sift the flour and baking powder twice and set aside.

Mix the fruits and nuts and sprinkle a tsp of APF/Maida and mix well coating them. This will ensure that the nuts do not sink to the bottom on baking.
Take sugar and butter in a medium size bowl and beat with an electric beater till light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat till they are incorporated into the mix.

Add in the vanilla essence and mix once.

Fold in the flour with a spatula.

If the batter is too thick, add some milk. I needed to add about 1 tbsp. We need a thick dropping consistency batter.
Gently fold in the fruit and nut mixture.

Bake on 180C for 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool and slice. Enjoy!