Christmas Plum Cake
Whenever I tell someone that the first bakery in India and the first Christmas fruitcake of India came from Thalassery, a small coastal town in Kerala, they look at me in utter disbelief! Yes, the first bakery was the Royal Biscuit Factory established in 1880 by Mambally Bapu. It was 1883 when Murdoch Brown, a British planter gave Bapu a sample of the plum cake which he brought from England. He requested Bapu to re-create it. Bapu gave his twist to the cake by adding in spices, something Kerala was and is still well known for! Mr Brown was surprised at the outcome and asked Bapu to make a dozen more and the rest, as we know, is history!
I had made plum cakes before but have never been very content with the outcome. Plum cake for a Malayali means perfection. The texture, the flavour, the look, everything should be spot on.
My friend Vineetha is an awesome baker! She bakes and sells cakes and also has taken part in many competitions and won accolades too! Her plum cakes looked so perfect. So one day I suggested a virtual cake bake for Christmas. As she was apprehensive about doing it alone, I joined in, just as a support. She has detailed such a perfect recipe, guided so many people on the nitty gritties of baking a plum cake, took pains of personally sending out the recipe and then finally shooting a detailed and perfect video. Thank you so so much dear Vinee!
I baked the cake and loved how it looked. Waited for a day , grew impatient and cut it. It was perfect! The flavour is too good, the texture is beautiful and cake looked delightful! This is the perfect recipe for the perfect plum cake! Thank you so much dear Vineetha for such a perfect recipe!
Plum Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- 160 gms Unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 nos Eggs
- 185 gms Castor sugar
- 2 tsp Orange zest optional
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Cinnamon powder
- ⅛ tsp Cloves powder
- ⅛ tsp Nutmeg powder
- ⅛ tsp Ginger powder
Caramel syrup
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½cup cup Water
- 1 tbsp Water
For Soaking
- 1 cup Tutti frutti
- ¼ cup Dates
- ¼ cup Raisins
- ¼ cup Cashew nuts
- ⅛ cup Almonds
- ⅛ cup Walnuts
- 2 cups Rum
Instructions
Soaking the Dry Fruits and Nuts in Rum
- Add the tutti frutti in a glass bottle large enough to hold the fruits, nuts and rum. Chop the nuts and dates into smaller pieces and add to the tutti frutti. Pour the rum till the fruits and nuts are well soaked. Soak it atleast for a week. The longer you soak the better the flavour.
Making the Caramel Syrup
- Mix the sugar with 1 tablespoon of water in a thick bottom pan. Heat it on low flame, do not stir it. The sugar will start bubbling and then caramelising. Just swirl the pan when the sugar starts caramelising.
- The sugar should caramelise well as the colour of the cake depends on the colour of the caramel. But ensure you don't burn it. Keep the flame low and heat the mixture till it turns dark golden brown in colour.
- Now take it off the heat and pour in the water. The water will splutter, so be careful not to be too close to the pan. Mix it well and let it cool.
Making the Cake Batter
- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C.
- Drain 1 cup of the soaked dry fruit and nut mix. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to it and toss it. This is done so that the fruits and nuts doesn't sink to the bottom when you bake it.
- Sift the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, spice powders , into a bowl. Set it aside.
- Separate the egg yolk and place them in a bowl.
- Take the egg whites and beat them till they are stiff. They should stay in the bowl when you turn the bowl upside down. Keep them aside.
- Take butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat them till they are creamy and smooth.
- To this add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and beat well again for 5 minutes.
- To this add the dry ingredients and fold with the help of a spatula.
- Add the caramel syrup to this mixture and fold.
- Add the drained fruits and nuts to this and mix again.
- Finally add the beaten egg whites and fold gently.Incorporate the egg whites well into the mixture.
- Take an 8" inch round baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Do not skip this step.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and smooth the surface. I added some soaked fruits and nuts on the top as I like my cake a bit bumpy on the top. You can skip this.
- Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes. You can place an aluminium foil on top of the cake during the last 10 minutes so that the top doesn't get burned.
- Bake the cake till a skewer inserted comes out dry.
- Let the cake cool in the tin. Once cooled take out and store in a container. The cake tastes better after a day or two.
- I brushed some apricot jam mixed with a tablespoon of water for the shine on top. You can also brush it with rum and let it sit for atleast 2 days before you cut the cake.
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