Friday, December 27, 2013

Fruit n' nut Cake- Spiced, Sinful and from kerala !!

This post is for SRK not Shah Rukh Khan, but for Siju, Reni and krista - this recipe makes three large cakes, good for potlucks or for those busy mums out there. It's kid friendly- my kids help me with the mixing, as I don't use a blender. This is another quick recipe, once you have the caramel ready, which takes about 15-20 mts.

Ingredients:
3.5 cups Flour
2.5 cup sugar powdered with 4 cloves, 4 cardamom pods, small piece of nutmeg (1/4 of a whole nut) and small piece of cinnamon
1 cup butter
1.5 cups margarine
9 eggs
3 tbs marmalade- orange/ citrus,
1 tbs ginger marmalade/ candied ginger
2.5 cups roughly chopped nuts and dried fruits - cashews, pecans, almonds, raisins, cranberries, cherries, dates etc. mixed with 2-3 tbs of flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract/essence
1.5 cups of sugar turned to dark caramel

Method:
Step 1:
Make the caramel from 1.5 cup sugar. Try to dissolve the sugar by heat alone, without adding water, to get a dark coffee brown colour. Add warm water slowly, down the sides of the saucepan, to prevent sugar from burning - this step should be done v carefully. Keep the sink filled with cold water to cool the saucepan and stop the cooking process. Let the syrup cool, add a little water and stir to make a thick dark syrup. Be v cautious while preparing the caramel, and each time u add water to the hot saucepan.
Step 2:
Cream the melted butter/margarine mix and sugar . Use a wooden spoon and mix well for 10 mts till the colour becomes off-white and thick.
Sieve the flour with the baking powder and incorporate it in the butter-sugar mix slowly. Take 2-3 tbs of flour and add it to the butter-sugar mix and fold it in. Add 1 egg at a time, alternating with the flour, till all the flour and egg are used up. Add the vanilla extract and the jams/marmalade and mix it in. It is important not to over mix the batter or the cake texture will become spongy.

Step 3:
Add 2 cups of chopped nuts and the caramel syrup and mix it in. Take 3 cake tins or oven safe baking dishes - butter them and dust them with flour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and pour the batter in each dish till its 1/3 full. Tap the dish/tin on the counter a couple of times. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts and fruits. Place it in the preheated oven for 45-50 mts, or till a tooth pick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

The cake should be rich, dark and crumbly not to mention delicious.
Merry X'mas and Happy 2014, everyone.
 

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