My Culinary Trial Room

I made this cake two days before Christmas, stored it carefully feeding it with rum every day and then on the D day, I shared it with friends, devoured it to hearts content and then totally forgot about it. Today when I was going through my food pics, I found this and I came to realize that I had missed posting this for Christmas. Well now that I have found it, I am not going to spare another moment to share this recipe with you. Its the best and just like all other christmas cakes it gets better and better. I have been following this recipe for the past 2 years but each time I use a different pan and do not flour it believing that the non stick coating would do its job but finally I would end up with the cake sticking to the pan. So this time I made it a point to grease the pan, line the pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the pan too. And look how neat and yummy the cake looks!!!

Recipe adapted from here
~*What U Need*~
For soaking the dried fruits
Dry fruits - 1 1/2 cups ~ Raisins, dates, pineapple, apricot, cranberries, dried papaya, dates, almonds, cashews
Rum - as needed (I used CaptianMorgans. U need to immerse the fruits completely in rum and then refill as and when you find the amount reducing)
Caramel syrup - 2 tbsp (2tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp water)

For Caramel Syrup to be used in cake
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 2 tbsp
Hot water - 6 tbsp

For the cake:
Butter - 1/2 cup, room temp
Powdered sugar - 1 1/4 cups
Eggs - 2, separated
All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Coarsely powdered nuts - 1/2 cup(almonds and walnuts)
Orange Zest - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Clove powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp

How I Made it:
Heat 2 tblsp sugar with 1 tsp water on medium heat until the sugar melts and browns up. Take off the heat and carefully add the water and stir well. Atleast 2 weeks in advance , chop all the dry fruits and place them in an airtight container. Pour the rum on top of it, add the caramel syrup and allow to soak. On the day of baking, heat 3/4 cup of sugar with 2 tbsp water in a saucepan. The sugar will start melting. COntinue heating till the syrup turns brown or almost black in color. Take it off the stove and add the hot water and stir well. Allow to cool. Preheat oven to 350F and grease your cake pan. Sift together all the dry ingredients with the spices. Add the powdered nuts, mix well and keep aside. Beat the butter with powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time and mix well until well incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients slowly and mix until combined. Add the Vanilla essence, orange zest and Caramel syrup and combine everything together. Strain the rum soaked fruits (save the rum), and coat the fruits with some all-purpose flour and add the fruits into the cake batter. Fold the fruits into the cake evenly. Beat the Egg Whites until soft peaks form, add powdered sugar and continue to beat until the peaks look stiff and glossy. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the cake center comes out clean. After taking the cake out from the oven, immediately pour 2-3tblsp of the saved rum over the cake. Allow the cake to cool for 15 mins and then flip the cake pan onto a wire-rack. Once cooled brush the sweet rum all over the cake. Keep the cake covered with aluminium foil/plastic wrap and brush the cake with more Rum everyday until you cut the cake.

Serve with love!!!