Christmas Fruit Cake / Kerala Plum Cake

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,

It is the season to be jolly,

Don we now our gay apparel

Troll the ancient Christmas carol,

See the blazing yule before us,

Strike the harp and join the chorus

Follow me in merry measure,

While I tell of Christmas treasure,

Fast away the old year passes,

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!

Sing we joyous all together,

Heedless of the wind and weather

Wow – Christmas is almost here and it is definitely the season to be jolly. For me, this is absolutely the best time of the year, with the beautifully decorated houses, the white snow-laden ground, the shopping and gift giving, jingling Christmas music all around and most importantly the amazing tasty treats that this holiday season brings, like the Christmas Fruit Cake, Christmas pudding, Stollen, Eggnog, Panettone …the list just goes on and on !!

I remember, how as a child, I would long for Christmas season to come along, so that our family could take its traditional vacation to my paternal and maternal grandparents' homes. Some of my fondest childhood memories were from these celebrations, feasts and the fun that we all had with our family and friends. Every year my uncle used to secretly dress up as Santa Claus and show up at the front door, handing us gifts that we had been asking for all through the year. We always used to be so much in awe of Santa and were true believers until the day we caught him red-handed without his usual white beard and hat ;) On Christmas eve, my uncle would drive us kids around town, showing us the decorated houses and lights. In India, led-lit paper stars of various shapes, sizes and colors are usually used to adorn homes during this season so we would take turns rating the stars and decked homes as we drove around the neighborhood.

For the annual Christmas feast, my grandmother would make her special Biryani, Christmas cake and pudding, as well as a host of other goodies and today I am going to share her decadently delicious Xmas cake recipe with you all. This is our family's own heirloom recipe, traditionally handed down over three generations. I still remember when my mom successfully used this recipe to make 100 Kilograms (approx. 220 pounds) of cake for a YWCA bake sale, to raise funds for the uplift of  under-privileged orphan girls back in India. As the lone teen participant/ volunteer in a group of 15 ladies working together to bake these cakes, I truly enjoyed the multiple hours spent in chopping the tubs of dry fruit, soaking it in rum and mixing all the ingredients in multiple Uralis (big steel vessels) and storing this mixture in large Bharanis (Big Ceramic pots). The mixture was left to soak for a few months prior to Christmas, and then baked at a local bakery, in commercial ovens better suited for such large-scale operations. I was totally in awe of the whole experience and was especially proud of my mom for leading these efforts and also being a part of it.

This sinfully rich, delectable, spiced cake is full of dry fruits aged and soaked in Rum. Indulging in a slice of this baked goodness with its moist, delicious texture and intoxicating taste, is all that it takes to make me forget the year-long wait for this wonderful season to roll by. Wish you all a wonderful and Merry Christmas !!

History of Christmas Cake

Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. People ate the porridge on Christmas Eve, using it to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the porridge mixture, and eventually it turned into Christmas pudding.

In the 16th century, oatmeal was removed from the original recipe, and butter, wheat flour and eggs were added. These ingredients helped hold the mixture together and in what resulted in a boiled plum cake. Richer families that had ovens began making fruit cakes with marzipan, an almond sugar paste, for Easter. For Christmas, they made a similar cake using seasonal dried fruit and spices. The spices represented the exotic eastern spices brought by the Wise Men. This cake became known as "Christmas cake."
Christmas cakes are made many different ways, but generally they are variations on classic fruitcake. They can be light, dark, moist, dry, heavy, spongy, leavened, unleavened, etc. They are made in many different shapes, with frosting, glazing, a dusting of confectioner's sugar or plain.

The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky. Other types of Christmas cakes include an apple crème cake and a mincemeat cake. The apple crème cake is made with apples, other fruit, raisins, eggs, cream cheese and whipping cream. The mincemeat cake is made with traditional mincemeat or vegetarian mincemeat, flour, eggs, etc. It can also be steamed as a Christmas pudding.

All Christmas cakes are made in advance. Many make them in November, keeping the cake upside down in an airtight container. A small amount of brandy, sherry or whisky is poured into holes in the cake every week until Christmas. This process is called “feeding” the cake.

Types of fruit cake

• Light Fruitcake: This type is made with light-colored ingredients such as granulated sugar, light corn syrup, almonds, golden raisins, pineapple, apricots and the like.
• Dark Fruitcake: Darker ingredients are used such as molasses, brown sugar, and darker-colored fruits like raisins, prunes, dates, cherries, pecans and walnuts.
• Citron: Those who do not like fruitcake generally point the finger at the candied citron or fruits used in the cake. Candied citron is made from the thick peel of the citrus fruit of the same name. Candied fruit, most commonly pineapple, cherry and citrus rind, is made by dipping or boiling pieces of fruit in heavy syrup and then drying them. They are often rolled in granulated sugar after the drying process. If you don't like candied fruits or peels, try substituting plain dried fruit pieces in your fruitcake.

Yields - Two 9 inch round cakes

Ingredients
Soaking the fruits
2/3 Cup (150gm) - Sugar
5 Cups (600 gms) - Dry Fruits(Raisins, Sultanas, Currants, Cranberries, Cherries, Apricots, Figs, Prunes, Dates)
1 Cup - Water
1/2 Cup - Brandy/Rum

Ingredients for Cake
2 1/2 Cup (275 gms) - All Purpose Flour (Maida)      
1 ½ Tsp - Baking powder
½ Tsp - Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp - Salt
1/4 Tsp - Cloves
3/4 Tsp - Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp - Nutmeg  powder
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1 3/8 Cup (310 gms) - Butter (Refer Conversion chart below)

2 ¾ Cup (310 gms) - Powdered Sugar
5 – Egg Yolks    
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1 Tsp- Vanilla essence
4 Tbsp - Orange marmalade
½ Tsp - Orange Zest (Refer Notes)
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5 - Egg Whites
3 Tbsp - Lime Juice
3 Tbsp - Powdered sugar
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1 Cup - Chopped nuts (walnuts, cashew nuts)

Directions
Soaking the fruits (A few weeks, preferably a couple of months ahead of baking the cake) 

• Finely chop the dry fruits
• In a non-stick sauce pan, add the 2/3 cups (150gm) sugar and let it caramelize. Once the sugar caramelizes or turns into brown color, take the sauce pan off the heat and carefully add water little by little. Be careful to avoid splashes as the caramelized sugar would be extremely hot. Stir well.
• Add the chopped dry fruits and reheat mixture until it starts boiling.
• Take it off the heat and add ½ Cup Brandy or Rum
• Let the mixture cool completely; cover and seal in an air tight container

Making the cake batter

• Preheat the oven to 350F/ 175C
• Grease the cake pan and line it with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg) and keep it aside.
• Mix the butter and sugar together and add the egg yolk one by one until everything is incorporated.
• Add the soaked dry fruits and mix.
• Stir in the flour mixture in batches and mix.
• Add Vanilla essence, Orange marmalade, Orange Zest and chopped nuts
• In a big bowl, beat the egg white until they form stiff peaks. Add the lime juice and powdered sugar and mix again.
• Folding egg white into cake - Pour 1/2 of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter, and stir it in. This thins and lightens the batter, making it easier to incorporate the rest of the egg whites. Mix until there are no visible streaks of egg white in the batter.
• Pour remaining egg whites into the batter. This time, instead of stirring, gently lift batter from the bottom of the bowl and gently fold it over top of the egg whites. Handle the batter gently, in order to preserve the foam as much as possible. Repeat, until the egg whites are dispersed throughout the batter but still visible.
• Pour the cake batter into prepared pans and bake for 1 hour or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Storing the cake

• Let the cake cool completely
• Prick holes in the cake with a toothpick and brush/drizzle brandy or rum.
• Wrap and seal the cake with parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil; cling wrap it and store it in Ziploc bags.
• Repeat the process of feeding the cake with rum/brandy occasionally, to keep it moist and rich.

Notes and Tips

• Good quality dry fruits translates into a good Fruit Cake
• You can substitute Rum with Brandy, Whisky or Cognac
• Be extremely careful while pouring water into the caramelized sugar.
• Fruits can be soaked in rum for a few weeks, preferably a couple of months ahead of baking the cake
• There is a delicate balance when incorporating the egg whites. When folded in correctly, they should still be clearly visible as small streaks or pea-sized clumps in the batter. If the batter is completely homogeneous, it has been mixed too much and will not rise as well as it might have. On the other hand, too large an area of unmixed egg white will be visible after baking as a white spot in the cake. 
• Orange Zest is prepared by scraping or cutting from the outer, colorful skin of orange. You can use a grater to get the zest.If grater is not available, use a peeler or paring knife and chop the peel finely

Here is a conversion chart for U.S. CUPS TO GRAMS

All-Purpose Flour and Confectioners' Sugar
1/8 cup = 15 grams
1/4 cup = 30 grams
1/3 cup = 40 grams
3/8 cup = 45 grams
1/2 cup = 60 grams
5/8 cup = 70 grams
2/3 cup = 75 grams
3/4 cup = 85 grams
7/8 cup = 100 grams
1 cup = 110 grams

Butter 
1/8 cup = 30 grams
1/4 cup = 55 grams
1/3 cup = 75 grams
3/8 cup = 85 grams
1/2 cup = 115 grams
5/8 cup = 140 grams
2/3 cup = 150 grams
3/4 cup = 170 grams
7/8 cup = 200 grams
1 cup = 225 grams

Granulated Sugar
1/8 cup = 30 grams
1/4 cup = 55 grams
1/3 cup = 75 grams
3/8 cup = 85 grams
1/2 cup = 115 grams
5/8 cup = 140 grams
2/3 cup = 150 grams
3/4 cup = 170 grams
7/8 cup = 200 grams
1 cup = 225 grams