Ho ho ho, Christmas is here! Bring a bottle of booze for the slightly Drunken Fruit and Nut Cake. The most coveted of baked goods during holiday season is this moist, light and delicious cake packed with real dried fruits, nuts and carrots. Even carrot cake non-lovers will love this cake like I do.
This homey dessert is made with naturally dried fruits unlike all dense fruit cakes with tones of horrendous candied fruits that has been dipped in simple sugar syrup several times and preserved.
Plenty of dried fruits and nuts are soaked in raspberry infused wine. Yes, no bitter brandy or rum for this fruit cake. Its mild and deliciously sweet that adds more flavor to the dried fruits. Wine is used for aging process, it's ideal to marinate the dried fruits for 2 weeks or more. Allow enough time for the alcohol to flavor the fruits and remember stirring occasionally few times a day is required. You may reserve some wine to brush the cake after it cools for added flavor, but I skipped this step as kids can dig in as well.
There are couple of secrets you will need to master this ever-so-perfect fruit cake. Want a less dense and more cake-like "Fruit cake"? Beat the egg whites separately and fold into the batter without compromising the airiness of the beaten whites. Some of the fruits can settle down to the bottom while baking, to prevent this from happening, coat the fruits and nuts with flour and then add it to the batter. Vola! it's that simple. Fresh lemon or orange zest seems to be a little weird in a fruit and nut cake, but rest assured it gives the little something to liven up your taste buds and you will love it.
I have been blessed with good friends and certainly baking with friends is a lot more fun moment to cherish. This cake recipe has been doubled to share and care for family and friends around the holidays. This cake is delicious by itself and will be their favorite. It will make them a believer in real fruit-cake. Be warned, one slice will never be enough :)
Want to see how to make this cake? Let's get started to make the home smell welcoming...
PREP TIME
baKe TIME
TOTAL TIME
Category: Dessert, cake
Cuisine: International
Level: Medium
Level: Medium
Yields: 7 inch round baking pan
Source: Sridevi Jayaraman
Source: Sridevi Jayaraman
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings 12.0 | |
Amount Per Serving | |
calories 251 | |
% Daily Value * | |
Total Fat 13 g | 20 % |
Saturated Fat 5 g | 24 % |
Monounsaturated Fat 4g | |
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g | |
Trans Fat 0 g | |
Cholesterol 0 mg | 0 % |
Sodium 186 mg | 8 % |
Potassium 25 mg | 1 % |
Total Carbohydrate 32g | 11 % |
Dietary Fiber 1 g | 6 % |
Sugars 17 g | |
Protein 3 g | 6 % |
Vitamin A | 2 % |
Vitamin C | 1 % |
Calcium | 1 % |
Iron | 2 % |
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. |
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients:
All Purpose flour - 1 ¼ cup & 1½ tbsp
Brown Sugar or Granulated sugar - ¾ cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch or ½ tsp powder
Cloves - ¼ tsp
Cardamom - 2 nos
Salt - ½ tsp
Nutmeg - ¼ tsp
Lemon or Orange zest - 1 tsp
Coconut dried(roasted) or desiccated - ½ cupCarrot (grated) - 1½ cup
Butter (melted)/ oil - ¾ cup (I used both half & half)
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1 tbspWine (Used Pacific Rim Framboise - infusion of Raspberry) or any flavor of your choice - ½ cup
Dry Fruits (available options): 1 Tbsp each
Rasins
Black CurrentsDried Papaya (sliced)
Dried Pineapple (sliced)
Cranberry
Apricots (sliced)
Blueberries
Figs (sliced)
Mango (sliced)
Candied Ginger (sliced)
DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a bowl toss all the fruits, nuts and grated carrots with 1½ tbsp of flour to coat completely.
5. Using a spice grinder, powder the cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, sugar (if granulated) and dried coconut.
6. In a large bowl begin by mixing all the dry ingredients (except carrots). To this add the wet ingredients along with the remaining egg yolks. Whisk until the mixture incorporates well.
7. Now, add the flour coated fruits, nuts and carrots and mix.
8. Gently fold in the egg whites to the above batter using a silicon or rubber spatula.
11. You may brush the cake with the raspberry infused wine for added flavor or you make skip it like I do. Enjoy!
What a rich and dense cake. Love love love.
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