Drunken Fruit and Nut Cake/ Plum Cake

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
Yields: 7 inch round baking pan
Source: Sridevi Jayaraman 



Nutrition Facts
Servings 12.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 251
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 13 g20 %
Saturated Fat 5 g24 %
Monounsaturated Fat 4g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg0 %
Sodium 186 mg8 %
Potassium 25 mg1 %
Total Carbohydrate 32g11 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g6 %
Sugars 17 g
Protein 3 g6 %
Vitamin A2 %
Vitamin C1 %
Calcium1 %
Iron2 %
* 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 cup
Carrot (grated) - 1½ cup


Wet Ingredients:
Butter (melted)/ oil - ¾ cup (I used both half & half)
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp

Wine (Used Pacific Rim Framboise - infusion of Raspberry) or any flavor of your choice - ½ cup

Dry Fruits (available options): 1 Tbsp each
Rasins
Black Currents
Dried Papaya (sliced)
Dried Pineapple (sliced)
Cranberry
Apricots (sliced)
Blueberries
Figs (sliced)
Mango (sliced)
Candied Ginger (sliced)

Nuts (roughly chopped): 1 Tbsp each 
Walnuts
Almonds
Pecans
Pistachios
DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


2. Prepare your baking pans however you like. But I have lined mine with heavy duty aluminium foil  and coated with cooking spray and dusted with all purpose flour and set aside.*


3. In a bowl toss all the fruits, nuts and grated carrots with 1½ tbsp of flour to coat completely.


4. Seperate the egg whites and in a clean bowl, whisk it until you get soft peaks and set aside. 



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.


9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack for about 50-55 minutes or insert  a toothpick or knife to come out clean. 


10. When the cake is ready, let cool in the pan for few minutes and then lift it off using the aluminium foil and set it on a cooling rack.


11. You may brush the cake with the raspberry infused wine for added flavor or you make skip it like I do. Enjoy!


NOTES AND TIPS
1. The heavy duty aluminium foil helps remove the cake from pan easily if it's not a springform pan. Make sure you press the bottom creasing along the curve for the perfect rounded cake.
2. Do not open the oven while baking this will cause your cake to deflate. 




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