Rich Plum Cake

This is one of my signature bakes. I look forward to baking this plum cake every year. I usually start preparing for this recipe 6 months before Christmas (you must be wondering how I love making Christmas bakes when I am Hindu - I basically love cooking, whether it is for Christmas or Diwali or any other festival is irrelevant). I soak the berries in rum almost 6 months in advance and keep shaking it to get a full infusion of the rum into the fruits. Baking this cake is a lengthy procedure but I do have to say that the result is fully worth all your effort.

You can also make this cake in advance and keep it covered with an aluminium foil.

For the cake there are 3 stages – 1 is soaking the fruits, 2 is making the caramel sauce for the dark colour and 3 is the actual cake.

Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

For the caramel

• 1/2 cup Sugar

• 1 tbsp Water

• 1/4 cup Lukewarm water

Dry fruits mix

• 3 cups Mixed fruits (black raisins, dried cranberries, golden raisins, mix peel, Dried figs, dried cherries and dry apricots)

• 1 and 1/2 cups Dark brown rum

• 1/4 cup orange juice

For the cake

• 2 cups + 1 tbsp Maida

• 1 and 1/4 tsp Baking powder

• 1/2 tsp Baking soda

• 1 heaped tbsp Cinnamon powder

• 1 heaped tbsp Clove powder

• 1/2 tbsp Nutmeg powder

• 4 Eggs

• 1/4 cup Soft butter

• 1 cup Powdered sugar

• 2 tbsp Apricot jam

Instructions

For the caramel

1. In a pan take sugar, sprinkle 1 tbsp water and boil it till it forms a dark brown syrup.

2. Remove from the gas and slowly add warm water stirring continuously (be extremely careful as this may burn your hands). Keep aside.

For the Dry fruits mix

1. Soak the dry fruits in rum 3 months in advance and keep shaking it at intervals so that it gets infused well. You can even add cashew nuts.

For the cake

1. Whisk maida, baking powder and baking soda, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg powders well

2. Drain the dry fruits and keep the extra rum aside

3. Add 1 tbsp maida and rub the soaked fruits well (this is to prevent the fruits from sinking down)

4. In a wide mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and beat well till it gets creamy

5. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well

6. Add 2 tbsp apricot jam and beat again

7. Mix in the caramel and keep beating well

8. Now add the flour mixture in batches and fold in gently mixing it thoroughly

9. Lastly add the dry fruits and mix in well

10. Add the leftover rum as much as you need if the mixture is very thick

11. Line the batter in a greased baking tray and bake for an hour in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C or till the skewer comes clean, keeping a watch continuously

12. Cool completely and invert it from the cake tin, keep it covered with a cling foil and then an aluminium foil till you want to use it

13. Mix little sugar in the leftover rum and keep brushing this on the cake every day (this will make the cake moist and have a sweet taste).