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Fruit cake is one of the most recognized holiday treats. It’s packed with the goodness of fruits and nuts and aromatic spices. Make a batch for your holiday party with this delicious recipe from Ammini Ramachandran, renowned cookbook author of Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts.
Ingredients:
Raisins – 1 cup
Dates – 1 cup, chopped
Candied Orange/Lemon Peel – 1/4 cup, sliced thin
Brandy or Rum – 1/4 cup
Unsalted Cashew Pieces – 1 cup
Sugar – 6 Tbsp
Water – 3 Tbsp
Lemon Juice – few drops
Boiling Water – 1/2 cup
Unsalted Butter – 2 sticks (8 oz) at room temperature
Powdered Sugar – 2 1/2 cups
Eggs – 3 large or 4 medium (separated)
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
All-Purpose Flour – 2 cups
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 tsp
Ginger Powder – 1/4 tsp
Clove Powder – 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp
Brandy – optional for soaking cake
Method:
1. In a medium pan, add Brandy/Rum, Dates, Raisins and Orange Peel. Cook for 1 minute on medium heat.
2. Add Cashews and continue to cook for 1 minutes until heated through. Keep aside.
3. In a small pot, add 6 Tbsp Sugar and 3 Tbsp water and few drops of lemon juice. Swirl pan to mix – do not use spoon.
4. Heat until sugar changes color and becomes caramelized. (approx 7-8 minutes).
5. Add 1/2 cup boiling water and swirl pan again to mix well. Keep aside.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter and powdered sugar and beat with hand blender.
7. Add one egg yolk at a time to the mix and blend well.
8. Add Vanilla Extract and blend.
9. Combine all dry spices, baking powder and flour and sift it into the bowl, adding little at a time and blending.
10. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
11. Lightly coat baking pans with spray cooking oil or regular oil.
12. Add caramelized sugar syrup a little at a time into mixing bowl and blend.
13. Add fruit/nut mixture into mixing bowl and mix with a spoon.
14. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they are fluffy and soft peaks form.
15. Fold beaten egg whites into the cake batter.
16. Pour batter into greased baking pans and bake for approx 1 hour at 325 degrees F. For smaller pans, baking time may vary.
17. Remove cake from oven and allow it to cool for few minutes.
18. Garnish with powdered sugar.
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16 Responses to “Fruit Cake”
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December 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
hi,
can we make this cake without rum, brandy, and egg. a we are pure vegetarian. pl let me know.
thanks
vani.
[Reply]
December 18th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Can kids eat this cake, considering it has rum in it? Or does the alcohol cook off?
Will appreciate your comments.
[Reply]
December 18th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Hi Reena,
Sure, kids can eat this cake. The fruits/nuts are sauteed over the stove top and the cake is baked for almost an hour. The alcohol should be gone, the flavor there.
[Reply]
December 18th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Hi,
Can we make this without brady, rum or egg (same question as Vani’s)? It will be nice if there are some other alternatives even if it means not the best cake! Thanks!
[Reply]
December 19th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Thanks, Hetal for your response. I have another question. Why do you have to caramelize the sugar? I’m sure there’s a reason!
Would love to know what does that step offer to the cake. Thanks
To those who asked if this cake can be made without alcohol. This is Hetal and Anuja’s recipe so it’s their right to comment. But I think you can substitute with Orange juice or lemon juice. But would obviously not get the same taste. And maybe use a little bit of rum essence to make the taste similar? Not sure .. just rambling. Worth trying.
[Reply]
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hi Rathna/Vani,
Sorry, but this is Ammini Ramachandran’s recipe so we made it as per her instructions.
We have a yummy dates and walnut cake video coming soon which is egg free so look out for that.
[Reply]
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hi Reena,
Caramelizing the sugar give the fruit the classic dark color.
Btw, great suggestion for adding orange juice. You’re right, the taste will be different, but definitely delicious!
[Reply]
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 am
Dear Hetal and Anuja
Thankyou for the recipe. I tried it out and came out well. However I had trouble beating the egg whites. I tried to beat for nearly 5 mins and they didnt fluff.
The cake was soft though.
Im not sure what could be the possible reason.
Any idea?
Thanks
[Reply]
December 23rd, 2008 at 4:29 am
i have noticed that if the beater is not completely dry, the egg whites done fluff up…not too sure if this was a coincidence once or a fact..:)
btw where do we get candied peels in the grocery stored here?
[Reply]
December 24th, 2008 at 12:29 am
thanks for the recipe..
I made this recipe and everyone loved it!!
[Reply]
December 26th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Thanks for letting me know about the egg whites.
If you are in Canda, candied lemon/orange are easily available in save on foods, usually at the bulk section.
In US, you can get in any of the regular grocery stores like Whole foods, usually near the fruit section or bakery section
I’m not sure if they are available in Indian stores.
Thanks
[Reply]
January 8th, 2009 at 1:59 am
I made the cake today but all the fruits settled on the bottom . Why does that happen? How can I avoid it.
[Reply]
February 2nd, 2009 at 4:42 am
Hi Mary,
If you coat the nuts and fruits with flour first it will prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
[Reply]
February 8th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
hi thanx but my cake didnt spring up properly and in middle it was abit sticky
[Reply]
October 26th, 2009 at 7:39 am
hi guys
i would love to try this ,but my prob is we are just 3 of us……..so this is just too big a cake for us.thought of halving the quantity but i dont know how much egg to put…..coz u use three.so plz let me know.and one more thing can i use egg substitute (flaxseed paste )for this recipe.
thanks in advance
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Hi Arthi,
What you could do is beat the egg very well and measure how many tablespoons it is (usually approx 3 per large egg). Then you could measure out how many tablespoons of egg you’d need. As you know, it is hard to half an unbeaten egg. The flaxseed paste will probably work very well in this recipe.
[Reply]