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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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Orkut
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]
avi Reply:
July 12th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
hi dear m living australia…………where can i get whipping cream
[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]
jada Reply:
December 9th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
YESS
[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]
December 8th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
What’s the procedure for soaking the cake in Brandy(last ingredient-optional)?
Thanks,
Shakuntala
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
December 8th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Hi Shakuntala,
You can take a toothpick or fork to make some holes into the cake and then take a pastry brush to get the brandy into the cake.
[Reply]
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:13 am
[...] baking eggless plum cakes but they never turn out perfect. Well, this time around I already had this Kerala style plum cake recipe in mind and was itching to try it out since months. This recipe is from Ammini Ramachandran (who [...]
February 15th, 2010 at 4:27 am
Hi,
( can u pls lemme know where would have i gone wrong.
i tried this recipe…but the cake didnt set…even after 1 hr my cake was gummy n wet
[Reply]
February 28th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
2 questions :
1) Egg separated : does it mean add, just whites ?
2) Powdered sugar : how is this different from the regular sugar that we use. I thought, here the sugar is powdered. Or are you referrin to confectioners sugar?
Please reply! I am planning to make it. It looks yummy!
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Hi CS,
1) ” Eggs – separated” means that you use the entire egg, but you use the yolk and the whites at different times in the recipe.
2) Powdered sugar is also known as confectioners sugar. It contains corn starch for a smooth texture.
[Reply]
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:39 pm
hi, can u put choclate or vanilla cakes or cookies
[Reply]
November 22nd, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Hi Hetal / Anuja,
Can u tell me how does rum taste, I am just thinking what other alternative i can use for cooking nuts, raisins and dates…………………
And
Instead of egg can i use Flexseeds powder if yes then how much……
Thanks for all your cooking….
Prati
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
November 25th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Hi Prati,
You can skip the rum altogether if you want but this is a fruit cake so it will be difficult to substitute all of the other things
. 1 egg = 1 Tbsp of flaxseed powder + 3 Tbsp of water.
[Reply]
Prati Reply:
November 26th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Thanks Hetal,
I will sure try this somehow using my baking experience taken from you offcourse and let you know.
[Reply]
December 3rd, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Just made this fruit cake, it smells and looks fabulous. I hope to test it soon, but am giving it away as gifts this year.
When you say in the clip that you soak for one month in rum, do you mean you soak the dates, raisens, peels, and cashews for a month before you use them in the cake?
Just wondering as it doesn’t make much sense to soak the cake for a month in liquor. Thanks.
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
December 5th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Hi Joanne,
This is a quicker version of the original fruitcake. Traditionally, the fruits and nuts are not cooked (as we have shown) but just soaked in the liquor for about a month before using them in the fruitcake. They soften up and absorb the flavors simply by sitting there, not by heat.
[Reply]
December 14th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Hi Hetal
Any substitute of rum for the non alcohol drinkers?
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Hi Aditi,
You can just skip it.
[Reply]
December 21st, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Hi
I tried this cake , but it was not fluffy enough..even after baking it for 1 hr ,I felt it was a bit sticky ..I followed all your steps , but skipped using rum, as i did not have any!
can this be the reason or something else…totally disappointed after spending 3 hours in making the cake ….
[Reply]
December 23rd, 2010 at 8:59 am
Hi Hetal and Anuja
Made this cake for Christmas and it came out well .. I had soaked the fruits in Rum for almost a month.
Thanks for all the effort … its awesome.
Wishing both of U and your family a Blessed and Joyful Christmas.
[Reply]
March 9th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
i tried making cup cake with this recipe 350f for 2 mintues,,, cake was sticky can u tell the exact time
[Reply]
anuja Reply:
March 10th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Hi Vini,
Well, the recipe calls for baking a cake at 325 for 1 hour, though we have not tried it but think that you’d need to cook the cupcakes for atleast 30- 40 minutes at the same temp.
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
March 18th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
thank u ,,, ‘ll try
[Reply]
April 5th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Just a request. How much grams of flour and other ingredients. Can’t really figure when you mention it as 3 cups of sugar or 2 cups of maida. Hence can you mention them in gms in your recipes.
[Reply]
June 21st, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Hi,
U guys r really great. Pls let me know how to make a simple cake in a microwave.
Bye
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Hi Rashmi,
We have not come across a great microwave cake recipe. We’re still working on it
.
[Reply]
November 20th, 2011 at 7:12 am
Thanks for your recipe. i tried this recipe yesterday and it came out pretty good. This is the first time i baked a cake.
Thanks for all your effort, God bless.
[Reply]
February 14th, 2012 at 6:14 am
hi,
i was searching for a good rum cake recipe to be baked. i wanted to bake it today. all other recipes said either to soak the fruits overnight or for many days.this is a recipe for the same day preparation. i liked it.
[Reply]
December 17th, 2012 at 2:33 am
Hi Hetal/Anuja,
I was just wondering if you could post some doughnut recipe as well.
[Reply]
December 17th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Hi Hetal/Anuja,
I M excited to try this recipe for this Christmas, can you pls tell me the best way to preserve this cake and how long can we preserve it? can i prepare candied orange at home?
[Reply]
hetal Reply:
December 18th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Hi Francina,
The best way to preserve this cake is in a container with a tight fitting lid, in the refrigerator. It should remain fresh for up to one week. Here is a recipe we found for candied oranges: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/candied-orange-recipe/index.html
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