Christmas Fruit Cake

Fruit cakes are a big deal, not just in my city but all over the world. Just the other day, I was speaking to one of my childhood friends, living in Canada. She is an excellent baker. And I remember relishing her fruit cakes and other baked goodies whenever I used to visit her before she moved out to North America. She’s my biggest inspiration when it comes to baking and was flattered and overwhelmed to hear that she’s an ardent follower of my blogs and quite fond of my recipes.

I have made many other cake recipes in a pressure cooker as well like eggless rava cake, vanilla Cake, chocolate cake, tutty fruity cake, No Bake Oreo Ice-cream Cupcake, etc.

Since Christmas is also around the corner and fruit cakes are a staple of this festival, I thought of sharing my Christmas Fruit Cake recipe today. Mine is not the dreaded one but a rich fruit cake recipe that’s moist, flavourful and full of dry fruits. It’s perfect for the holiday season. If you are fond of your grandma’s fruit cake recipe, you would love mine too! Try this out if you have enjoyed my Bread Biscuit Cake, Oreo Cake and Tea Time Chocolate Cake recipes.

I won’t shy away from tagging it as the ‘best fruit cake recipe for Christmas’ because it is nothing short of indulgent and has every ingredient that local bakers use. No need to book your slots for a nut-encrusted mix fruit cake this time. Stay at home and prepare it yourself.

Celebrate the holiday season with mirth and joy over a simple and yummy Christmas cake recipe loaded with fruit and nut for pure indulgence!

Ingredients:

1 cup or 125 grams all purpose flour
1 cup Candied fruits – Dates,Cherry, Tutti Frutti, Black Kishmish & Fig
75 grams Condensed milk
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Cloves powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp Brown sugar
¼ tsp Cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp Cloves powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg Powder
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Mixed dry fruits
1/4 cup/2 tbsp Orange juice/ water
60 gm Butter
1 tbsp Orange zest

To make caramel syrup:

½ cup sugar
2 cups water

To make caramel syrup:

Melt and stir sugar in a saucepan on high flame. Keep it aside for a few seconds.
Once done, switch off the flame and rest it for few seconds.
Dilute it with water without stirring on low flame.
Add cinnamon powder, candied fruits,cardamom powder, orange zest, cloves powder and nutmeg powder when it starts boiling. Stir for 10-12 minutes, until the syrup thickens.
Lastly, keep it aside to let it cool down.

Instructions for Fruit Cake:

Mix all-purpose flour, soda, baking powder and brown sugar in a bowl.
Add all the dry ingredients into it and keep it aside.
Prepare the wet mixture in another bowl using condensed milk, caramel syrup (2 tbsp.) and orange juice.
Now whisk the final mixture until no lumps are there, after combining the dry mixture to the wet mixture.
Pour in some melted butter and stir until the oil blends into the batter.
Now garnish it with dry fruits or cooked candied fruits.

Method for Oven:

In silicon moulds lined with cupcake liners, pour 2-3 tbsp of batter.
Sprinkle some chopped almonds over them. Bake at 180⁰in a pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes.
Bring it out from the oven, let it cool down for some time and then cut.
From the liners, take out all the fruit cupcakes and cut. Let them completely cool down before cutting.

Method for Pan:

Pre-heat a pan having salt spread evenly into its base for 10-12 minutes on medium flame.
Place a wire rack inside and over it, position 2 batter-filled (3-4 tbsp) small bowls.
Take 2 small size katori, grease it with oil and dust with flour.
Pour 3-4 tbsp of prepared batter in each katori. Do not fill too much as batter will rise while baking.
Now put batter filled katoris inside the heated pan onto the rack, cover the lid and let it bake for 30-35 minutes on low flame.
Once baked uncover the lid and take out the katoris from the pan and let it cool down for sometime.
Scratch the sides, turn the katori upside down and your fruit cakes are ready!

Instead of brown sugar, you may use castor sugar but limit the quantity though the former is preferable for adding a nice caramel flavour and colour.
Don’t fill the batter to the brim of the moulds as it would rise while baking.

Don’t forget to check out my other recipes in cakes like Cake Popsicle, Red Velvet Cup Cake and Dora Cakes for an equally delightful baking experience!