Christmas Cake / Fruit Rum Cake

Merry Christmas!!!! 

As kids we had a church next to our house and I still remember the hustle bustle during the Christmas period....the midnight mass, the beautifully dressed ladies...and ofcourse the sweets.....Hmmmm nostalgia!!!

Every year without fail our neighbours (the Lobos) used to send a big plate of christmas sweets over to our place...and we used to wait anxiously for the same. Each of us sisters had a favourite...mine was the yummy christmas cake!!!

I have tried to recreate the recipe but with a twist. I have added a little caramel to give it a little color and smoothness...



Ingredients:

1/2 cup        Mixed fruit peels (use tutty frutty if not available)
1/2 cup        Mixed nuts (apricots, walnuts, almonds)
1 cup           Rum (soak the peels and nuts in the rum and keep in the fridge for atleast 
                    3 days)

for the caramel (optional)

1/2 cup       Sugar
2 tsp           Water

 













Heat the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan till it melts and changes color to deep golden. Now add the water and keep stirring till the caramel melts. Cool and keep aside.

for the cake

1 cup        Flour (maida) (I used self raising flour)
1 cup        Sugar (use less if using caramel)
1 cup        Butter
3              Eggs
1 tsp         Vanilla essence
2 tsp         Mixed spices (grind together 1 inch of cinnamon, small piece nutmeg, 2 cloves,
                powdered ginger)

1 cup       Mixed peels and nuts soaked in the rum



Method:

Whip the eggs together till frothy.

Cream the sugar and butter and gradually add the eggs. Dont worry if it curdels..

Add the spice mix, the vanilla essence, the caramel and mix again. Now gradually add the flour little by little till fully incorporated. Just fold it do not whip.

Drain the rum from the peels and keep the rum aside.

Just dust the peels with a little flour so that they dont settle at the bottom of the cake tin. Now gently add the peels and nuts to the cake batter and fold. Add about 2 tbs of rum and mix.

Dust the cake tin and pour in the batter. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 mins or till done i.e. the toothpick when inserted in the center of the cake come clean.

Decorate with colored peels and left over soaked nuts.

 

This is our entry for Christmas recipes hosted at
http://www.zestysouthindiankitchen.com/2012/12/favorite-recipes-event-christmas-recipes.html
 and
Cook eat delicious desserts at
http://spicyfoood.blogspot.in/2012/11/cookeatdeliciousdesserts-event.html
CookEatDelicious.com

Cookies and cakes for xmas at
http://myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.in/2010/12/cookies-and-cakes-for-xmas.html

This is our entry for
My Culinary Creations: Cookies And cakes For Xmas