Fruit Cake (made of Demerara Sugar)

Fruit Cake (made of  Demerara sugar)

All the ingredients should be at room temperature and please use  Indian standard measuring cups and teaspoons. Use same measuring cup to measure flour, sugar, chopped dry fruits  and unsalted butter. Ratio is 1: 1: 1: 1, equal amount of flour, powdered sugar, chopped dry fruits and butter.

Ingredients

For the flour:

1/2 level cup (100 ml) all purpose flour ( maida ) (please use fresh all purpose flour)  Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 4 oz capacity.

½  level teaspoon baking powder

One pinch salt

¼  level  teaspoon clove powder

¼ level  teaspoon cinnamon powder

¼ level  teaspoon nut meg powder

Method

Sieve thrice flour with above ingredients. Keep aside in a separate container.

Other ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted soft butter (cooking butter). Keep aside to cool for half hour. Then it will become soft (weight measurement is 50 g)

1/2  level cup (100 ml) Demerara sugar (Blue Bird brand available @ all super markets )

2 eggs, (net weight of 2 eggs are 110 g)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sieved flour

½ cup  / 100 ml chopped dry fruits (a mix of chopped dried orange peel, tutti fruitti, raisins, chopped cashew nuts - loosely fill in ½ cup)

1 tablespoon caramel sugar (sugar syrup)

Extra 1 teaspoon butter ( to grease baking dish)

 How to Caramelize Sugar?

 ( An easy  home style  preparation)

Short method - Heat a heavy bottomed kadai on a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon sugar. When it melts (smooth solution) color changes from yellow to dark brown. Switch off the heat. Wait for 3 minutes. Maintain a safe distance from the gas stove and add 3 tablespoon water and gently mix  with a thick tablespoon. Keep aside for 10 minutes.  A clear 2 tablespoon thin sugar syrup is ready now.

Method

The cake needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the fruits and nuts. Not using enough flour in your recipe will make the dried fruit sink to the bottom. To prevent this, dust the dried fruit in flour before adding to the mixture. Source – thekitchn.com and ehow.

Dust fruits (cashew nuts, tutti fruitti,  raisins & orange peel) with 2 tablespoons of flour (maida). Mix well with a thick tablespoon. Flour should be well coated on fruits and there won’t be any water content. Cover and keep aside for 1 hour.

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Preheat oven (OTG) at 170 *C or 325 *F.

In a big bowl, beat  soft unsalted butter (@ room temperature) until creamy with the help of an electrical beater.

Add Demerara sugar and beat until soft and well combined with butter.

Add egg one by one and beat until smooth and creamy / light golden color (use electric beater).

Add  1 teaspoon vanilla essence.  Beat well.

Add sieved flour and dusted fruits (do not use leftover flour)  in batches (2 batches) and gently mix with the help of a thick tablespoon (do not use electric beater at this stage) until well blended / smooth cake mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon caramel syrup (caramel sugar) and mix well.

 Please do not add milk, water, leftover caramel syrup  … If the cake batter is too thin, it won't bake properly.

Final procedure:

Transfer this cake mixture into a greased baking pan - loaf pan / ring /  square or round (or paper lined ).  Spread it evenly with a spatula (decorate with cashew nuts or almonds on the top of the cake batter if required) and bake at 170 * C or 325* F for  35 - 40 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. 

Remove from the oven and transfer the cake into a cooling rack. Keep aside to cool for one hour. Once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper / cling film / aluminium foil and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices.

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.