Tis the season to be baking !!
Christmas is the best time of the year and 2011 was extra special since it was our first Christmas together.
And boy were we excited. We started our Christmas shopping rather early and by the 1st week of December, our home was transformed to a whole new Christmas setting. From the cushion covers, to the book shelf show pieces, to the kitchen cupboards & our wall - everything was merry !!
Christmas is also the season of giving and thus began our baking sessions at home! As far as I remember, Amma used to bake these amazing yum fruit cakes for Christmas- year after year, cake after cake and thus it seemed to be the right thing for us to do as well. A new tradition that we wanted to do for years - visiting all our friends & family before Christmas and gifting them a home made special cake.
And undoubtedly, the fruit cake tops the Cake list. Like my grandfather opines, what good is a cake if there is nothing to bite in it.He loved fruit cakes or any adaption of a cake which had nuts & or fruits. Of all the cakes that I made this season, this fruit cake was the Mother of all cakes! It is adapted from Nigel Slater's 'The Kitchen Diaries' and is nice and rich and smells yum too. Make this 3-4 weeks before Christmas for best results, however I made mine just a week in advance and it turned out just right.
Next Christmas, I'll do a royal icing on the cake, and am hoping that this will be a close contender to Appa's favorite bakery Christmas cake that we buy every year in Cochin.
Fruit Cake
Butter - 1 cup (I used salted butter)
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
All Purpose Flour- 2 cups
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Brandy - 3 tablespoons + extra for brushing the cake
Orange - Juice and zest of one orange
Lemon - Juice and zest of one Lemon
Ground Almonds- ¾ cup (65 gms)
Chopped Nuts - 1 cup ( I used hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds )
Assortment of fruits*- 1 kg (chopped)
* ( Dried apricots, figs, prunes, etc) + (candied and chopped mixed peel, and glace cherries ) + (assortment of raisins, sultanas, currants, dried cranberries and/or cherries)
Salt (Omit if salted butter is used)
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the brandy, juice and zest of the orange, and zest of the lemon. Then fold in the ground almonds, chopped nuts, and all the dried and candied fruits. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder and fold this into the cake batter.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).Pour into a greased 8 inch (20 cm) pan. (Line the bottom of the pan with buttered parchment paper). Bake in the preheated oven for1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and continue to bake the cake for another 1 hour 30 minutes or until a long skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
With a skewer poke holes in the top surface of the cake and brush with a little brandy. Wrap the cake thoroughly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in a cake tin or plastic bag. Brush the cake periodically (twice a week) with brandy until Christmas.
This cake will keep several weeks.
Happy Baking!!
And boy were we excited. We started our Christmas shopping rather early and by the 1st week of December, our home was transformed to a whole new Christmas setting. From the cushion covers, to the book shelf show pieces, to the kitchen cupboards & our wall - everything was merry !!
Christmas is also the season of giving and thus began our baking sessions at home! As far as I remember, Amma used to bake these amazing yum fruit cakes for Christmas- year after year, cake after cake and thus it seemed to be the right thing for us to do as well. A new tradition that we wanted to do for years - visiting all our friends & family before Christmas and gifting them a home made special cake.
And undoubtedly, the fruit cake tops the Cake list. Like my grandfather opines, what good is a cake if there is nothing to bite in it.He loved fruit cakes or any adaption of a cake which had nuts & or fruits. Of all the cakes that I made this season, this fruit cake was the Mother of all cakes! It is adapted from Nigel Slater's 'The Kitchen Diaries' and is nice and rich and smells yum too. Make this 3-4 weeks before Christmas for best results, however I made mine just a week in advance and it turned out just right.
Next Christmas, I'll do a royal icing on the cake, and am hoping that this will be a close contender to Appa's favorite bakery Christmas cake that we buy every year in Cochin.
Fruit Cake
Butter - 1 cup (I used salted butter)
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
All Purpose Flour- 2 cups
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Brandy - 3 tablespoons + extra for brushing the cake
Orange - Juice and zest of one orange
Lemon - Juice and zest of one Lemon
Ground Almonds- ¾ cup (65 gms)
Chopped Nuts - 1 cup ( I used hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds )
Assortment of fruits*- 1 kg (chopped)
* ( Dried apricots, figs, prunes, etc) + (candied and chopped mixed peel, and glace cherries ) + (assortment of raisins, sultanas, currants, dried cranberries and/or cherries)
Salt (Omit if salted butter is used)
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the brandy, juice and zest of the orange, and zest of the lemon. Then fold in the ground almonds, chopped nuts, and all the dried and candied fruits. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder and fold this into the cake batter.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).Pour into a greased 8 inch (20 cm) pan. (Line the bottom of the pan with buttered parchment paper). Bake in the preheated oven for1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and continue to bake the cake for another 1 hour 30 minutes or until a long skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
With a skewer poke holes in the top surface of the cake and brush with a little brandy. Wrap the cake thoroughly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in a cake tin or plastic bag. Brush the cake periodically (twice a week) with brandy until Christmas.
This cake will keep several weeks.
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| I woke up on Xmas morn to see Santa's note & of course his gift too! I love Santa! |
Happy Baking!!
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