This is the tweaked and twisted christmas cake recipe of the Original from Cheryl's christmas cake. I am very fond of christmas cakes and love the taste of the baked fruits in the cake. This time i tried making like the original by soaking the fruits. Since i did this more for a trial, I took half the measures from the original recipe.
The baked cake when it was out of my oven was cracked at the top but I was not at all disappointed for it was good to taste, it more or less matched the spicy aromatic dark( ofcourse color could have been more darker) cake that i knew in my childhood (My chitti's oven baked plum cake, Brigade road nilgiris and universal bakery Mylapore). Infact, it was more moist and fresh since it came baked fresh from my oven.
Loved the baked raisin, sultana, the citrusy bitterness of the orange peels, lemon zest, the zing of the ginger and the hardy nutty taste of almonds, cashews( did'nt soak them) and the spicy cinnamon in every bite and it tasted much much better than even the most celebrated Karachi bakery cake of Hyderabad;)
Ingredients:
raisins, sultanas, chopped dates - 1/4 cup
freshly chopped orange peels - 1 table spoon
grated lemon zest ( not the white part) - 1/2 table spoon
grated fresh ginger - 1/2 table spoon
Almonds and cashews( cut) - 1/2 tablespoon
Grape juice - 1/2 cup for soaking the fruits.
Maida - 3/4 cup
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
treacle - 1/4 cup( made from boiling 1 cup grated palm jaggery in 3/4 cup of water). I used 1/4 cup from this mixture.
whipped plain yogurt-- 1/2 cup
unsalted butter -- 50 gms
Apple juice -- 1/2 cup
flax meal - 1 table spoon( ground flax seeds)
salt - 1/2 table spoon
baking soda - 1/2 tsp
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
ground clove buds - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon powder -1/2 tsp
( i missed ground nutmeg, caraway seeds, all spice powder from the original recipe apart from many fruits like candied fruit mix of mangoes, bananas, papaya, cranberries etc)
The soaked fruits, treacle, fruit peels, ginger and nuts
Method:
I soaked the raisins, sultanas overnight in grape juice.
Added sugar, treacle, butter, spices and apple juice to a pan and heated them over medium flame till it bubbled and then simmered for 5 minutes.
On the other side, I mixed maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sieved them together.
when the sugar, spice syrup cooled, I added all the dry sieved ingredients and mixed them well.
Next I folded in yogurt and mixed well.
finally added nuts, vanilla essence and apple juice.
Transferred the mixture into a baking tray and baked for 20 minutes.
but it did'nt matter for I am no perfectionist, what mattered was I tried to bake my dream cake with limitations in a microwave.
It looks rustic and what's more
it's home made and tasted yummmmmmmmmmmm........
The baked cake when it was out of my oven was cracked at the top but I was not at all disappointed for it was good to taste, it more or less matched the spicy aromatic dark( ofcourse color could have been more darker) cake that i knew in my childhood (My chitti's oven baked plum cake, Brigade road nilgiris and universal bakery Mylapore). Infact, it was more moist and fresh since it came baked fresh from my oven.
Loved the baked raisin, sultana, the citrusy bitterness of the orange peels, lemon zest, the zing of the ginger and the hardy nutty taste of almonds, cashews( did'nt soak them) and the spicy cinnamon in every bite and it tasted much much better than even the most celebrated Karachi bakery cake of Hyderabad;)
Ingredients:
raisins, sultanas, chopped dates - 1/4 cup
freshly chopped orange peels - 1 table spoon
grated lemon zest ( not the white part) - 1/2 table spoon
grated fresh ginger - 1/2 table spoon
Almonds and cashews( cut) - 1/2 tablespoon
Grape juice - 1/2 cup for soaking the fruits.
Maida - 3/4 cup
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
treacle - 1/4 cup( made from boiling 1 cup grated palm jaggery in 3/4 cup of water). I used 1/4 cup from this mixture.
whipped plain yogurt-- 1/2 cup
unsalted butter -- 50 gms
Apple juice -- 1/2 cup
flax meal - 1 table spoon( ground flax seeds)
salt - 1/2 table spoon
baking soda - 1/2 tsp
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
ground clove buds - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon powder -1/2 tsp
( i missed ground nutmeg, caraway seeds, all spice powder from the original recipe apart from many fruits like candied fruit mix of mangoes, bananas, papaya, cranberries etc)
The soaked fruits, treacle, fruit peels, ginger and nuts
Method:
I soaked the raisins, sultanas overnight in grape juice.
Added sugar, treacle, butter, spices and apple juice to a pan and heated them over medium flame till it bubbled and then simmered for 5 minutes.
On the other side, I mixed maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sieved them together.
when the sugar, spice syrup cooled, I added all the dry sieved ingredients and mixed them well.
Next I folded in yogurt and mixed well.
finally added nuts, vanilla essence and apple juice.
Transferred the mixture into a baking tray and baked for 20 minutes.
It is cracked and not perfect,
but it did'nt matter for I am no perfectionist, what mattered was I tried to bake my dream cake with limitations in a microwave.
It looks rustic and what's more
it's home made and tasted yummmmmmmmmmmm........
and was gone in a trice.....and that mattered most:)
