Eggless,Whole Wheat,Christmas Rum Cake Kerala Style
Christmas delicacies can never be complete without a piece of Fruit cake or Plum Cake or Rum Cake. Here is a guilt free and healthy recipe for a Kerala Style Christmas Rum Cake which is made of Whole Wheat flour and is eggless.Fruitcake is a rich dense cake packed with dry fruits and nuts flavoured with spices usually made during Christmas. In India, this is found everywhere during the Christmas season.
Ingredients
Soaking of Fruits
- 1 cup Soft Dates. Finely chopped.
- 1 cup Mixed candied Peel.
- ½ cup Walnuts. Finely chopped.
- ½ cup Cashew Nuts. Finely chopped.
- ¼ cup Almonds. Finely chopped.
- ¼ cup Pistachio. Finely chopped.
- ¼ cup Golden Raisin.
- ¼ cup Black Raisin.
- ¼ cup Dried Cranberry.
- ¼ cup Dried Apricot.
- ¼ cup Dried Plum/Prunes.
- ¼ cup Candied Ginger.
- ½ cup Fresh Orange Zest.
- 2.5 cups Dark Rum. Traditionally Dark Rum is used to soak fruits. You can replace Rum with Red Wine, Whiskey, Medium Sherry or Brandy. For Non Alcoholic Option, Use Grape or Apple or Orange Juice. Use Fresh juice without any chemicals.
Wet Ingredients
- 1½ cup Jaggery or Brown Sugar.
- ¼ cup Water
- 2 cups Hot Water
- ⅔ cup Oil. Use any unflavored or mildly flavored oil.
- 3 tbsp Vinegar or Lime juice.
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Essence
Dry Ingredients
- 4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder.
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Cinnamon Powder
- ½ tsp Nutmeg Powder
- ¼ tsp All Spice Powder or Garam Masala Powder.
- ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions
Soaking Fruits
- You can use dry fruits in any combination. You can use 1.25 cups of dry fruits for every cup of flour for a rich cake.
- Add all dry fruits to a clean and dry container.
- Pour Rum and stir well.
- Fill this into a clean Glass Jar.
- Cover and let soak anywhere between 3 weeks to 6 months. The longer you soak, the better.
- Everyday or every alternate day, give a good mix using a dry spoon.
- Shake the jar periodically so that fruits are always coated with Alcohol.
- If the entire alcohol gets absorbed, top with a few spoonfuls.
- If using Fruit juice, then soak overnight in the refrigerator.
- For a last minute recipe, add dry fruits to Rum in a Pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Turn off the flame and let it cool.
Prepare Wet Ingredients
- Take Jaggery in a Pan.
- Add 1/4 cup water and let boil till it starts to caramelize and thicken.
- Add 2 cups of Hot Water.
- Turn off flame. Strain.
- Add Oil.
- Add Vinegar or Lime Juice.
- Add Vanilla Essence.
Prepare Dry Ingredients
- Add and mix all dry ingredients in a wide Pan.
Prepare Cake
- Preheat Oven to 360°F/180°C.
- Add soaked fruits to Dry ingredients.
- Mix gently.
- Add wet ingredients.
- Gently fold to mix everything.
- Grease a Baking Tin. The Baking Tin should be big enough to accommodate 2 Kg cake.
- Pour cake batter in greased Pan.
- Tap to remove air bubbles.Bake in a preheated oven for an hour.
- Take out and cover top with an aluminium foil.
- Make some slits in the foil for the steam to escape.
- Bake again for 40 minutes till the cake is baked thoroughly from inside.
- Take out and let cool.
- Unmould cake only when it cools.
- For preserving the cake, feed a few spoonfuls of alcohol every alternate day. Cover with a foil and keep in a cupboard. In cold climates, the alcoholic version can be preserved in normal room temperature. In warm climates, keep the cake refrigerated. The non-alcoholic version can be preserved only for a week.
- You may dust the cake with some icing sugar when ready to consume.
