DISH NAME : KERALA PLUM / FRUIT CAKE

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour

Chilling Time : Soaking time-over night

Description

This is a traditional fruit cake of Kerala. It is called plum cake. Fruit cake is called "plum cake" in Kerala and also throughout much of the British ruled places as 'plum' was an old English term for dried fruits like raisins, currants, and sultanas.
Mambally Bapu from Thalassery in Kerala baked the first plum cake. Mambally Bapu was an enterprising businessman who had previously travelled to Burma (now Myanmar) to master the art of biscuit-making. A few days before Christmas in 1883, Murdoch Brown, a British planter asked Bapu to make a replica of the Fruit cake he had brought all the way from Great Britain. He also gave asked Bapu if he could replicate it, handing over the recipe and a few samples of imported dry fruits.

Note

1) Stand back when adding water to caramel as it may splutter on you.
2) Fruits are dusted with flour to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
3) Bain marie or double boiler method-A bain-marie is also known as a water bath or double boiler. It is used to heat materials gently without burning or scorching them. It has many applications in science, industry, and cooking. Two pots, one large and one small is used for this. The small bowl is filled with water till half way. Bring to a boil. The bigger pot is kept on top of it.Boiling water should not touch the bigger pot. But steam is created and trapped by the simmering water. Some people place the small vessel inside the large vessel (which holds water) on a metal ring so that water does not touch the small vessel. I personally prefer the first method, big pot on small one.

Method

1) Immerse orange & lemon peel, and sultanas & raisins in rum overnight.
2) Next day, boil some water and keep the vessel with the fruits along with the liquid on top of the boiling water-double boiler/ bain marie method. Do not cover with lid. Keep on stirring for 15 minutes. Not a drop should fall into the fruits. After 15 minutes leave to cool.
3) Butter an 8 inch cake tin. Line the bottom of the pan with buttered butter paper. Also line the sides of the pan with a strip of buttered paper that extends about 2 inches above the pan.
4) Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
5) Sieve maida, baking powder and cinnamon together thrice.
6) In a non-greased pan add sugar (100 gm) and caramelise. When it turns brown, add water. Be careful at this stage as sugar will splutter on you. This will turn into a thick syrup. Keep aside.
7) Beat butter till smooth.
8) Add egg yolks, one at a time and beat well. 9) Then add vanilla essence, maida and baking powder and fold lightly to form a smooth mixture. Do not over mix.
10) Add orange juice to get a pouring consistency.
11) Now add caramelised sugar, fruits, dusted with flour, any rum remaining and cashew.
12) Mix egg whites with 15 gm sugar and beat finely to form peaks. Add vanilla essence and continue beating. Fold this gently into the cake mixture.
13) Bake at 150 C for about 50-55 minutes or longer (depending on your oven), until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. 14) Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
14) Allow the cake to mature for atleast 1 week, ideally 2 weeks. Keep tightly wrapped in 2 layers of butter paper and aluminium foil or cling film. It is important to use butter paper as aluminium foil or cling film may react.
15) It will be good to feed the cake from time to time. Refer serving suggestions.

Serving Suggestions

1) Feeding the cake:
With a skewer poke holes on 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 (once or twice a week) with brandy until Christmas.
2)This cake will keep for several weeks,if kept properly covered.