Kerala Christmas Fruit Cake

For preparing the fruits: Chop and soak the dry fruits in rum/wine and keep it in a bottle overnight at room temperature. (You could do it 2 to 3 months ahead. Make sure you shake the jar once a while. Longer the better. I like 2 months)

For preparing caramel: In a heavy bottomed pan, add the sugar and a tbsp of water on medium high heat. The sugar will start to melt and start to change color. Please do not stir, swirl the vessel a couple of times. Slowly the color will become a little dark golden brown. Turn off the heat, immediately pour half a cup of water, stir and mix well (be careful it will splash and melted sugar can really burn if it falls on your skin).

For preparing kerala christmas fruit cake: 1)Sift the flour along with baking powder and keep aside(make sure you mix the baking powder and the flour before sifting).

Now separate egg yolks from the whites, beat the yolks and vanilla till golden and creamy.

Take your time creaming the butter. Beat cream for at least 5 minutes to get lots of air into the butter.

Add the yolk mixture little at a time alternating with little sieved flour and combine till smooth.

Pour the caramel syrup and the spice powders and beat till everything is creamy and combined.

Drain the soaked fruits and add to the mixture and mix well again.

Beat the egg whites until light and frothy before folding them into the butter mixture.

Grease the cake pan well and line with parchment paper. Pour batter up to half of the cake pan.

Tap the cake pan on the counter top to remove all the air bubbles.

Bake for 45 to 50 min, or until tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for some time. Then invert and let it cool well before cutting.

Note: 1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter should be in room temperature.

Add little unflavored gelatin to batter. This helps surface splitting or cracking.

Adding a tsp of lemon juice to butter and sugar mix helps the cake be lighter(try only if you are an experienced).

Measure all the ingredients to exact quantity first and then sift.

Once you¦ve poured the batter in, wobble the pan sideways a bit so the batter reaches up along each side(with the middle being slightly lower). As it bakes, the middle and edges will meet and rise more evenly.

Preheat the oven first before starting, make sure the rack is in the center(unless directed differently) and keep tin in the center of the rack. If you¦re baking more than one at a time, keep them at least 2″ away from the walls of the oven and from each other.

Fruit Cakes: Keep a heatproof dish full of water in the oven while baking.