25 December, 2017
CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE egg free, alcohol free, wheat flour plum cake
Merry Christmas to All….. A Soft… light…. moist…. delicious…. eggless…. alcohol free fruits seeds & nuts cake – in which – I have used seeds like sunflower, flax seeds, muskmelon seeds, pumpkin seeds & nuts like almond, cashews, walnut, pistachio, pine nuts & berries like cranberries, black raisins, green raisins, blueberries, blackcurrants & fruits like figs, dried apricot and dried cherries, along with wheat flour.
They do soak dried fruits in alcohol for several days, and the alternate is to soak them in orange or apple juice. In that also there is an instant version in which, they soak the dried fruits in boiled water. But I did soak them in freshly squeezed, unsweetened orange juice for about 18 to 19 hours only. But still it turned out perfect. Here I have sieved the wheat flour once before and again sieved it by adding salt, soda and spice powders. This makes the cake little light I guess. Made modifications to my own old recipe of christmas cranberry dry fruits cake
Ingredients :
To sieve together :
- Wheat flour (sieved, please refer above) – 1&3/4 cups
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Spice powder – 1/2 tsp (consists of equal amount of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom & nutmeg powdered together)
- Dried ginger powder – 1/4 tsp
To beat together :
- Melted butter – 75 gms
- Brown sugar – 3/4 cup (for us this much sweetness was perfect)
- Milk – 1/2 cup
- Curd – 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice – 1/2 tbsp
- Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
To soak :
- Fresh orange juice – 1/2 cup (freshly squeezed and unsweetened)
- Dried fruits, seeds, nuts and berries (everything together about 1&1/4 cup)
PROCEDURE :
- Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes
- Grease a 8 inch cake tray and dust it with flour on the sides and line the cake tray with parchment paper at the bottom (I did so)
- Chop all dry nuts to small bits and mix in the seeds
- Soak all the chopped dried fruits and berries in 1/2 cup of orange juice at least for over night (I did soak them for about 18 to 19 hours)
- Now gather and sieve all the ingredients listed under the heading ‘to sieve together’
- In a mixing bowl gather together all the ingredients listed under ‘to beat together’, and beat them until the sugar dissolves completely
- Now put the soaked dried fruits and berries along with juice, all the nuts and seeds, sieved flour mixture and give it a good stir, mixing gently with a big spoon or spatula
- Pour the mixture into the cake tray, lightly tap the container to get it settled evenly
- Bake it for 30 to 35 minutes at 180 C or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes and then put it on the wire rack to cool completely and then slice it
