FRUIT CAKE WITH RUM

Warning: Baking this cake is a long drawn out process and you need a lot of patience for it. The cake disappears in less than one-fourth the time it takes to create it... or faster.

I love the taste of what’s popularly known as plum cake. Made at home with rum and homemade butter, the flavour is an altogether divine experience. I tasted homemade Fruit Cake for the first time at my sister Jayashree’s place, fresh out of her oven. She hadn’t used rum in the cake though. Taking her recipe and adding a few modifications, I arrived at the final version of Fruit Cake With Rum that’s finger-licking good.

Part I: Soaked Dry fruits & nuts 

Advance Preparation (at least 4 to 30 days before the cake is baked)

Ingredients:

Walnuts – 4
Cashew nuts – 6
Dates – 4
Black kishmish – 10
Brown kishmish – 15
Dry fig – 2 slices
Dark Rum – 1 quarter (180 ml)

Soak chopped dry fruits and nuts in rum. Mix it well and keep the mixture stored in a glass container, sealed tight. Stir the mixture every two days or so.

NOTE: You can add the fresh juice squeezed from one orange for flavour. But then the mixture should be used within 4-5 days. Otherwise, it might get spoilt.

Part II: Spice Mix 

(To make into fine powder)

Ingredients:

Cardamom – 2
Cloves – 2
Cinnamon Bar – 1/2” piece
Nutmeg – ¼
Sugar – 2 tsp

NOTE: Sugar is added to help make the powder as fine as possible.

Part III: The Cake

Ingredients:

1. Maida (self-rising flour) – 185 gm (measure 1 cup from 125 ml scoop + 1 cup from 60 ml scoop)
2. Wheat flour – 90 gm (measure 1 cup from 60 ml scoop + 1 cup from 30 ml scoop)
3. Baking Powder – 1 tsp
4. Spice Mix (refer Part II)
5. White Butter – 250 gm (Cooking Oil can be used as an alternate)
6. Demerara Sugar – 185 gm
7. Milk (room temperature or cold) – 250 ml
8. Apple Cider – 2 tbsp (White Vinegar can be used as an alternate)
9. Baking Soda – 1 tsp
10. Vanilla Essence – 2 tsp
11. Soaked dry fruits and nuts (Refer Part I)

Method:

1. Grease a baking dish suitable for making 1 kg cake with butter and dust it with flour. This ensures that the cake doesn’t stick to the sides when done. I use a bread tin as I find it most convenient.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 250 degrees for ten minutes on ‘Toast’ setting.
3. Sieve Ingredients 1, 2 & 3 together through a fine sieve and mix well with a dry ladle.
4. Melt the butter on low flame for 1 minute and switch off. Wait till the butter is in liquid form before adding the Demerara sugar and mix well.
5. Add soaked dry fruits to the butter-sugar mix.
6. Take the milk in a bowl and add the apple cider to it. It will curdle almost immediately. Add the baking soda to this. Stir and add to butter-sugar mix.
7. Stir in the flour, mixing gently but fast. Mix well to avoid lumps.
8. Add Vanilla essence and mix again.
9. Pour into the cake dish. Tap the dish to make sure the cake mixture is evenly spread.
10. Bake it in the pre-heated oven at 200 degrees on ‘Bake’ setting for 40 minutes.
11. When the oven timer pings after 40 minutes, remove the cake dish carefully and cover it with aluminium foil and bake again for 20 minutes.
12. When the timer pings again, leave the cake alone – for at least 4-5 hours.
13. After that, loosen the sides with a knife and tilt it gently on a tray.
14. The cake is ready to eat. It tastes best 24 hours later.

This yummy Fruit Cake With Rum lasts at least a week outside the fridge, that is, if it’s not polished off by then.

NOTES:

a. I have done my best to break down the measurements for easy understanding. It wasn’t easy to fathom them out all by myself. Hope it’s of help.
b. The cake dish should be only half-full or less when the cake mixture is poured in. Otherwise, it might overflow while cooking.

BANANA WALNUT CAKE

Banana Walnut Cake

When my sister Jayashree sent me a picture of the Banana Walnut Cake that she had made in Chennai, I couldn’t resist checking out recipes on the internet. (She was at work and I couldn’t get her recipe.)

I checked out four recipes in all and made a mix and match of my own that gave birth to this delicious Banana Walnut Cake that made everyone drool.

INGREDIENTS

Maida – 250 gm (self-rising flour)
White Butter – 125 gm
Sugar – 150 gm (Powder the sugar after measuring)
Egg – 1 (Beaten fluffy)
Bananas – 3 (grated)
Baking Powder – 2 tsp
Walnuts – a handful (chopped)
Milk – 50 ml
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Just out of the oven

METHOD

1. Sift the flour and baking powder through the sieve into a bowl.
2. Take a mixing bowl and add butter, sugar powder, milk, Vanilla essence, grated bananas to it and mix gently.
3. Beat the egg into a frothy consistency and add to the mixing bowl.
4. Add the walnuts and mix gently.
5. Gently fold in the flour and mix.
6. The mixture should be the consistency of Idli dough.
7. Grease a baking tray or a bread tin with butter and dust with flour.
8. Pour the cake mixture in.
9. Preheat the oven at 250 degrees for ten minutes.
10. Bake the Banana Walnut Cake at 180 degrees for 1 hour.

Allow the cake to cool down for at least 30-40 minutes before slicing it. By now, your whole house must be filled with the aroma of bananas, butter and baking flour. You get to eat the most delicious Banana Walnut Cake ever.

STUFFED & GRILLED KARELA

Stuffed & Grilled Karela

I learned to make Stuffed Karela (Bitter Gourd) from Tina, who used to cook in our home. I have made a couple of improvisations to the recipe and recently, grilled the Stuffed Karela in my OTG to get the most scrumptious dish ever.

Ingredients

Karela (Bitter Gourd) – 250 gm (2-3 medium sized ones)
Haldi (Turmeric powder) – 1 pinch
Salt – to taste
Oil – 3 tbsp
Rai – ½ tsp
Jeera – ½ tsp
White Til (sesame seeds) – ½ tsp

For Stuffing

Besan (Channe ka atta) – 3 tbsp (dry roasted till it turns reddish)
Roasted peanuts – a handful
Green Chillies – 2-3
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Garlic – 4-6 cloves
Jaggery – 2 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) – 1 pinch
Coriander Leaves – 2 tsp (chopped)
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp

Method

1. Cut each karela into three pieces along the length and remove the inside flesh completely along with the seeds and retain the shells.
2. Immerse the pieces of karela in a vessel with water, adding a pinch of haldi and salt. Boil it for about ten minutes or until the karela turns soft. Drain the water and keep the cooked karela to cool.
3. Dry grind the roasted peanuts, green chillies, ginger, garlic and jaggery into a coarse powdery paste. (Do not use water for this).
4. Add the grated coconut, chopped coriander, hing and some salt to the ground mixture and use this to stuff the karelas.
5. Take a kadai and heat 2 tbsp oil in it. Crackle the rai, then the jeera and til in it.
6. Place the karelas side by side in the kadai and cook it for 2-3 minutes turning gently.
7. Switch off the gas.
8. Preheat the oven at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.
9. Take a baking tray and brush it with a thin coat of oil.
10. Place the karelas in the tray side by side and grill it in the Oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes in total.
11. Once the timer crosses ten minutes, remove the tray and turn the karela pieces around gently and put the tray back in the oven for the next ten minutes.

Delicious Stuffed & Grilled Karelas make a tasty side dish with both rotis and rice.

HOMEMADE VEG PIZZA

Now that I have explained how to make Pizza Bread and Pizza Sauce, I will guide you to make yummilicious Homemade Veg Pizzas. Please note that the toppings can be used in any combination and any quantity that you please. I am just giving a basic guideline.

Ingredients

Pizza Bread – 3
Tomato Sauce – Refer recipe for quantity
Sliced Onion – 1
Red Pepper – A few slices
Yellow Pepper – A few slices
Green Pepper – A few slices
Sliced Black Olives – 2-3
Sweet Corn – A handful
Paneer – 50 gm
Sliced Mushroom – 1
A small head of Broccoli – cut into flowers
Cheese – 3-4 cubes (or more as you please)
Salt, Pepper & Oregano for taste
*The toppings are a lot for three pizzas. Take your choice from the above

Method

1. Preheat the Oven at 250 degrees on Toast setting for 10 minutes.
2. Place the pizza bread on a baking tray and spread some tomato sauce all over covering the whole surface.
3. Spread a combination of toppings – corn & paneer; onion & peppers; and more.
4. Grate the cheese over the top.
5. Shake some salt and pepper over the cheese.
6. Grill the pizza at 200 degrees for 10 minutes or till you see the cheese turning golden brown.
7. Shake some dry oregano on the top of the pizza while it’s hot.

Super delicious Homemade Veg Pizza is ready to eat. Slice it and slurp it!

TO CREATE PIZZA BREAD

Pizza Bread

This recipe is suitable for creating 3 pieces of pizza bread of 6 inches each.

Ingredients

Maida – 1 cup (250 ml)
Dry Yeast – 1 tsp (5 ml)
Olive Oil – 15 ml (You can use cooking oil too)
Salt – 1 large pinch
Sugar – 1 pinch
Water – as required

Method

1. Add the sugar to 30 ml warm water and wait for it to dissolve. Stir in the dry yeast and keep aside for 10 minutes.
2. Add the maida to a mixing bowl along with salt and half the quantity of oil.
3. Pour in the frothy yeast and mix well, adding water little by little to form a loose dough.
4. Add the rest of the oil and make a smooth ball of the dough. It will be sticky in consistency.
5. Wrap in a damp towel, cover with a lid and keep aside for 1.5-2 hours.
6. You will find that the dough has doubled in size after that time.
7. Knead the dough once again before dividing it into three equal sized portions.
8. Roll it out with a rolling pin. Use a few drops of oil for smooth leverage. DO NOT use flour to flatten the dough. This will spoil the texture.
9. Pierce the rolled out dough with a fork in a few places. This will ensure the bread remains flat.
10. Pre-heat the oven to the right temperature.
11. Bake the pizza bread at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.

The bread is ready to make pizzas now along with your favourite toppings.