The response to the annual cake-mixing ceremony at Ramada Neemrana has been nothing short of overwhelming.Many have reached out, wanting to know about the exact recipe of the traditional Christmas Fruit cakes that would be gracing the menu during the Xmas season.
Here is the traditional Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe according to our Executive Chef Ravinder Kumar, and sounds as delicious as the cake.
Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe
(This recipe yields about two Round 8″ cakes)
1. Soaking the Fruits
Dry fruits – 3 cups (I used raisins, orange peel, Ginger peel, Almond, Dates, Glazed Cherries & dry fig, Apricot, Cashews)
Rum – as required (Dark rum preferred)
Caramel syrup – 4 tblsp (4 tblsp sugar + 2tblsp water)
2. For the Spice mix
Cinnamon powder – ½ tsp
Clove powder – ½ tsp (crush about 8-10 cloves)
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Nutmeg powder – ½ tsp
Dried ginger powder – ½ tsp
3. For the Fruit Cake
Butter – 1 cup (at room temperature)
Powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar) – 2 ½ cups
Egg Yolks – 4 Nos
All purpose flour – 2 ½ cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Spice mix (as mentioned above)
Rum soaked dry Fruits – as mentioned above
4.Soaking the fruits
Atleast 4-6 weeks in advance, chop all the dry fruits and place them in an airtight container, soaking them in required amount of Rum and 4 tbsp of Caramel syrup. ( To make caramel syrup, heat 4tbsp sugar on medium heat until the sugar melts and browns up. Take off the heat and carefully add the water and stir well and use.)
5. Directions – Fruit Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350F, grease your cake pan(s) and cover the bottom
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients – Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the powdered nuts, mix well and keep aside.
3. Beat the butter with powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients slowly and mix until combined.
4. Strain the rum-soaked fruits (Save the rum) , and coat them with some all-purpose flour to avoid the fruits from sinking to bottom of cake and add the fruits into the cake batter. Use a large wooden spoon to fold/mix the fruits into the cake batter evenly.
5. Pour the cake batter into your prepared cake pan(s) and bake for 1 hour.
Note: – Do a cake test at 55 mins – insert a toothpick into the cake center, If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
After Baking:-
1. After taking the cake out from the oven, pour 2-3 tbsp of the saved rum over the cake. Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes.
Do let us know how your version of the traditional Christmas Fruit cake turned out.
Image Credit : Desiree Cakes
Leave a Comment