CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKES FOR THE SEASON

       CHRISTMAS - a Season filled with Colours, Celebration & good food.  Most of us would have been getting ready for the Season with our own fares for Christmas.  Maybe it is with presents, decorations or with food - Roasted Turkeys, Baked Potatoes, Christmas Cakes, Puddings, Cookies, Truffles etc., When the Season begins, I usually get ready with the preparation for Cake & Wine.  Winemaking starts months before Christmas and as for Cakes, I start a month before by soaking the dry fruits in my home-made Wine. No festival, family function or celebration is complete without these Fruit Cakes in our family,  We start the celebration by toasting a homemade Wine and a piece of Fruit Cake.
     Fruit Cakes have a rich heritage and an age-old history, it has been a custom of preparing and consuming this cake from time immemorial.  The rich tradition and heritage along with its rich taste have made it a treasured Christmas treat in Christmas and New Year Season. Fruit Cakes are traditionally made with chopped Candied Peels, Dry Fruits, Nuts and Mild Spices.  Some recipes call for dry fruits and nuts soaked in spirits like Brandy/Whiskey/Rum/Wine. A cake which has fruits in it has come to be called Fruit Cake. Christmas Fruit Cake/Plum Cake is so synonymous to Christmas Treats around the world. And mostly these cakes are also served during Weddings and celebrations. It is colloquially called by the name Plum Cake in Kerala.

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      I have given three different versions of Fruit Cake which suits to be baked for the Season.  A Rich Fruit Cake Recipe which I usually make, a tried & tested recipe. Another one is my MIL's classic Christmas Pound Cake which is our family recipe.  These Fruit Cake Recipes can be made with alcohol or as a no-booze Fruit Cake.  And the next recipe is a Light Fruit Cake Recipe which suits to people who do not prefer rich Fruit Cakes. The first step starts with soaking the dry fruits in Alcohol/Orange Juice/Tea.


    

HOW TO SOAK DRY FRUITS FOR CHRISTMAS CAKE

HOW TO SOAK DRY FRUITS FOR CHRISTMAS CAKE

      Traditional Christmas Cakes have a lot of pre-soaked fruits in alcohols like Rum, Vodka, Brandy, Wine etc.,  Rich Fruit Cakes can be prepared in a Boozy, Non-Boozy, Citrusy or even can be flavoured with Tea.  So many versions & varieties to suit the glitter and glamour of the so-called Festive Season. I soak the Dry Fruits for the Christmas Cake with my homemade Wines at least a month before. Initially, I started soaking the dry fruits in fresh Orange Juice, then gradually tried my hand with Wines.  But yet to try with Rum/Brandy/Vodka.
      If you are in short of time, no worries soak the dry fruit just a day before preparing the Christmas Fruit Cake.  As such there are no strict rules in what type of dry fruits/nuts/spices we use, the soaker, soaking duration and method of preparation.  It all goes with your whims and fancies. Above all convert it to suit your preference and adjust along with your time constraint.  What we need is a good Christmas Fruit Cake which tastes and feels good for the Season.
For a detailed step by step process on HOW TO SOAK DRY FRUITS FOR CHRISTMAS CAKES, Click here...  

     

CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKES FOR THE SEASON

RICH CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE/KERALA PLUM CAKE

RICH CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE/KERALA PLUM CAKE

      According to me, Christmas treats should still have the holiday flavours & colours sticking on to the tradition.  So I stick onto the family tradition making our all-time favourite Christmas Fruit Cakes for the Season.  Mostly I bake these fruit cakes only during Christmas and I  would rather stick to a tried-and-tested recipe. This Rich Fruit Cake recipe is what I usually bake for Christmas and was perfected through the years.  The alcohol in the cakes ensures they can be kept longer and enhances the taste of the Fruit Cake.
     Whilst I stick onto certain family traditions like Caramelizing the Sugar to Dark Brown in colour for the Christmas Fruit Cake. This gives a dark colour and body to Cake.  You can get easy by adjusting the colour by Caramelizing the Sugar to your preference.   Christmas Fruit Cake/Kerala Plum Cake on its own is a tempting symbol of indulgence, lacing along and profoundly displaying the traditions.  Ready to knock you out with its taste, flavour, texture and aroma, making you addictive from every bite, this boozy cornucopia hides within itself layers of flavours, from dry fruits soaked in Raisin Wine, Nuts, Spices, Vanilla and Dark Caramel
     Try this wonderful recipe for this season and treat yourself with a sweet indulgence synonymous to Christmas.

For a detailed Recipe on RICH FRUIT CAKE/KERALA PLUM CAKE, Click here...

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS POUND CAKE

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS POUND CAKE

     Pound Cake is the oldest way of Baking a Cake that it date backs to the 1700s. Pound Cake the name itself holds the recipe within. Ok, why is it called a Pound Cake?  Let's get into the fact - a Pound of Flour, a pound of Butter, a Pound of Sugar and a Pound of Egg(Ya, you heard it right, a pound of Egg). So much of measurement for a cake!  That's literally too much!  No, the fact is that the measurement for every ingredient remains the same in a Pound Cake.  So the ratio lies in your hand. Take it as a Cup or a Kilo keep the ratio same for all the ingredients.  It sounds pretty simple.  A simple Pound Cake Recipe can be taken as a baseline and converted into quite a lot of variations.  Convert it into Chocolatey Chocolate Cakes, Rich Fruit Cakes, Flavoured cakes like Vanilla/Strawberry/Pandan/Banana, Citrusy Cakes with Orange/Lemon... the sky is limit when it comes to the twist of flavours while baking a Pound Cake.  It is a foolproof recipe.
     But what I like the most about a Pound Cake is how successful it is at liberating the amateur baker from the strict rules of recipes. I literally started my baking with a Pound Cake Recipe.  My MIL's cake recipe for every flavour, a simple Vanilla Cake/ a Chocolate Cake and her default traditional Kerala Plum Cake, for all of the Cake Recipes she follows the Pound Cake formula. Simple, yet rich and moist.  This Classic Christmas Pound Cake is our family recipe & my MIL's speciality.
     Classic Christmas Cake camouflaged with a simple Pound Cake Recipe converts the traditional cake into a simple baking task. 


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LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

     This Light Fruit Cake Recipe is an absolute treat with a blend of flavours, rich, moist and a wonderful combination of colour & taste in it.  If you dislike Rich Fruit Cake, perhaps you should try this Light Fruit Cake. It will change your mind about your distaste for Fruit Cakes.
    Fruit Cakes come into the limelight during Christmas, Weddings, Christening and if you are in a mood for a lighter version of Fruit Cakes for certain occasion, this Light Fruit Cake comes handy. This is slightly different from the Traditional dark & rich Fruit Cake.  Most of the recipe remains the same except for that, we do not add Caramel in this Light Fruit Cake and as the name calls for LIGHT FRUIT CAKE -  we try to keep most of the steps to make this cake light or all the more light coloured.  You can also prepare the recipe, by not adding spices if you do not prefer to.
     In this Light Fruit Cake recipe, I have used Brown Sugar as I like my Light Fruit Cake to be in light golden brown in colour, can substitute it with White Sugar/Castor Sugar. Light Fruit Cakes prepared with White Sugar yields light coloured cake.  Also, I have not soaked the Dry Fruits in Alcohol/Orange Juice, but have used Orange Juice to alternate between the dry ingredients while mixing the Light Fruit Cake Batter. Alternatively can soak the Dry Fruits in Light Coloured Wine for overnight or up to weeks or months.  I have used Light Coloured Dry Fruits like Golden Raisins, Dried Apricot, Peaches, Tutti Frutti, Dried Cranberries and Nuts like Cashew nuts & Walnuts.  Dust the Chopped Dry Fruits and Nuts in the Flour used to bake the Cake, this avoids the ingredients getting sunk to the bottom of the cake.

For a detailed Recipe on LIGHT FRUIT CAKE, Click here...

     Enjoy the Season with Food & Wine, when it comes to Cakes and Desserts, human mind rejuvenates instantly.  Here is a cake, which is perfect for the season - Light & yet it fits into the Seasonal module.