Christmas Plum Cake Recipe - Fruits and Nuts Cake Recipe

Plum cake is usually made during Christmas, also called as Fruit and Nut cake as fruits and nuts being the show stoppers. Dry fruits and nuts should be in equal proportion, a spoonful of spice mix(Garam Masala powder including powders of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and nut meg etc) and little quantity of Rum. 

Dry Fruits and Nuts are soaked in rum a month before christmas and are used while baking the cake. But in my recipe I omit Rum and spice mix part even :). Caramelised sugar syrup is also used.

Ingredients for Christmas Plum Cake Recipe

For Baking:

1. Cooker cake mix - 175gms (This time I used the cooker cake mix instead of preparing the cake batter myself)
2. Oil - 1 tbsp
3. Milk - 2/3 cup
4. Caramelised sugar syrup : Heat 2 cups of sugar in a pan and when it turns brown add 1/3 cup of water
5. Dry Fruits - Am adding Raisins, Dates, Tuti Fruti, Anjeer(Figs)

For Frying:

6. Nuts - Chopped Almonds, Cashews
7. Butter - 2 tsps

In Plum Cakes, Rum is used but I omit it in my recipe.

Procedure - How to make Christmas Plum Cake Recipe

Frying:
1. Heat 2 spoons of butter in a pan and fry chopped nuts mean while boil chopped dry fruits in a cup of water till they become soft. (It just takes 2 to 3 minutes for the dry fruits to become soft and tender in the hot water).

Baking:
2. Drain off fruits (Collect the drained water in a bowl and add this water during mixing the cake batter) and coat boiled fruits and fried nuts with cake mix. This helps them not to settle down the cake after baking.

 Then to the cake mix add these fried nuts and boiled dry fruits, caramelised sugar syrup, drained water, milk and oil and bake the cake in normal pressure cooker.

3. Grease a pan or steel bowl using oil or butter.
4. Now sprinkle some flour(any usually all-purpose or maida flour) on the greased tin and pat along sides and bottom and remove the excess flour which oozes out after sticking to the greased pan. 
5. Now pour water upto 1 inch high in a pressure cooker which is of 3 litre and above capacity.
6. Now place a stand in the water and then place our pan with cake batter on this stand.

7. Close the cooker with lid. 
8. Do not put whistle.
9. Steam for 50 to 60 minutes on a medium flame. Bcoz this cake contains fruits and nuts it takes a bit longer time.

10. After 60 minutes, open lid and allow steam to escape.
11. Now heat without lid for another 5 minutes. Take out, cool for an hour, cut and serve.
12. Usually plum cakes are eaten directly without any icing.

 Fruits and Nuts Cake Recipe is ready to serve.

Christmas Plum Cake Recipe