Fruit & Nut Cake - ఫ్రూట్ & నట కేక్ - A Christmas & New Year Eggless Cake - గాయత్రి వంటిల్లు

Ingredients:

• Maida - 230gms (13/4Cups)

• Sugar - 200gms (1Cup)

• Milk - 400ml (2Cups)

• Unsalted Butter - 100gms (1/2Cup)

• Baking Soda - 1tsp

• Salt - 1/2tsp

• Chopped Cashew Nuts - 40gms (1/3Cup)

• Chopped Almonds - 40gms (1/3Cup)

• Chopped Walnuts - 40gms (1/3Cup)

• Raisins - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Sultanas - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Black Currants - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Cranberries - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Chopped Dried Apricots - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Mango Jelly Pieces - 20gms (1/6Cup)

• Vanilla Essence - 1tsp

• Freshly Ground Cinnamon Powder - 1/2tsp

• Freshly Grated Nutmeg - 1/2tsp

{Take cinnamon in a mortar and make powder using a pestle to get cinnamon powder. Take a nutmeg and grate using a cheese grater to get nutmeg powder. Use freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg powders to get a nice and fresh flavor}

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Preparations:

Take a bowl and add raisins, sultanas, black currants, cranberries, mango jelly pieces, chopped apricot pieces and keep it aside.

Take a bowl and add milk. Place the milk bowl on the stove and heat milk. When milk reaches a boil switch off the flame and add sugar and butter to milk. Stir milk with a spoon and add the mixed dry fruits. Stir well and cover the bowl. Sugar and butter melts in the hot milk. Keep the milk mixture bowl aside till milk reaches room temperature.

Take a tube pan/ bundt pan and add some ghee in it. Smear ghee to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Similarly do not forget to coat the tube portion in the centre of the pan with ghee. Sprinkle some maida in the ghee coated pan. Turn the cake pan tapping to coat flour all around the pan in this way grease and dust the cake pan and keep it aside.

Method:

Pre heat oven at 180^oC for 15 minutes---switch on the oven at 180^oC and start mixing the cake batter.

Take a mixing bowl and place a sieve in it. To the sieve add maida, baking powder and salt. Sift the dry ingredients well and break the lumps of baking soda collected in the sieve by pressing with fingers. To the sifted ingredients add cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder and mix well. To the prepared flour mixture add chopped cashew nuts, chopped almonds, chopped walnuts and mix all the dry ingredients very well.

Remove lid of the milk pot and observe that all the dry fruits plump up after soaking in the liquid. Add vanilla essence to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix breaking all the lumps to get a smooth batter. Add the prepared batter to the prepared cake pan and tap the pan lightly to remove air pockets if any.

Place the cake pan in pre heated oven and bake the cake at 180^oC for one hour. As temperature and thus baking time differ from oven to oven depending on the capacity of the oven, keep a watch while baking the cake. Observe the nice aroma of spices when the cake is baking in the oven which fills the space around. When cake is done, remove the pan from oven. To test the cake, insert a toothpick or a wooden skewer in the centre of the cake and observe. If the toothpick or a wooden skewer comes out clean then cake is done if not bake the cake for few more minutes. When cake is done remove cake pan from oven and leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, transfer the cake on to a wire rack. Before transferring the cake on to a wire rack run a knife along the edges of the cake pan to loosen the cake from the pan. Similarly run knife at the centre of the pan around the tube portion too. Now invert the cake on to the wire rack and carefully lift the pan. Place a butter paper on the wire rack and then place the cake on it to avoid print marks of the wire rack. Cool the cake completely.

Wrap the cake in a cling film and gift it to friends or cut it and serve.

Points To Notice:

All the dry fruits mentioned here may not be available in some parts of the country but nothing to worry --- add the dry fruits available in your place. For example, if cranberries are not available replace them with chopped dates or increase a portion of dry fruits available like raisins.

Sometimes we find seeds in sultanas so cut them in the centre and remove seeds as they spoil the taste while eating.

Do not be tempted to boil the dry fruits along with milk to plump those more---due to the sourness in dry fruits like cranberries milk would curdle. As the milk would be hot and the dry fruits are soaked in hot milk only, by the time the milk reaches room temperature all the dry fruits would be plumped well.

Do not try to mix hot wet ingredients to dry ingredients as there would be lump formation which would be irreparable.

Using milk in the cake enhances the bland taste of flour.

Do use only freshly ground spices and not the pre packed powders to get a pleasant taste.

If using salted butter omit salt in the recipe. Salt enhances the taste by balancing the sweetness of sugar.

While using a bundt pan or a tube pan remember to use only aluminum pans rather than silicon pans as the inner side would not get properly baked if using a silicon pan. As aluminum gets heated all over even the portion in the centre gets baked well giving a nice color.

Pre heating oven before placing the cake pan inside is very important as the maintained temperature helps the rising agents to work efficiently.

Sifting the dry ingredients helps in bringing aeration in the mixture and also to break the lumps if any in the mixture.

Oven temperatures and thus baking time differ from oven to oven depending on the capacity of the oven. So keep a watch and bake accordingly.

As there are lots of nuts and fruits which obstruct while cutting a cake, using a serrated knife to cut the cake gives a smooth edge.

Enjoy the fruit and nut rich cake even if it is not a Christmas eve as most of the fruits and nuts used are easily available in ones pantry.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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