Christmas 2022: Are you going through your cookbooks and online recipes to check out some easy recipes to make that perfect Christmas plum cake? Don’t worry, Head Chef and Food Stylist Sanchit Rasalkar shares an easy plum cake recipe for Zee News Digital readers. If you are worried about refined sugar consumption, here’s a good news – you can replace white refined sugar with jaggery powder. Check out the sugar-free plum cake recipe below. You can replace the yoghurt with four eggs for the with-egg option.
Ingredients:
For soaking
700 grams mixed dried fruits (sultanas, raisins, blackcurrants)
50 grams glazed red cherries, sliced
50 grams glazed green cherries, sliced
15 grams orange zest
200 ml rum
50 ml orange juice
For baking
110 grams pecans or walnuts, chopped
110 grams cashews, chopped
285 grams refined flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice powder (cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder, ginger powder, all spice powder)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
230 grams unsalted butter, softened
230 grams jaggery powder
185 grams yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange juice (add as required when you feel the batter is too dry)
¼ cup milk (if required)
Method:
- In a big bowl or a container (preferably with a lid), add the mixed dried fruits, glazed cherries, orange zest, orange juice and rum. Soak overnight or even up to 1 week, at room temperature.
- For baking: Preheat the oven to 140°C.
- Chop roughly the pecans or walnuts and cashews, and set aside.
- Strain the soaked mixed dry fruits and cherries. Reserve the liquid, i.e the rum
- Sift all the dry ingredients.
- In a big mixing bowl, add butter, and with a hand blender, whip the butter for about 5 min or until it becomes creamy, fluffy and pale. Now add jaggery powder and whip again till it combines well.
- Add the yogurt, you may add it all at one go. Mix until well incorporated.
- Add honey, vanilla extract, and half the orange juice. (The remaining orange juice – add only if necessary, for instance, if the batter is too dry after adding dry ingredients)
- Add the sifted dry ingredients, in 2-3 batches. Use low speed to avoid over-mixing. Stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears. (Add another tablespoon of orange juice if needed). Add milk if required.
- Add in the strained mixed dried fruits and the chopped nuts.
- Pour the prepared batter into an 8-inch pan, greased and lined with parchment paper.
- Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper with a hole in the middle for peeping purposes. This is to prevent the cake top from burning and getting overcooked. Place these papers right on top of the cake.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 2 to 3 hours. Make sure you put the cake on the lower rack.
- Remove and let the cake cool for 20-30 minutes. Randomly poke holes in the cake using a skewer.
- Remove the cake from the cake tin, when the cake is still a little warm, brush the cake with the reserved rum.
- Wrap the cake with cling film, and make sure you wrap it tight to keep moisture in the cake. Let it sit at room temp overnight. (use more rum if needed)
- Cut and serve the cake as and when required.
TIP: the longer it sits, the better the flavour of the cake will be.