Christmas Fruit Cake

Wishing you all a Merry and fun filled Christmas !
It's been 20 days since I posted,and as always I have a string of excuses :) Balancing my time between language classes and work at home I ended up neglecting my poor blog.Now that my exams are over I thought that it was high time I got my lazy self to post something.Christmas season is something that I wait for every year.The sight of the streets filled with decorated Christmas trees ,carols and smalls shops here in Germany fills my heart with joy and makes me feel like a child again.And luckily this year we've been blessed with a not so bad winter which has made it even more wonderful.Christmas isn't complete with a nut and fruit filled Fruit Cake.This cake is very close to my heart as this is one of the very first cakes that I ever baked.There are many versions of this,but this is a very simple but extremely flavorful version.I haven't visited your blogs in a long time,I'll soon catch up !

You'll Need:
For the Fruit Filling:
Candied Orange Peel - 100 g
Candied Lemon Peel - 100 g
Candied Cherries - 100 g
Raisins - 200 g
Dark Rum - 100 g
For the Cake:
Walnuts - 200 g
Unsalted Butter(softened) - 250 g
Brown Sugar - 200 g - 1 cup
Eggs - 3 large
All Purpose Flour - 200 g - 2 cups
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - a pinch
salt - 1/4 tsp



Method:
For the Fruit Filling:
-In a glass jar mix all the ingredients and mix well.Close the lid tightly and let it lay down on its side.
-Everyday just turn it a little so that all the fruits get evenly soaked with rum.
-Soak it at least one week ahead of when you plan to make the cake.You can soak the fruits even 1 - 3 months in advance.

For the Cake:
-Preheat the oven to 350 ° C.Spread the walnuts on a baking paper lined baking tray and bake for 7 minutes .Remove from the oven and break into smaller pieces.
-Sieve the Flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt well.
-Soften the butter,you can melt it and let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so.
-In a mixing bowl,beat the butter until its creamy and soft.Add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
-Add the eggs one after the other.Beating for 30 seconds after each addition on medium speed.
-Add the flour mixture and beat until its well incorporated.
-Add the and soaked fruit mixture and neat for about one minute on low speed.
-Add the walnuts and mix well.
-Fill a loaf pan ( 25 cm  X 7.5 cm) or a 10 " round pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes in a preheated oven (175 ° C).Done !



Note:
-If you do not want to use rum,you could soak the fruits in apple juice.But the fruits can be soaked only before a week and the cake doesn't hold good for more than 4 - 5 days :)
-If making it with rum,the cake can be wrapped in air tight foil and it stays good for several weeks.Just wrap it airtight and once in 3 days brush it with a little rum.
-This cake tastes the  best when it sits for at least 24 hours after baking.