Wednesday 25 December 2013

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.


Wednesday 4 December 2013

Banana Mug Cake - Sugarless dessert

Off late I've got this obsession for mug cakes ! I like them mainly because you don't have to get your beater out,all you  need to do is to mix and play around with the ingredients .The mug cakes also look real cute.But I never tried them out as they were mostly baked in the microwave oven.I'm one of those people who is strongly against using microwave ovens,I know that there are many people who cannot do without it and who would give me a long list of its benefits.But I'm not yet convinced :) If you're using a microwave this cake can be done in a minute or two.But with the good old convection oven it takes around 20 - 30 minutes.This cake has no flour or sugar and is almost of a mousse consistency.So off to the cute mug cake....


You'll Need:
Banana - 1 big
Peanut Butter - 1 tsp
Nutella - 1 tbsp
Almond Powder - 1 tbsp
Honey - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Egg - 1 medium
Baking soda - 1/8 tsp
Vanilla essence - a few drops
All purpose Flour or Whole wheat flour - 1 tbsp(optional) - I haven't added it,but for a more cake like texture you can add the flour.

Method:
-Peel,chop and mash the bananas with a fork in the mug.
-Add all the other ingredients to the mug and mix well.



-Preheat the oven to 350 ° F and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Done !



Thanks for stopping by ! Have a great day !

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...