Kerala Christmas fruit cake | By Elizabeth Jans

You will need:

600 gms of Fruit mix ( Raisins, currants, apricots, dates, prunes,figs,plums, glacè cherry )
2 table spoon Orange peel - minced
1 cup rum / orange juice
1 table spoon cake spice mix
All purpose Flour - 25 grams
Sugar- 250gms
Salt - 1/2 tea spoon
Baking powder - 1 tea spoon
Unsalted Butter - 250gms - at room temperature.
Eggs - 5 - at room temperature
Vanilla essence / extract - 1 teaspoon.
1 cup sugar to caramelize.

Method and baking guidelines 

Pre heat oven to 170 degree C

Baking time - 50 - 60 minutes / skewer test clean

Cake pan - 10 inches. Lined at the bottom and the sides 

• Soak fruits for minimum 2 weeks ( I use fruits that are soaked the previous year)
• Caramelize the sugar to a dark brown color.
• Sieve all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
• Put butter into a mixing bowl . Add in sugar and mix till incorporated and light. Add in eggs - one at a time . Add in vanilla essence. Mix well.
• Add the Fruit mix to the egg batter and mix well with a spatula. Spoon in the flour mix . Mix well till incorporated. ( If too thick ,then add 1/4 cup milk and mix well)
• Spoon in the mix into the cake pan . Level the top.
• Put into the preheated oven and bake till done.
• Remove from the oven . Let it cool down for 10 minutes . Brush / pour 2 - 3 tablespoons of rum evenly over the cake . Cover with a thick towel and leave over night.

Next day remove from the pan . Wrap in foil and store . Feed 1 table spoon of rum every week . Stop feeding the cake a week before you cut it for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!