Christmas special Caramel Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup sugar to make caramel
• 1 cup dry fruits and nuts(raisins, cashew, dates, tutty fruity) etc
• 2 tsp of caraway seeds (optional)
• 1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves powder,ginger powder(at least two items)
• 1/2 cup of Rum(Substitute with juice, keep the cake refrigerated

Preparation: 

   Soak the dry fruits in 2-3 tbsp of rum and keep this at room temperature overnight or this

can be made many days ahead and keep refrigerated  Prepare caramel based on the steps below.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and all the spices

and keep aside. Mix butter and sugar till creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each

 addition. Pour in the caramel syrup and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour spice mixture 

and mix until the flour is completely incorporated with the wet part. Strain the dried fruits and mix 

with 1 tbsp of all purpose flour. Add this to the batter and mix again.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes   

until a tooth pick inserted into the center of he cake comes out clean plus about 5 minutes. 

Once cake is cooled, make small pores on cake with tooth pick and pour 1to 2 tbs Rum and  

let it soak. Cover the cake with wax paper and keep it 4 to 5 days or more for a better taste and texture.

Preparing Caramel

   Spread 1/2 cup of sugar in a thick bottomed pan and heat it. Keep about 1/2 cup of hot water ready on the side. Control the heat when the sugar starts burning. Shake the pan a couple of times, do not stir.

Add about 1 tbsp of water at a time, when enough sugar turns in color. For this cake we prefer to go on a darker side, this will alter the taste of cake. For other recipes(say using as dip) go for a lighter color, to prevent the bitter taste. Stir the sugar and water together and add more water in steps to make the syrup. Adding too much water initially will make the sugar to a solid form and gets difficult to process further(add more water and keep heating until it dissolves). The syrup will thicken when it cools down, add water to lighten it. For cakes use the caramel only after cooling down.