Lets see how to make Plum Cake Recipe. Christmas is always special to me because its the month of Celebrations, vacation and moreover it is the month of shopping!!!!! . I celebrate the entire month starting from day 1 - assembling the Christmas tree till month end / year end.Too much fun throughout the month from decorating the house house till making snacks / sweets / dinner and lot more. The full month is filled with joy ,lights and is incomplete without " Cake " . I make cakes very often but the only time i make fruit cake is during Christmas.
I never thought that Christmas cakes were this easy to make until i baked my first cake. Every year my dad buys 50+ cakes to distribute to his friends and family and that is the only time we buy plum cake for our home. Myself and my sister enjoy the cake and finishes it very soon even before my mom takes her first bite.But the only thing i hate about the store bought cake is they add some dates to the cake which i don't like but thank god now i can customize my cake by ignoring dates.
This cake is originally made by soaking the dry fruits and nuts in Rum for minimum 1 month, but i am not going to use alcohol instead i am going to use grape juice. so i am sharing this " plum cake recipe without rum " today.
Serving Size : 6 people
Preparation Time : 2 days
Cooking Time : 1 hour 15 minutes
| Difficulty: | 
|
| Quantity | Ingredients for Christmas Plum Cake Recipe |
|---|---|
| For Soaking | |
| 1.5 cup | Black Raisins |
| 1 cup | Cherry |
| 1 cup | Fruit mix or Tutti frutti |
| 1 cup | Mixed Nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts) |
| 2 Cup | Grape Juice or Rum |
| 3 |
For Sugar Caramel
|
| 1/2 cup | Sugar |
| 1/4 cup | Water |
| 1/2 cup | Boiling Water |
| Spices | |
| 1 inch | Cinnamon |
| 4 | Cloves |
| 3 | Cardamom |
| For Cake Batter | |
| 2 cup | All purpose flour / Maida |
| 2 cup | Sugar |
| 1 cup | Melted Butter |
| 5 | Eggs |
| 1 tsp | Baking powder |
| 1/2 tsp | Baking Soda |
| 1/2 tsp | Salt |
| 1 tbsp | Vanilla extract |
Cooking Method |
Step 1) Soaking the dry fruits and nuts:
Soak raisins, cherry, Tutti frutti and nuts in grape juice.Add grape juice until the fruits and nuts are fully immersed. 2 cups of juice will be sufficient , if you are using rum then add 2 cups of rum.
Cover and let it soak for minimum 1 day to maximum for a month.I soaked everything for 2 days.
2 Days later:
This is how it looks after 2 days, raisins are nicely soaked and most of the juice is absorbed by the dry fruits . If you want to make the cake instantly then boil the dry fruits and the nuts along with the juice for 3-4 minutes and let it cool completely and then add it to the cake batter.
Step 2) Caramelizing the Sugar:
After two days of soaking lets start making the plum cake by caramelizing the sugar. We need to caramelize the sugar to get nice brown color or you can also add brown sugar instead.
Heat 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of water and boil it until it gets nice dark brown color( amber color) . Once you get brown color add 1/2 cup of boiling water to it and stir well, after mixing turn off the heat and keep it aside.Let it cool completely.
Step 3) Spices for Plum cake ?
Yes we need to add some spices for the plum cake recipe.In a blender add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom and also add some sugar to it and grind it to a fine powder. Refer note: 6 for the reason behind adding sugar. You can also use powdered spices if you have.
Step 3) Wet Ingredients for Cake batter:
In a large mixing bowl add eggs , melted butter , sugar and the powder sugar+spice and mix well. Butter should be in room temperature . If added hot then the eggs will cook so add the butter once it is completely cooled.
Step 4) Making Plum Cake batter:
Next add All purpose flour / Maida to the wet ingredients and also add baking powder, baking soda, salt and mix well. I added everything in the same bowl, you can mix the dry ingredients separately in a bowl and then add it to the egg batter.
After mixing add the caramelized sugar and vanilla extract. make sure the sugar syrup is at room temperature, if it is hot then it will react with baking soda immediately. so make sure to cool the syrup completely before adding.
Finally add the soaked friuts and nuts along with the juice. Do not drain the juice completely we need some juice in the batter to get nice taste. I added most of the juice only 1/4 cup of juice is left.
The Cake batter should not be very thick it should be slightly thicker than pouring consistency .
Step 6) Assembling:
After combining all the ingredients transfer it to a baking pan. I have used one 10 inch pan and greased the sides with butter and lined with a parchment paper. If you don't have 10 inch pan the use 2 medium sized pan and bake it for 40-50 minutes
Step 7) Baking Time and Temperature:
- Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit or 180 Celsius
- Bake for 70-80 minutes ( for 10 inch pan)
- 40-50 minutes if you use 2 medium sized pan.
Check the cake by inserting a tooth pick. if it comes out clean then our cake is perfectly baked.
I baked the caked for exactly 75 minutes @ 350 F ie) 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Notes:
- The longer you soak the dry fruits and nuts tastier the cake becomes.
- you can any fruits of your choice like prunes, dates, apricots etc..
- Black Raisins add more taste to the recipe so i prefer to add more black raisins than all other ingredients .You can also mix 1/2 cup of golden raisins to it.
- If you want to make the cake instantly then boil the dry fruits and the nuts along with the juice for 3-4 minutes and let it cool completely and then add it to the cake batter.
- Do not add cold water to the caramelized sugar syrup , if we add cold water then the sugar will crystallize and will take lot of time to get into the proper consistency, so use hot water to prevent sugar crystallization.
- If we grind only the spices we will not end up with fine powder (because of the less quantity) so add some sugar to it and grind the spices into a very fine powder.
Plum Cake is an awesome fruit cake distributed during Christmas. Homemade fruit cake tastes the best and i have made this plum cake without rum
Rated 4.8/5 based on 32 reviews
Ingredients:
- For Soaking
- 1.5 cup Black Raisins
- 1 cup Cherry
- 1 cup Fruit mix or Tutti frutti
- 1 cup Mixed Nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts)
- 2 Cup Grape Juice or Rum
- For Sugar Caramel
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Boiling Water
- Spices
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 4 Cloves
- 3 Cardamom
- For Cake Batter
- 2 cup All purpose flour / Maida
- 2 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Melted Butter
- 5 Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Soak dry fruits and nuts in grape juice for minimum 1 day
- make sugar caramel
- powder the spices
- mix the wet ingredients
- add the dry ingredients and the soaked fruits
- Bake it at 350 F or 180 C for 70-80 minutes
- Plum cake is ready to be served
Hi, cake looks Yummy.grape juice means fresh juice or store bought juice? Do we need to refrigerated the soaked nuts n raisins or we keep in the countertop .
ReplyDeleteI used store bought grape juice, we can leave it at room temperature if you are soaking the dry fruits for 2 or less days(i left it at room temperature), i would recommend to refrigerate if you have planned to soak it for more than 2 days.
DeleteHappy Cooking.
Hi.. This cake looks very interesting and delicious.its also a very simple recipe without rum.planning to try it .I had a query that is can we use salted butter and omit adding salt to the batter.Have you used unsalted butter?
ReplyDeleteYes we can use salted butter (ignore salt). Please share your feedback after trying the recipe. Happy Cooking :)
DeleteHi am Nancy here I love to watch ur all videos ....your way of instruction is very easy to grasp ...kindly tell me the ratio of 1 kg cake , 1/2 kg etc...it will be very useful for beginners like me..am going go try this cake recipe for this year Christmas ...our first Christmas after our marriage ...so bless us.and kindly reply here .tc and tc of our little one too stay safe Steffi Akka.
DeleteThanks.. Definitely 😊
ReplyDeleteThanks.. Definitely 😊
ReplyDeleteI have tried this recipe and the taste was awesome.But the cake didn't rise up ,hence the top was bit harder and inside it was having moisture.Does this happen because of not getting correct temperature?My oven is having the temperature only in Watts.So I was unable to make the correct temperature mentioned in the recipe.Can I make this same recipe in pressure cooker or what would be the ideal Watts to set?Thanks In Advance.
ReplyDeleteYes you can use the pressure cooker method for the cake. Since you are referring to watts I assume you are using a microwave oven. This cake recipe requires heat via convection. Some microwave ovens function as a combo where you can preheat the oven to 350F and then use it in convection mode.
DeleteIf you are using a toaster oven then I would suggest getting a thermometer. Low temperature for long time usually yields better results. You can cover the top of the baking pan with a aluminium foil and this will prevent the cake from drying on the top. All the best !!
Hi Angela, We have tried the pressure cooker method, we kept the cake for 30 - 40 mins in pressure cooker. The cake has come out awesome and tasted great it and was soft as well. Yes, as you said the problem is with the temperature setting in the Oven. With pressure cooker it came out the rite way. Thank you so much for the recipe. Wish you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.
DeleteI am glad that the recipe turned out well. Wish you and your family a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year !!
DeleteHi Angela..I tried your recipe using salted butter and it's awesome..Tastes much better than the bakery ones..My kids just can't stop eating it.. Thanks a ton for sharing such a wonderful recipe..Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThank you Vinsi for your wonderful feedback. I am happy that your kids liked the recipe. Do try more recipes from our blog. Wish you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year !
DeleteHi Angele one doubt, if we use Pressure Cooker method... How to do it..Can you please help me out here.. this same cake in cooker... I would like to try it...
ReplyDeleteYes we can follow the same , we need to make some arrangements, we need to preheat the cooker and add salt and and a stand to elevate the pan, i have mentioned it in Banana Cup cake recipe http://www.steffisrecipes.com/2016/10/banana-cupcake-recipe.html ,
DeleteBake it over a medium heat, Do not place the cooker weight. it will take a little longer time than usual ( 1 hour -1 .30 hours). check after 1 hour , tooth pick inserted at the center should come out clean if not bake it for some more time.
If you need any details please leave a comment.
Happy Cooking !!!
Thank you for the update... I will try and let you know.. :)
DeleteAll the best, I will be waiting for your feedback. Happy Cooking !!!
DeleteI'm trying to make a nut'n raised cake. It's requires welchs grape juice and just raisen and pecans. Have you heard of such cake? If so, how do you make it. It looks so similiar to this cake.
ReplyDeleteHello Steffi,
ReplyDeleteI tried the plum cake recipe it cane out really good. Thanks for helping me out on my first cake try out :).
You are most welcome, I am really happy that you liked
DeleteHi Steffi
ReplyDeleteThank You for the recipie!! Can you please tell me how to prepare grape juice at home?
வணக்கம், இன்à®±ு இந்த ப்ளம் கேக்கை நாà®™்கள் à®®ுயற்சி செய்து வெà®±்à®±ி கண்டோà®®். நன்à®±ி சகோதரி.
ReplyDeleteமகிà®´்ச்சி , நாவின் சுவை à®…à®°ுà®®்புகள் மலரட்டுà®®்
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DeleteHi steffi, I love to watch and try your recipes.. can u tell me measuring 1 cup.in grams please..
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Steffi..can eggs be replaced in this recipe and if yes what can i use in its place...thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteHi Steffi I would like to try your receipe. Can I use Brown sugar?If yes then how much?
ReplyDeleteHi Steffi, can I use brown sugar for the same receipe. If yes how much
ReplyDeleteHi, Can we use red wine instead of grape juice? Will it affect the flavour?
ReplyDeleteHi Steffi, were did u get the Tutty frutty, I am in Bangalore our store here have a different.
ReplyDeleteHi Steffi. Can u tell the measurement in grams. What is 1 cup in grams
ReplyDeleteHi, i tried to make cake as per recipe and bake it for 70 minutes as mentioned in recipe but it's burnt from top and also not came out properly from baking pan
ReplyDeletehii...can u please tell the measurement for 1 cup flour in grams..?
ReplyDeleteHi.. can you pls tell in grams?? Wat grape juice u had used
ReplyDeleteHi,u have mentioned only in cups. Is one cup is 250 ml.Is all the measurements same for flour, sugar, nuts ie the ratio
ReplyDeleteHi steffi, could pls tell me the measurements 1 cup equal to 250ml or 125ml cup?
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get exact measurement for 1 cup? (for dry items and wet items)
ReplyDeleteHey Steffi, how long can this fruit cake be stored outside at room temp(in US currently using heater at home)? How many days will it be good if not kept in refrigerator?
ReplyDeleteIt uses features of broiling and microwaved cooking. countertop convection oven
ReplyDeleteவணக்கம்,
ReplyDeleteஇந்த கேக் à®®ுதன்à®®ுà®±ையாக செய்யப்போகிà®±ேன். நல்லா வருà®®்னு நம்பிக்கை இருக்கு.
à®’à®°ு doubt.cherries இல்லாமல் வெà®±ுà®®் tutti fritti மட்டுà®®் வைத்து இதை செய்யலாà®®ா? அக்கா...
Advance happy Halloween 🎃🎃🎃
what 1 cup mean in gms
ReplyDeleteWhat is the cup level? You are telling it as 1 cup and half cup. I am not sure about the quantity of the cup.
ReplyDeleteI have followed this recipe for a couple of years now, and every time it comes out just perfect. This year I plan to make a big cake and also smaller once. What should be the temperature if I use muffin/cupcake pan and how long do need to bake it?
ReplyDelete1 cup means how ma grams
DeleteI used non alcoholic wine for the recipe n it was really great. How many days can it be kept? Shud we store in refrigerator?
ReplyDeleteElectric household things are very important for every family and bachelor. Among those electric things, the electric woven is very useful for small families and bachelor. Here is the best convection microwave oven in india site for you. From there you will buy the woven for you and your family. This woven is very easy operating and electric efficient. You can make your delicious food by this woven easily.
ReplyDeleteI tried this for christmas and it turned out well, thanks steffi.
ReplyDeleteHi steffy,you have told that, taste will be good if we soak the nuts longer.what is the maximum duration can we soak the nuts..can we soak it for more than 3 days. One more query is if we want to exclude eggs can we use milkmaid as alternative
ReplyDelete1 cup means how many grams
ReplyDeleteWhat's the quantity of brown sugar, if replacing caramalised sugar
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI'm using 8" pan so I need to bake for 40-50 is it?