"Here's a big piece for my favourite lill one", with these words heaven descended on a plate and was handed over into my tiny hands, Principal Uncle was the god handing over a piece of heaven to me, a piece of Christmas Fruit Cake. At that tiny age it was hard for me to think beyond eating that cake but Principal Uncle who was my Grandpa's friend and elder to my Grandpa, used to make this wonderful and heavenly Fruit Cake All By Himself. All I knew about him that he was a Christian by religion and was retired principal of Rosary High School, predominantly a boy's school during his term, hence we all kids called him "Principal Uncle". He was a social fixture at my Grandpa's locality and all kids loved him as he bore a cuddly teddy bear exterior and jolly personality beneath. Grandpa and I had a very special bond, I used to tag along with him every time he stepped out of home, we used to visit all of his friends, which was kind of "all male tea party". He too was a teddy bear kinda fellow with a distinct hearty laughter. They all used to talk about their good old days, shared their heroic stories, crack jokes, ponder over political issues & local problems etc while we kids sat munching our Fruit Cakes & Sandwiches. This was almost 24-25 years ago, time passed and people disappeared, I never knew how or when Principal Uncle passed away or what was his real name, now I can't even inquire about it as my Grandpa too passed away in 2006. But since last few days I kept remembering Grandpa and Principal Uncle which made me crave for that Decadent Fruit Cake, so I decided to try my luck making it by myself.
Searching on web I came to a conclusion that authentic Christmas Fruit Cake was a laborious task involving pre-planning, making candied fruit peels and worst of all it involves brushing it with brandy or rum while it ages, now thats the problem, this country being a non-alcoholic I can't find brandy or rum out here and waiting while the cake ages, COME ON, WHO DO YOU THINK P IS?!! His least accessible virtue is patience, especially when it comes to sweet edibles. So I opted a cheat version of Christmas Fruit Cake, Boiled Fruit Cake, adopted from the site www.joyofbaking.com
Behold............. the pearly heaven doors have opened and there's a sale, yup, a BOILED FRUIT CAKE SALE. LOL. Kidding aside I just completed my first fruit cake and my home smells like heaven. Right now the cake is duely photographed and done with the taste test, all I can say is its just AAAAWWWESOME and tastes very much like Principal Uncle's Fruit Cake, although not exactly but I can do away with the minor taste differences.
So here's to you Principal Uncle and to you Dada (Grandpa). Christmas has come much much earlier this year for me. :)
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 cup light brown sugar or 1 cup refined sugar + 1 tbs molasses
1/4th cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt (if using salted butter add just 1/4 tsp of salt)
1/2 tsp cloves powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger/ ginger paste
2 cups seedless raisins
Bring all the above ingredients to a boil and keep boiling them for 5 minutes on a medium to low heat. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down to lukewarm.
While the mixture is cooling down, take a large bowl and seive in
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour/maida
1 tsp baking soda
Mix 1 cup of chopped candied orange peel and 1 tsp vanilla powder/extract to the flour mixture.
Lightly beat 2 large eggs or 3 small eggs in a bowl and keep aside.
Preheat the oven at 180 degree C. Lightly dust a bundt cake mould or a rectangular 9" x 5" mould and keep aside.
Once the mixture is lukewarm add it to the bowl of flour mixture along with the lightly beaten eggs. Mix them properly and transfer it into the baking mould/tray.
Bake the cake at 175-180 degree C for 45 to 60 minutes or untill the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Once done let the cake cool in the mould for 10 mins, run a knife along the edge of the mould. Remove the cake carefully and place it on a wire rack to cool it down evenly.
After it has cooled thoroughly store this cake in an airtight plastic container.
This cake ages very well, the flavours enhances after a day or two, hence this cake can be prepared in advance and stored for any occasion later on.
This cake can even be frozen and stored for longer terms.
I had prepared candied orange peels a day before, I shall be posting the recipe soon.
You can use candied fruit peels of various other fruits of your choice.
You can half the quantity of raisins and add in equal amounts of other dry fruits like chopped almonds, walnuts, cashew etc. Just make sure all the dry fruits should not add up more than 2 cups in total. I used only raisins becoz that was the only thing available on hand for me. I'm planning my next batch of boiled fruit cake with dry fruit mix of walnuts+almond+raisins all equal amounts.
Verdict:
This recipe is a keeper, although this is my first fruit cake, it turned out pretty well, it has lovely moist texture, nice aroma of all those spices and a nice punch of orange peel candies. A sure surprise with every bite.
