Plum Cake also popularly known as fruit cake is a Christmas special Cake. It is dark, intense cake made by soaking dry fruits in liquor or in fresh orange juice.
Also this boozy dark cake is additionally loaded with nuts and flavored with orange zest and freshly pounded warm spices to make this a wholesome cake full of bites.
In India, plum cake is served around Christmas season . If you are looking for more Christmas recipe then do check Hot Chocolate , Lamington Cake and Crinkle cookies
I wish all my readers....., Merry Christmas !
About Plum Cake
Plum Cake refers to a range of fruit cakes made with either dried fruit or with fresh fruit. Mixed dry fruits are steeped in liquor for overnight or up to 1 week and then folded into cake batter and baked in a very low temperature along with water bath ,to get a moist and flavorful cake.
If you dont want to use alcohol in this recipe then you can replace it with orange or apple juice. Though adding fresh orange juice yields good result for a non alcholic boozy flavour , apple juice works well.
Though plum cake is originated from England , crossing seas it has reached every corner of the world. Every country, region and family has adapted this recipe to suit their taste along with availability of ingredients.
Some are made with nuts soaked in rum or brandy and some are fed with sherry for weeks after being baked, and some have no alcohol at all.
This post shares my version of fail proof Plum Cake Recipe which I'm almost baking since 2 decades.
FAQ's
Can I turn this recipe into Eggless Plum Cake?
Yes , of course. For every 1 Egg swap it with Flax Egg ( 1 egg = 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoon water ) . To make flax egg , ground 1 tablespoon of flaxseed powder and mix it well with 3 tablespoon of water. Whisk well , cover and set aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes , the mixture looks gelatinous and you can use it in any recipe as a substitute for eggs.
Why is Caramel getting solidified ?
Always make caramel sauce on simmer. If the heat is more ,it starts to solidify easily. Once you get deep brown color ,add warm water and set aside to cool.
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How to make Plum Cake
For Caramel Syrup
On a medium heat, heat ¼ cup sugar with 2 tablespoon water.
Sugar bubbles and dissolves in water then crystallizes, keep stirring continuously until it starts to caramalize and color changes from light brown to dark brown.
Once color turns dark remove from heat , Turn off stove. Pour ¼ cup of warm water, Be carefull while adding water as it sizzels and splutters .
To this add vanilla essence, stir well and Keep aside. Caramel syrup is ready to use.
To make Cake
In a mixing bowl , add ½ Cup Butter and 1 cup castor sugar either white or brown .
Beat butter and sugar untill it turns creamy.
Now break in 1 Egg and beat untill it turns light anf frothy.
Add eggs 1 by 1 and beat until its light and frothy.
Now add prepared caramel syrup and beat untill everything is well incorporated.
Sieve All purpose flour, spice powder , baking powder, baking soda and salt together .
Add all dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Gently mix everythng following cut and fold pattern.
Coat soaked dry fruits and nuts with 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour . This is done to ensure that dry fruits does not sink to bottom while baking.
Add flour coated dry fruits , nuts and orange zest to the cake batter and mix well gently following cut fold pattern.
Line the baking loaf pan with parchment paper, pour the cake batter.
Sprinkle some nuts on top and bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg Celsius.
Bake for about 48 - 50 minutes or till the knife/ tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean.
This post has been updated from the archives, was first published in December 2013.
Recipe
Plum Cake | Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For Soaking
- ¼ Cup Raisins
- ¼ Cup Dates
- ¼ Cup Cranberries
- ¼ Cup Apricots
- 2-3 tablespoon Rum or Orange
For Cake Batter
- ½ Cup Butter - unsalted
- 1 Cup Caster Sugar - Brown or White
- 3 Eggs
- 1 Cup All Purpose Flour - Maida
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1.5 teaspoon Spice Powder
- ¼ Cup Caramel Syrup
For Spice Powders
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon Powder - Dalchini
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cloves - Laung , powdered
- ½ teaspoon Dry ginger powder
For Carmel Sauce
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 2 tablespoon water
- ¼ Cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
For Folding
- 1 tablespoon Orange Zest / Peel
- ⅓ Cup Mixed Nuts - Cashews , Almonds , Pista
- Soaked Fruits & Nuts mixed with 1 tablespoon of All Purpose flour
Instructions
For Soaking
- Soak all chopped dry fruits in 2 tablespoon of Rum or orange Juice. Soak overnight or for 1to 2 days.
- Next day dry fruits soaks up all juices , gently mix everything and set aside.
For Caramel Syrup
- On a medium heat, heat ¼ cup sugar with 2 tablespoon water.
- Sugar bubbles and dissolves in water then crystallizes, keep stirring continuously until it starts to caramalize and color changes from light brown to dark brown.
- Once color turns dark remove from heat , Turn off stove. Pour ¼ cup of warm water, Be carefull while adding water as it sizzels and splutters .
- To this add vanilla essence, stir well and Keep aside. Caramel syrup is ready to use.
To make Cake
- In a mixing bowl , add ½ Cup Butter and 1 cup castor sugar either white or brown .
- Beat butter and sugar untill it turns creamy.
- Now break in 1 Egg and beat untill it turns light anf frothy.
- Add eggs 1 by 1 and beat until its light and frothy.
- Now add prepared caramel syrup and beat untill everything is well incorporated.
- Sieve All purpose flour, spice powder , baking powder, baking soda and salt together .
- Add all dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
- Gently mix everythng following cut and fold pattern.
- Coat soaked dry fruits and nuts with 1 tablespoon of all purpose flour . This is done to ensure that dry fruits does not sink to bottom while baking.
- Add flour coated dry fruits , nuts and orange zest to the cake batter and mix well gently following cut fold pattern.
- Line the baking loaf pan with parchment paper, pour the cake batter.
- Sprinkle some nuts on top and bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg Celsius.
- Bake for about 48 - 50 minutes or till the knife/ tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean.
- Transfer baked cake on to a wired rack , once it cools down , cut into thick slices and serve.
Video
Notes
- You can soak dry fruits in rum for 24 hrs to 1 week.
- Keep a cup water in a oven while baking to avoid sinking of cake in the center and to prevent cake from going dry.
- Sprinkling nuts over cake batter wasn't helpful for me.
sowmi says
Very nice cake..the caramel solidifies very easily after alittle color change.am not getting that dark brown color....is there any alternative for it?..
रजनीश के झा (Rajneesh K Jha) says
प्रभावी !!!
शुभकामना
आर्यावर्त
Shumita says
Simple and straightforward, of immense use for new Bakers, taking great care with the details and intricacies for correct results. 👍
Muktha says
Thank You
Muktha Gopinath says
Hey Soumi,
Keep on low heat once it start getting dark brown colour,remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of warm water and stir well.It doesn't get solidify,if at all it happens stir so that solidified caramel syrup gets dissolved.
jo says
Hello! what size is the loaf pan?
thanks.
Muktha says
I have used 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pan , standard size.
Glória Vilela says
My daughter has alteado made this cake and sent the receipt by mail. I want to make it. It looks so good.
Muktha says
Hey that's great to hear Hope you make it soon and love it as well
Susan says
Hi can u please tell me total qty of soaked dry fruits, as i have a buch already soaked once, so how many cups should I use for this recepie
Muktha says
Hi Susun , you need around 1 cup of dry fruits soaked ( liquor /juice/ water drained). And around 1/3 to 1/2 cup of assorted chopped nuts.
Kavitha says
Hi Muktha, I like to try your Christmas fruit cake recipe. I am vegetarian. Can you please tell me Instead of 3 eggs what can I use?
Muktha says
Hi Kavitha , I always prefer flaxseed meal mixed with water( flax eggs ) as a substitute for eggs. For this recipe my personal suggestion is for 3 eggs , you can substitute 1 fully ripen banana mashed and 2 flax eggs ( 2 tbsp flaxseed powder mixed with 6 tbsp water) , taste wise this is my choice . Incase if you don't wish to use banana then use 3 flax eggs ( 1 flax egg = 1 tbsp flaxseed powder and 3 tbsp water) . You can refer my low fat orange cake recipe or peanut butter cookies or even ragi banana cake on how to make flax eggs . Hope this helps, thanks Kavitha and sorry for delayed response.
Judy says
Can wheat flour be used instead of maida?
Muktha says
hey , you can use wheat flour but texture of cake will be slightly dense . Also don't forget to add apple cider vinegar if using whole wheat flour. Hope this helps, thank you
Kavitha says
Thank you Muktha.
Jabeen says
Hi Mukhta, I don't see anywhere thr size of the loaf pan being mentioned or I might I have missed. I am using a small 5*2inches round cake mould. Please let me know how much time it wi take to bake and the how many degrees to keep.
Muktha says
Hi Jabeen ,
I have used 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch loaf pan , standard size. If you are baking in small pan then start to check for doneness at around 22 - 30 minutes . Check at 22 minutes and around 25 minutes keep a eye on your oven. Thanks , hope it helps