Name: Intoxicating Christmas Rum Cake...with a rich zing of Caramel, Honey and......? recipe by Mallika Chaudhary at BetterButter
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1.5 cup plain flour; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup butter at room temperature; 4 Eggs; 1 tsp Baking powder; 2-3 drops of vanilla essence; 200 grams mixed dried-fruit of your choice like raisins, sultanas, prunes etc; 400 ml of Captain Morgan’s dark Rum; 2 tbsn marmalade (the secret ingredient); Zest of 1 orange and 1/2 lemon; 1 tsp honey; 3 tbsp chopped walnuts and almonds; For Caramel-; 3/4 cup sugar; 1 tbsn water; 1/4 cup hot, boiling water; For mixed spice-; 1 Cinnamon stick; 3-4 cloves; 1 big cardamom; 1/2 tsp ginger powder

ABOUT Intoxicating Christmas Rum Cake...with a rich zing of Caramel, Honey and......? RECIPE

Even the thought of this particular cake takes me straight down the memory lane. In high school, we had a catholic teacher named Mrs. David who used to take our Economics class. She was immensely loving and motherly. It was from her that I learnt of this cake for the very first time. I remember being awed when she told us a month before Christmas, that she had already soaked her dried-fruit for her Christmas cake. After that, every 5-6 days she would tell of us of some spice or a condiment that she added to that rum mixture. As teenagers, we were awe-struck by the idea of such a cake. She invited us for Christmas lunch at her place that year and that cake, ummmmmm….it was everything that we had imagined it to be and more! After I got married, I made a tradition of baking a Rum cake every Christmas to feel closer to her. This cake has so many layers and level to it. Each year I am surprised to note that every little element contributes so beautifully to the taste. The secret ingredient here is the flavorful Marmalade that gives the texture a more of a sticky zestyness that you immediately notice! Try it friends,and experience for yourself the magic of this incredible, traditional recipe. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New year!!

Instructions

Soak the dried fruits in Rum, in an air-tight glass container and keep in a cool, dry place for two weeks. Every couple of days, shake/stir the mixture.
For the mixed spice– In a blender, put all the ingredients for the mixed spice except ginger powder and grind to a fine, dry powder. Do not use water. You can also prepare this spice mix in a mortar by hand.
To this powder, add your ginger powder and mix well. The lovely fragrant mixed spice is ready. You don’t need to use all of it in the cake. Adjust according to your taste as it’s quite strong. Store the rest in an air-tight container.
On the day of baking the cake, strain the dried-fruit of Rum and preserve the flavorful alcohol. Coat the dry fruits with around 1 tbsn of plain flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom in the cake batter.
Next, make your Caramel- this will nuetralise the strong taste of the alcohol and will give that brown color to your Rum cake. Take the sugar and water in deep pan and put on heat on medium flame. Stir once in a while to avoid lumps.
Do not disturb it too much or you won’t get your brown color and the water will soon evaporate away. Once you see the edges of the mixture turning brown, start stirring and wait till you see it turning a nice ‘caramel-brown’ uniformly.
Immediately take it off the stove and add your hot water to the syrup, all the while stirring. You need to be very careful at this point as the syrup will splash when you add hot water to it. Set aside to cool!
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
In a bowl, take the sugar and butter and beat till the mixture looks creamy and fluffy.
Beat your eggs very well in a separate bowl.
Now mix some flour in the butter and sugar mixture- beat well! Then add some egg in the butter-beat well! Continue this alternate cycle till u run out of flour and eggs.
After that, add the vanilla essence, baking powder, chopped nuts, caramel, marmalade, mixed spice and rum soaked dried-fruit in the batter. Fold in gently.
Lastly, grate in your zest from the orange and the lemon directly into the batter and give it a final mix.
Grease your baking pan with a thin layer of butter and also sprinkle some flour all over. You can also use baking parchment.
Pour in the batter and bake for 40 mins at 185 degrees. Do not open the door to check before 20-25 minutes at all. After that, open and insert a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean then your cake is ready.
If the middle still seems soft and uncooked, keep baking till done, checking every 5-6 minutes with the toothpick.
Let the cake sit in warm oven for 10 mins but with its door open. Do not take the cake out from the baking pan yet as we still have to add the syrup in it.
Once the cake has cooled down, take 2 tablespoon of the preserved Rum in which you had soaked your dried-fruit and add your honey to it. Mix well with a whisk.
Poking holes in the cake with a toothpick, pour this syrup over the cake.
After a couple of hours, take the cooled cake out from the tin and carefully wrap it in a cling-film. It’s best if you let this cake rest a few days before cutting it, to let the Rum soaked in. Store in a dry place at room temperature.
Cut it on Christmas day and enjoy the festive deliciousness to the fullest!

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