Christmas Plum Cake with Rum

• Prepare the pans ahead for baking, grease with oil and place a parchment paper with long edges if loaf shaped for easy pull out, prepare an aluminium cover as well (to be placed after 40mins after baking on top of the tin to prevent burnt top due to the caramel syrup).

  I baked two cakes one loaf shaped and one round shaped using total 2 Cups of the soaked Dry Fruits using the same recipe one after another.
  
• Sieve the pre soaked dry fruits to get the juice out of it and reserve this juice to brush and add to the cake later. Check the post related to how i soaked my dry fruits. Click here https://theartisticcook.com/how-to-soak-fruits-for-christmas-plum-cake/

  If the dry fruits were refrigerated then allow to come to room temperature before adding to the cake batter.
  
• Dry roast the cashews and almonds, then chop them into small bits. Cutting them small gives a good mouthfeel when you bite into each slice. You can add any other dried fruits like walnuts or pistachios etc.
  
• Sieve together the Flour, Baking powder, Soda, Salt and spices.
  
• MIx the Nuts with the sieved soaked dry fruits. Add 2 Tbsp of the dry ingredients to prevent them from sinking to the cake bottom during baking.
  

To Prepare the Caramel Syrup

• Heat Sugar and Water on LOW Flame till the sugar caramelizes and turns into a beautiful amber color. Do not let it burn though. Keep tilting the pan to mix the sugar evenly, do not use a spoon.
  
• Once color changes to dark golden, switch off the flame and immediately pour hot water from the sides bit by bit slowly. Be careful of hot splashes. Switch on flame and add lemon juice to prevent further crystallization.
  
• Let the syrup cook for 9-10mins on LOW flame till it gets bit thick. Do not let it become too thick though. Let it cool down a bit before adding to the cake batter. If it becomes too hard, then add some hot water and heat it again.
  

To prepare the CAKE BATTER

• Beat the butter till smooth for a few seconds. Ensure the butter is at room temperature only.

  Add Dark Muscovado Sugar and mix with a spatula to remove any lumps. Then Beat with the beater till well incorporated. You can use Brown sugar or white sugar instead but dark muscovado sugar gives a darker tint and a lovely intense flavor to the sponge.
  
• Add the Eggs one at a time mixing each egg till well incorporated.
  
• Add Vanilla Essence, the Caramel Syrup and the strained Rum.
  
• Fold the Dry Ingredients into the batter in three batches gently without knocking the air out from the eggs.
  
• Add the Orange Juice and fold the dry fruits at the end.
  
• Transfer the cake batter into the tin and level it out with a flat spatula or back of a spoon. Decorate with dry fruits or nuts at the top if you wish.

  BAKE @180C for 55-60 MINS Or Till a Toothpick inserted Comes Clean.
  
• Once cake is baked and still hot, poke few holes with a toothpick and pour 1-2 Tbsp of the leftover Rum all over the cake. Allow the cake to cool down completely.
  
• Demould the cake and wrap it in a parchment paper first, then wrap it tight with a Cling Wrap. Lastly Wrap it with an Aluminum foil and keep it stored in an airtight container either at room temperature or refrigerated. Due to the alcohol, this cake can be kept at room temperature if stored properly.  Be careful while wrapping the cake should not come into direct contact with the aluminum foil directly as alcohol doesn't react well with aluminum. 
  
• Feed the Cake once every week with Rum and again wrap it back the same way. A Rum cake tastes best the longer it is kept.
  
• This cake tastes best after feeding it with alcohol after atleast an week or two. So bake it ahead, store it properly and keep it moist by brushing with rum every once a week.