Chocolate Plum Cake using Rum

Super Moist Christmas Plum Cake (Chocolate Fruit & Nut Cake) that is loaded with the goodness of Berries, Dry fruits that were soaked in Dark Rum for two months. The longer you soak, the better the flavor will be. However soaking the dry fruits need not be for months, just a week or a couple of days is also enough to have a good fruit cake.

If you do not have the time to soak the fruits for a long time, then check out this recipe for an instant plum cake. Last Minute Christmas Rum Plum Cake

For an Eggless version of this recipe, check out this recipe Eggless Chocolate Plum Cake using Rum

If you need a no alcohol plum cake recipe, then check this recipe of a fruit cake made using homemade grape juice Christmas Plum Cake Recipe

If you do not want a chocolate flavor and need only a traditional plum cake recipe then check out this recipe Christmas Plum Cake with Rum

Chocolate Plum Cake using Rum

Ingredients

FOR CARAMEL SYRUP

• 1/4 Cup white Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Water
• 1/2 Cup Hot boiling water
• 1 Teaspoon Lemon juice

FOR DRY FRUITS ( To be soaked in RUM atleast for 2-3 days or a week )

• 1/2 Cup | 60gms Dried Cranberries
• 1/2 Cup | 75gms Black Raisins
• 1/4 Cup | 40gms Golden Raisins/Sultanas
• Mixed Dry Fruits ( I used 2 Dried Kiwis, 3 Prunes, 1 Apricot, 6 cherries, 1 Tbsp Dried Blueberries, 1 Candied Ginger)
• 1/2 Tsp Freshly grated Orange Zest
• Mixed Berry Jam 1 Tbsp (Orange Marmalade/Apricot Jam)
• Honey 1 Tbsp
• Dark Rum (about 1 Cup)

FOR THE CAKE BATTER

• 1 Cup | 120gm All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tablespoon | 15g Dark Cocoa powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon each of Dry Ginger, Cardamom, Clove, Nutmeg powder
• 1/4 Cup + 3 Tbsp | 100gms Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 3/4 Cup | 150g Dark Muscovado Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
• Caramel Syrup
• 3 Tbsp Orange Juice ( juice of one Orange or use packaged orange juice)
• 1 Cup of Soaked Dry Fruits
• 1/4 Cup Cashews, Almonds & Pistas chopped

Instructions

• Soak Fruits in Rum for atleast 2-3 days or 1 week for a stronger boozy flavor. I soaked mine for 2 months. Do Check out how to soak dry fruits in rum Click here on How to soak dry fruits Strain 1 Cup of the soaked dry Fruits, reserve the juices for brushing/feeding the cake later.
  
• Its best to weigh all the ingredients in grams first to get precise results always instead of measuring using cups as we often tend to either put more or less than required while using a Cup. I did not weigh the Butter as it already came in a 100gm packet.
  
• Sieve together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt & spices. Mix well to combine all the ingredients evenly.
  
• Prepare the Caramel Syrup by heating Sugar & a Tablespoon of Water till dark Golden. Do not use spoon just twirl the pan around. Do this on Low Heat else it might get burnt. Once Dark Golden, Add Hot water to it slowly (Be Careful of Hot Splashes), add lemon juice & cook for 10 mins on Lowest Heat till reduced. Do not cook more than 10 Mins. Let it cool down before adding to the batter. It should be like a Honey Consistency after it cools down.

  If it gets too much Hard like stone later after cooling down, add some water and heat it again to melt it.
  
• Beat room temperature butter till smooth. The Butter should neither be too soft nor hard. Add dark muscovado sugar, mix well.
  
• Add Oil to keep the cake moist. Butter often tends to solidify making the cake dense but adding bit of oil will help keep it moist even if its just a Tablespoon
  
• Add the eggs one at a time mixing each egg well. Its important to beat the eggs well to get all the air from it.
  
• Add the vanilla essence and the caramel syrup. The Caramel should ideally be like a Honey Consistency after cooling down. If at this point the Caramel has become stiff or too hard then add some hot water and heat it again to melt it. This is always one of the issues faced by many as caramel tends to get hard as it cools down. Let it cool down a bit before adding to the batter. Its ok if its slightly warm.
  
• Add Orange Juice. I used packaged one but you can also use freshly squeezed orange juice. If using packaged ones, choose the ones without any soda in it, just plain orange juice.
  
• Fold the dry ingredients gently in two batches. Do not overmix so as to not let the air created by the eggs to go out.
  
• Add the strained dry Fruits and chopped nuts. Fold them in gently.
  
• Transfer to a greased 6 inch pan lined with parchment papers. I lined the sides as well to get smooth edges and also it protects the cake top from getting burnt soon as it promotes even heat distribution during baking.
  
• Bake @180C for 1hr 10-15 mins. After 20 minutes of baking when the top was slightly set, i pulled it out of the oven and decorated with nuts. This is just for decoration to make the nuts stand out more, you can do this just before baking too.
  
• Cover with an Aluminum foil after 60mins to prevent burning. Baking time will reduce if baked in a 7/8 inch tin. 
  
• Poke some holes and Brush with the strained juice while the cake is still hot so that it absorbs the juices well. Store Airtight at room temperature, tastes best next day. If you need to preserve it for later, keep it airtight wrapped in a parchment paper, cling wrap tightly and then cover with an aluminum foil. Feed it with Rum once a week to preserve it.
  
• You can keep it refrigerated too just to be safe. Usually this cake lasts for several months due to the presence of alcohol in it. I usually make this in early December then after two days of baking, keep it refrigerated. I microwave the slices just before serving and it gets soft and fresh like freshly baked every time. This cake can also be kept in the freezer frozen for months.
  
• Weight of the cake was 755gms. The weight might differ based on what dry fruits were used and the quantities ofcourse.
  
• Slice the cake after atleast a day of resting. The flavors deepen as they get a chance to marry each other as they rest, the longer the better. If storing for a long time, the color deepens and darkens due to the alcohol feeding. The taste might also become more stronger.
  

Video

Notes

You can either freeze it or keep it at room temperature. You can also feed the cake once a week with Rum then keep it wrapped back again airtight. Due to alcohol the cake has a long shelf life.

I used Old Monk Dark Rum for best flavor.

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