Rich Plum Cake / Fruit Cake

This cake made very frequently by my mom is one of the things that everyone loves and would vouch for. It is definitely high on calories but a cake that one can indulge in once in a while. This traditional Christmas Cake is made as close to the traditional one as possible (minus the rum)

Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Cooking Time : 1 hour
Makes 1 8" cake + a small loaf cake

Ingredients

Butter - 375 gm
Sugar - 375 gm
All purpose flour / Maida - 375 gm
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Eggs - 6 big
Nescafe - 1 1/2 tsp strong decoction
Caramel Syrup - 1 tea cup
Candied Orange Peel, currants,fig, almonds, tutty fruity, cashewnuts, glazed red cherries - 375 gm
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Cloves - Powdered, 5 gm
Cake Seed - 5 gm

Procedure

1. Grease and 8" pan and a loaf tin with butter and set aside
2. Preheat oven to 180 C (Switch on the oven for pre heating only when you have finished mixing the flour and have to add the other ingredients. Switching on earlier than that might make the oven too hot.)
3. Powder the sugar, mix maida and baking powder and sieve thrice.
4. Mix all the dry fruits and cake seeds in a bowl and toss 2 - 3 tsp of plain flour and coat all the fruits (see notes)
5. Mix sugar and butter and beat using a blender till creamy and fluffy
6. Add one egg at a time
7. Mix well add some flour, continue alternating an egg and flour and finish with the flour
8. Once all the flour is combined well, add the caramel, nescafe, powdered spices and mix well
9. Finally add the cake seeds and dry fruits
10. Give a quick mix with a rubber spatula / wooden spoon.
11. Pour the mixture in the cake tin and loaf  tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
12. Shift the cake pans midway if required.
13. Check if it is done by inserting a toothpick.
14. Remove and cool on a wire rack

Notes

1. To prevent nuts and fruits from sinking to the bottom of a cake during baking, wash them, warm them a bit in the oven and toss them with flour. Shake off excess flour before mixing them into the batter.
2. Always use fresh and large eggs when baking.
3. If your oven is too hot ~ then your cake will rise too much in the middle. Wait till your oven is fully preheated and use an oven thermometer to ensure proper oven temperature.
4. Do not add the eggs too quickly
5. Do not beat the flour at a high speed. Always use the minimum speed.
6. Always bake in the center of the oven
7. Make sure the cake mix is not over beaten and isn’t too wet that it cannot hold the dry fruits in place.
8. Beat the flour just until there are no visible signs of dry flour, but not until the batter is completely smooth.
9. Break one egg at a time so that even if one egg is stale, you know it before adding.
10. Sifting the flour and baking powder is essential to get rid of lumps and mix uniformly

In case you are looking to reduce or increase the quantity try this blog. -  http://www.cakesandmore.in/2014/01/a-basic-baking-conversions-chart.html