New Year Cake - 2009

I was really excited to see my cake came out so well and it got finished so soon. Irresistable taste.

I prepared the same for New year. The taste will be exactly as the one you get in bakery. Please do try it and leave your comment.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or baking flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon(Pattai) powder - 1/4 tsp
Nutmeg(Jathikka) powder - 1/4 tsp
Cloves(Grambu) powder- 1/4 tsp
Dry Ginger powder - 1/4 tsp
Raisins(Dry rates) - 1/4 pound
Dates(Perrecham pazham) - 1/4 pound
Orange and Lemon peel - 1/4 cup
Plum, Cherry, Cranberry,
other dried fruits - 1/4 cup
Cashewnuts(chopped) - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/4 pound
Sugar - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup (To make caramelized sugar)
Eggs - 3 nos
Salt - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Almond(Badam) essence - 1/4 tsp
orange juice - 1/4cup

Method:

~Slice the dried fruits and coat them with 2 tbsp of flour.
~Mix the fruits with orange juice and keep this closed at room temperature for one day.
~Chop cashews and smear them with almond essence and keep
them also closed for one day.
~Next day,sieve flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, cloves powder and dry ginger powder
together 2-3 times.
~Add fruits, nuts, caraway seeds to the flour and mix well.
~Caramelize sugar in a heavy bottom pan and allow it to cool.
~Whisk the butter and add sugar and whisk well, until it is creamy.
~Separate eggs to whites and yolk.
~Add the yolks to butter & sugar mixture (7) and whisk well.
~Add flour ,a little a time,to the whisked batter and mix thoroughly.
~Add caramelized sugar to this and mix thoroughly again.
~Whisk whites of eggs with vanilla and salt.
~Pour this to the batter.
~Grease a pan and line with parchment paper.
~Pour batter till half the pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 1 - 11/2 hours.
(please check it is done after 40-45 minutes.cooking time depends on the oven used and the depth of the pan.)
~Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling
rack.
~fruit cake ready.

to prepare caramelize sugar:

Sugar: 1/4 cup
Water: 1 tbsp
Warm water: 1/4 cup

Add sugar and 1 tbsp water keep in stove at low medium heat.
When the sugar starts to caramelize , stir slowly with wooden spoon.
The sugar will start to change color from light brown to dark.
In between , keep in microwave the water for 1 min and warm it.
When the sugar starts to turn brown , pour slowly the warm water keep ur face away!
(caution: it splitter so be cautious!).
Let it cool completely then add caramel and the vanilla essence.