A traditional Rich Fruit Cake, made with rum soaked dry fruits and homemade spice powder. Without this Christmas is incomplete.
Prepare an 8” round cake pan by greasing with oil and place a piece of baking paper/butter paper at the bottom of the pan. Cover the sides of the pan with two sheets of baking paper from inside.
Before I start, all the ingredients were at room temperature.
If you’re following my previous posts then you have the rum soaked fruits ready by this time. Measure 1½ cups rum-soaked fruits and keep them on a strainer to drain out the excess liquid.
In a bowl shift all-purpose flour and baking powder. Add the spice mix and dry ginger powder. Mix well, keep aside.
In another bowl cream the butter and sugar on medium speed with your electronic hand mixer. In this add the eggs one by one. Add one at a time and keep whisking.
Add vanilla extract, whisk well. In this add flour mixture into 3 batches, keep whisking until a lump-free batter forms.
Now add the dry fruits into the batter. Gently mix in with a spatula. The batter would be very thick, which is absolutely fine.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Pour the cake batter into the cake pan. Smooth the top with the help of a spatula. Tap cake pan gently on the kitchen counter a couple of times to release the air bubbles.
Decorate or sprinkle some almonds and glazed cherries on top. Bake for 65 minutes. Insert a sharp knife in the middle of the cake. The cake is ready if the knife comes out clean. If not, bake for some more time, and then check again.
Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes and then run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan and carefully remove the cake. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave there until cool completely.
When cooled slice, serve and enjoy!