Some of our best childhood memories revolve around food. Food memories often evoke nostalgia and comfort and also strengthen our relationships with friends and family. My earliest memories of plum cake are refreshed every year in November and early December, when hotels in most Indian cities organize Christmas cake mixing or fruit mixing functions. Although it’s easy to dismiss these as PR or photo opportunities, these are arranged for a reason. There are accounts that suggest that cake-mixing traditions have been part of British culture since the 17th century. This quintessentially English tradition first started as plum porridge and evolved into the traditional Christmas or plum cake as we know it.
According to Ashutosh Nerlekar, director of food production, The Park, Chennai, in earlier days cake mixing would happen around the beginning of the harvest season. Friends and family from the community gather to celebrate the season. Ashutosh says the ingredients used in the cake mix – dry fruits, nuts, spices and spirits – are symbols of abundance and prosperity. “It is seen as a sign of gratitude for the year’s blessings and a prayer for a fruitful year to come.”
Ashutosh’s advice for home bakers is to soak fruits for at least 6 weeks before baking. He also strongly recommends churning this fruit mixture every week. “Make sure the fruits are small and evenly cut. Uneven and large fruits will cause the cake to crumble. Use jaggery for a nice dark color. Add apricot jam to enhance the flavor and tartness. After the cake is baked Then sprinkle some alcohol on it to keep it moist and intoxicating.” The pastry chefs I spoke to believe that the process of soaking the fruit helps with flavor, increases moisture content and also helps the fruit rise. This is an important step in preserving the flavor and texture of plum cake.
Rehana, who is the baker and co-owner of OVN Bakehouse, shares her secret step – “We cook the dried fruits in wine. The next day we add rum, whiskey and freshly ground spices and let it sit for 10′ ‘ Before 12 months, Mr. Bell, a celebrity chef and culinary anthropologist, believes that spices are key, along with cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg. The ingredients she uses are ground ginger. Her other secret ingredient is orange peel and zest. She also suggests using blackjack caramel (caramelized sugar water).
Chef Ravi Verma (Area Pastry Chef, Tamil Nadu, Indian Hotels Company Limited) who shared his plum cake recipe with us (see recipe below) believes that the intensity of the flavor depends entirely on how thick you are with the fruit. For how long are they soaked? This is the reason why many guests who came to fruit mixing programs this year can taste the ‘fruits of their labor’ only next year. Many hotels reserve this year’s fruit blend for the next year until it is soaked in alcohol for those intense flavors. While classic plum cake tastes delicious at room temperature, you can also warm it and serve it with brandy sauce. You can try our recipes at home:
Plum Cake Recipe
Recipe Courtesy: Chef Ravi Verma, Area Pastry Chef, Tamil Nadu, Indian Hotels Company Limited
Material:
- Unsalted butter – 100 grams
- Brown sugar-100 grams
- Eggs-2 pieces
- Flour-100 grams
- Ginger powder-1 gram
- cinnamon powder 1 gram
- Nut Meg Powder 1 Gram
- Candied orange peel 28 grams
- Candied lemon peel 28 grams
- Candied Ginger Chips-12 Grams
- Candied Cherries -167 grams
- Orange peel- 1
- Raisins – 167 grams
- Black Streams-167 grams
- Dried figs-83 grams
- Dates-83 grams
- Black raisins-117 grams
- Chopped almonds – 42 grams
- Cognac-120ml
- Treacle/Blackjack-17ml
Method:
- Add all the dried fruits, cognac and blackjack and let it marinate for at least 24 hours.
- Sieve flour and spice powder together in a bowl.
- Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy
- Slowly add eggs one by one
- Add flour, spice mixture and chopped almonds to the marinated fruit mixture.
- Add all the fruit mixture to the butter mixture and make a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake at 170°C for 20 minutes and 150°C for 40 minutes.
- When cooked, remove from the oven.
- To ensure the cake is moist and delicious, drizzle cognac over the cake layer and let it cool.
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