The countdown to Christmas and New Year has begun. And it’s time to begin the preparation of traditional plum cake as well. Though people prefer to eat Plum cake on Christmas Eve, the dish can also be prepared for New Year too. Before baking plum cake, most of the fruits and nuts used in it are soaked in alcohol.
The soaking period is very crucial, as it determines the flavour of the cake. The more you will soak, the firmer cake you will get and with a better texture.
1. To make a rich and flavourful plum cake, first take about 500 gms of dry fruits and soak them in rum or brandy or you can even try whisky with a little cardamom.
2. Make sure the mix of nuts should include dates, sultanas, almonds, walnuts, figs, prunes, cherries, cranberries, and raisins.
3. Chop all the dry fruits finely and mix them in a jar.
4. Pour your favourite alcohol in it and also add some orange peels. Mix it well.
5. Close the jar with its lid and keep it at room temperature.
6. Make sure you gave a swirl after every 3-4 days.
7. Just keep this thing in mind that all the ingredients are mixed once in a while before the baking period. The dry fruits will soak in the alcohol for approximately two weeks. Over the days, if you see that alcohol is disappearing, you can add more.
For the non-alcoholic version of the plum cake, you can soak all the dry fruits in orange or grape juice to bring the authentic flavour. Once the feeding process is done, bake the plum cake.
Though it is suggested that you bake it a few weeks in advance as it enriches the taste of the cake. But in case you have not started the preparations, you can bake it just few days ahead of Christmas too.
