Fruit and Nut Cake

This is the virtual treat to all my readers, supporters and friends.Its a quite late post, but a late note of thank would be better than never...
I Started blogging on December 30th, and successfully completed a month on last week. got some amazing friends and sisters here, who really encourage by their comments and through chat. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement... Hope to have a long lasting relationship with you all. Please accept my virtual treat to you all.. :)

Baking is quite new to me. I used to make pressure cooker cakes when I was at Chennai. By seeing that my hubby got a microwave for me, but I have never tried cake in microwave.

I was quite scared to use the oven after a small accident I made to the oven in my last US visit.. (Only the broiler got damaged a little... we were safe :P)
whenever I see any puffs recipe or cake recipe i think of using the oven again and was keep hesitating.

Finally, Last month I got all the accessories and ingredients required to bake... With the help of my neighbor, we both first baked some vanilla sponge cake with cake mix. Gained some confidence... And here i am with the cake recipe of my own.

I love plum cakes than any other cake in the world. Though from childhood I like plum cake, i got addicted(!) to it after tasting it from "Pondicherry Geetha Bakery". Everyone says Grand sweets plum cake will be nice in pondy.. But my choice was geetha bakery... During my stay in pondy, every Sunday I visit the church and while returning the yummy plum cake will accompany me... If any of you are from pondy, while you taste geetha bakery plum cake, do remember me :)

But i cannot call it as plum cake as it doesn't have any plums in it :)
I just made the cake with the whatever nuts and fruits were available at home. I just made a research over many recipes and understood, there are many more ways to do the cake... Only need to concentrate on the base ingredients and its measurements.

I am sorry I could not take the pics while preparing...

Ingredients:

All purpose / Maida - 1 cup
Butter - 100 grams (at room temperature)
Egg- 1
Brown sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 3/4 teaspoon
coco powder/ chocolate powder - 1 tea spoon (I used unsweetened)
grated orange peel - 2 tea spoons
water - 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup
veg oil - 2 tea spoon
salt - a pinch (not required if salted butter is used)

Nuts / fruits:

Cashew, pista, tutti frutti, dates, raisins all together - 1 cup


I just avoided the ingredients like almond essence or vanilla essence as i was not having those...  You can add those a drop if you have.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
2. Beat Egg and Butter in a mixing pan well
3. Then add flour and coco powder to it and mix well
4. It will be a thick paste by then..Now add the sugar to it and keep mixing
5. Add half cup of water , mix and check the consistency. it should not be too thick or too watery. (In a idli batter consistency I would say). if required add the remaining water and veg oil.
6.Chop all the nuts and fruits of your choice and  add to the cake mix along with the orange peel.
7. Cover the cake pan with the aluminium foil and grease it. Pour the cake mix to it and set the timer for 50 minutes.
8. keep the pan in the lower wire rack.
9. After 50 minutes, check the cake with the tooth pick, whether it is done or not... if it comes out sticky, bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Let the cake cool down completely for at least 4 to 5 hours. remove it from pan and then wrap in another aluminum foil completely for few more hours.

Notes:
1. Fruits and nuts can be boiled and added too. Just to make the process simple, I added as it is.
2. brown sugar can be replaced with white also.
3. Adjust the sugar level based on your dates taste. Mine was little sweetened so the cake too. Next time I may reduce the sugar a spoon or two.
4. You can directly pour the mix into the pan and bake. But I felt it easy to remove when it is cool down

sending this recipe to,

Taste of Tropics - Chocolate / cocoa  organized by Chef Mireille and hosted by Beulah Arun of Full Scoops

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Kid's delight baked treats hosted by PJ and organized by Srivalli

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