After 11 years of trial and error, this year we feel we have reached the perfection -the smell, the taste and the texture. And this year, we did it without any leavening agents. Those who know my better half know exactly what I am talking about, wanting the perfection ;)..
We took 1 Pound combination (1 Pound butter - 1 pound sugar including 1 cup (0.25 lb) for caramel -1 Pound flour). 6 inch circle pan is used. We got three, 2 pound cakes.
Ingredients:
1. Raisins : 1/2 Pound - black currant
2. Black dates: 2 ounce
3. Old English Fruit and Peel Mix - 1 ounce
4. Orange Peel - fresh - 2 Tbsp
5. Candied Papaya : 1 Ounce
6. Candied ginger : 1 Ounce
7. Brandy :1 Cup.
8. Cashew nut : 1/2 Pound.
9. Sugar for caramel syrup: 1/4 Pound. ( 1 Cup)
10. Eggs (room temperature): 1 pound
11. lemon juice : 3 tsp.
12. All Purpose Flour : 1 Pound (4 Cups).
13. Butter (unsalted,room temperature): 1 Pound.
14. Cane sugar: 3/4 Pound ( 3 cups).
15. Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp (heaped)
16. Nutmeg: 1 tsp (heaped)
17. Cloves Powder: 1/2 tsp(heaped)
18. Dry Ginger powder: 1 tsp(heaped)
19. Cardamom Powder:1 tsp(heaped)
20. Cocoa powder: 1 tsp (heaped)
21. Vanilla essence: 4 tsp.
Steps:
1. Soak Raisins and Dates in Brandy or Rum at least 2 days before making the cake. Chop the raisins and dates into small pieces before soaking them.
2. To prepare the cake pan, butter it, add parchment paper at the bottom, add wet cotton cloth around the pan(This ensures the sides are not burnt while the center is cooking).
3. Heat over to 350 degree F.
4. Chop ingredients 2-6 well and keep aside.
5. Crush cashew nuts (each kernel into about 5-8 pieces)
6. Next to make Caramel: Heat sugar in a heavy bottom pan, till it becomes blackish in color. Add 1 Cup boiling water and reduce it till you get 1 thread consistency. Keep the caramel warm (place the bowl in hot water), till you are ready to use it.
7. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
8. Beat the egg whites with lemon juice, till steady peaks form. it becomes at least 10 times the volume.
9. Beat butter and sugar well till it becomes creamy yellow in color. This is very important step to make sure the bubbles are trapped well, esp if you are not using leavening agents.
10. Add egg yolks and beat well - more like mayonnaise consistency.
11. Add vanilla essence
12. Add caramel and mix well - use a hand beater.
13. Sieve flour and powdered spices together - trapping in more air here again :)
14. Add the flour to wet ingredients in step 11 - add till incorporated - DONOT overbeat.
15. Add the fruits mixture and cashew nuts and mix well - mix with spatula
16. Fold in the egg white - try to do this in as little strokes as possible - we do not want to break the bubble as much as possible.
17. Pour in the pans and bake for 30-45 mins. Keep a watch after the first 30 mins. Check every 10 minutes after that.
18. While baking, keep a small bowl with water in oven - this make sure that the cake is moist.
19. About 15 mins after the cake is out, transfer to cooling rack
20. Once cakes are lukewarm, brush with Brandy or rum - on all sides and the top. about 4-8 tsp can go on each cake.
21.Let the cakes cool well, wrap it well with wax paper and keep in air tight container for next 7 days at least.
Tips:
1. If you need to add leavening agent, use a mix: baking powder: 1tsp, baking soda: 1/2 tsp. This must be added along with the all purpose flour, while sieving.
2. Egg and butter MUST be at room temperature.
3. To make fresh orange peel - use tangerine peels and get it to dry nicely .
4. Caramel - is the one that gives the nostalgic Kerala taste and color. Make sure its uniformly melted and blackish in color. It should taste slightly bitter when you taste it :)
5. The best cake seems to be when there is about 1 - 1.5 inch thick batter. 1 inch was cooked really good and dry inside. Thicker, the more moist and takes more time. Like other cakes, when a toothpick comes clean is when it is cooked. However, we keep it a bit more to get the dry feel Kerala cakes have.
