Last Minute Plum Cake (Christmas Fruit Cake)

Last minute plum cake or christmas fruit cake set up on the table for slicing

5 from 3 votes

Last Minute Plum Cake (Christmas Fruit Cake)

This recipe for plum cake is what you can use if you want to make some at the last minute. No pre-soaking dried fruits and nuts for days, but the same intense flavour and moist cake that everyone loves. Its an easy Christmas fruit cake recipe that you'll be making again and again!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 45

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: Slices

Author: Richa

Equipment

Oven
Hand Blender

Ingredients

250 ml Dark rum or 200 ml apple juice for a non alcoholic version
250 grams Chopped dried fruits and nuts cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, sultanas, prunes, chironji, walnuts etc
50 grams Chopped candied orange peel substitute with zest of 1 orange
160 grams All purpose flour
15 grams Cocoa powder unsweetened
1 1/2 tablespoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg freshly grated
1/4 teaspoon Salt
150 grams Dark brown sugar
175 grams Butter at room temperature
1/2 tablespoon Almond extract (optional)
4 Eggs

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

In a saucepan, add rum, dried fruits and nuts and orange peel. Bring this to a boil, and then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Take this off the heat and set this aside for 1-2 hours, or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
When you are ready to bake the cake, pre-heat oven to 160 C/ 320 F. Line the base and sides of an 8 inch springform cake tin with parchment paper, making sure that the sides of the parchment paper are higher than the cake tin. Watch the video above to see how I do this.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Add dark brown sugar, butter, almond extract (if using) and eggs and whisk with an electric whisk till combined. Add the soaked dried fruits and nuts and fold with a spatula.
Pour this batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for approximately 90 minutes. Start checking for doneness around the 80 minute mark. In some ovens, this cake can take up to 2 hours because it bakes long and slow. Use your judgement after the 80 minute mark, and check in 10-15 minute intervals.
Once baked, let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes, after which you can take the cake out of the tin or release the sides of the springform tin and let the cake cool completely.

Notes

Alcohol Substitute: You can substitute the dark rum with brandy and port wine, or if you want to omit the alcohol, substitute with 200 ml of apple juice for a non alcoholic plum cake
Orange Peel: You can substitute the orange peel for the same amount of lemon peel, or even use 25g of each
Almond Extract: This adds a really nice flavour but isn't mandatory so you can skip this if you don't have access to this
Storage: This cake can be stored in the fridge for weeks or can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Nutrition