Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Pondicherry Plum Cake/Christmas Plum Cake

You might have crossed many plum cakes in your life, even i have seen so many but still today's post is something special for me. This cake is very close to my heart as i learned this cake from my neighbour aunty when i was just 13. Usually this cake batter is prepared three days before baking as the dry fruits and nuts goes for two day's soaking. During 80's, oven at home is definitely a luxury gadget and whenever we plan making cakes at home we make through stove top or either my younger brother will carry the cake batter to the nearby bakery for baking. I know most of us might have already crossed this baking experience atleast once if you are born in 80's.Coming to today's post,as i told earlier this cake is a traditional Pondicherry plum cake. Since Pondicherry cuisine is a multicultural cuisine obviously you may cross varieties of foods from different cuisine. Personally i think this plum cake might be carried from Kerala cuisine coz every year this cake is baked during Christmas eve to cut and enjoy to celebrate the birth of Jesus.The speciality of this cake is its completely Alcohol free,and the rich colour of this cake is coz of the caramel syrup used for soaking the fruits.

Christmas plum cake

After two interesting Pondicherry special christmas dishes, today am posting this fantabulous plum cake as am running my second week of blogging marathon with Festival recipes as this week's theme.I learned these three recipes from my neighbour aunty long back, actually i want to put these beautiful dishes since a long, thank god finally am able to put these christmas special dishes which was sitting in my to do list since ages.Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46. 

Pondicherry plum cake, Christmas plum cake

2cups All purpose flour
1cup Raisins
2tbsp Orange Zest
1/2cup Tutti Frutti
1cup Orange juice
1/2cup Cashew nuts (chopped)
1/2cuo Almonds (chopped)
15nos Whole cherries
200grms Butter
1cup Sugar
4nos Eggs
1tsp Vanilla extract
1tsp Baking powder
1/2tsp Cinnamon powder
1/4tsp Clove powder
1/4tsp Nutmeg powder
1/2cup Caramel syrup (i used storebought)

If you are planning your cake on Wednesday, prepare the fruit mixture on monday.

Take the raisins, tutti frutti,chopped cashewnuts,chopped almonds, cherries in a bowl, add the orange juice, orange zest,caramel syrup, mix everything in a bowl and arrange in fridge for three days.

Sieve the flour with cinnamon powder,clove powder,nutmeg powder with baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Grease well the baking pan with butter and keep aside;

Beat together the butter and sugar in a bowl until they turns creamy, add one egg  at a time and blend well.

Add the vanilla extract and beat well, gradually add the flour little by little and blend well.

Finally add the fruit and nut mixture to the mixing bowl and gently mix it with a spoon.

Pour this cake batter to the greased baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

Slice and enjoy.

Pondicherry plum cake, Christmas plum cake

Gâteau de Noel:
2tasses farine de blé
1 tasse de raisins secs
2 c à soupe zeste d'orange
1/2tasse Confits de fruits
1tasse de jus d'orange
1/2tasse noix de cajou (haché)
1/2tasse amandes (haché)
15 Cerises entières
200grms beurre
1tasse  sucre
4 oeufs
1 c à café extrait de vanille
1 c à café levure chimique
1/2 c à café poudre de cannelle
1/4c à café poudre declou de girofle
1/4 c à café poudre de noix de muscade
1/2tasse sirop au caramel


Prenez les raisins secs, noix de cajou,confits de fruits hachées, les amandes hachées, les cerises dans un bol, ajouter le jus d'orange, le zeste d'orange, sirop de caramel, mélanger le tout dans un bol et les disposer dans le frigo pendant trois jours.

Tamiser la farine avec la poudre de cannelle, de clou de girofle en poudre, poudre de noix de muscade avec la levure chimique.

Préchauffer le four à 325F.

Graisser bien le moule avec du beurre et garder de côté.

Battre ensemble le beurre et le sucre dans un bol jusqu'à ce qu'ils soit crémeux, ajouter un oeuf à la fois et bien mélanger.

Ajouter l'extrait de vanille et battre, ajouter progressivement la farine peu à peu et bien mélanger.

Enfin, ajouter le mélange de fruits et de noix dans le bol et mélanger délicatement avec une cuillère.

Verser cette pâte à gâteau dans le moule graissée et cuire au four pendant 45-50 minutes.

Retirer le gâteau du four et laisser refroidir complètement.

23 comments:

Sarita said... Reply To This Comment

Cake looks awesome !

Varada's Kitchen said... Reply To This Comment

Awesome! The cake has such a beautiful color and it has turned out perfect.

meena said... Reply To This Comment

Awesome plum cake Priya.I sure good old memories come to all our minds when we make plum cake.

Anonymous said... Reply To This Comment

Plum cake looks yummy

vaishali sabnani said... Reply To This Comment

Wow this sounds do delicious and the cake colour and texture look super.

Anusha said... Reply To This Comment

I m drooling here my dad used to work I. Ooty and we used to have kgs of plum cake every Christmas I m reminded of those days

Asiya Omar said... Reply To This Comment

Wow,like to taste this.

Surya said... Reply To This Comment

can we bake this cake without eggs?

Unknown said... Reply To This Comment

So gorgeous is ur cake

Sundari Nathan said... Reply To This Comment

Wow!! Am drooling!! Looks perfect..

Mayuri Patel said... Reply To This Comment

such a lovely plum cake. My mouth is watering.

nayana said... Reply To This Comment

awesome cake ... my alltime favorite...

Sandhya Ramakrishnan said... Reply To This Comment

The plum cakes are such a treat during Christmas. The cake has come out so well and love the texture and the color :)

Unknown said... Reply To This Comment

I made plum cake too Priya. Your cake looks awesome. Jayanthi(www.sizzlingveggies.com)

Unknown said... Reply To This Comment

wow loving your puducherry christmas recipes aks :) such an fantastic plum cake , looks so moist !!

Srivalli said... Reply To This Comment

OMG Priya, I love that colour and texture.I enjoyed all your dishes..awesome ones priya..It looks like you saved up all these just for this event...thank you so much for sharing these..:)

Srividhya said... Reply To This Comment

Cake looks awesome :-) Enjoying all the cakes here

Pavani said... Reply To This Comment

What a very flavorful and delicious looking plum cake.

Harini R said... Reply To This Comment

Wow! such a flavorful and eye catching cake, Priya. Love that the fruits are soaked in Orange juice!

Chef Mireille said... Reply To This Comment

what a beautiful cake

veena said... Reply To This Comment

Awesome. It has such a lovely colour and texture!!

Anonymous said... Reply To This Comment

dear priya,
Happy New Year 2 U & family. i wish 2 try this as eggless. i've read that substituting for more eggs is tough . so i will half and try. which means 2 eggs. can u plz suggest the proper substitute... from your rich experience . regards, valli.

Priya Suresh said... Reply To This Comment

Thank u Valli for ur wishes and wish u the same. Yes i know its hard to substitute eggs but still u can replace it with soft tofu or mashed potatoes, however the authentic flavor of this cake will be bit different from the eggless one. If you still want to make eggless or vegan plum cake, do check my other versions, hope this helps.