Steamed Fruit Cake

You love a rich fruit cake. You’d like to bake one. But you don’t have an oven. Or your oven’s gone bust. Don’t despair – Steam the cake! With the recipe for the Steamed Fruit Cake you can get an almost similar fruit cake to the baked one. You only need to invest some time!

Serves: 1200 gms

Prep. Time: 30 Mins

Steaming Time: 3.5 to 4 hours on med-low heat

Ingredients:

• Dry Ingredients:
  • Maida [APF] – 300 gms
  • Mixed Dry Fruit – 250 gms
  • Cream of Tartar (check notes) – 1 ½ tsp.
  • Soda-bi-carb – 1 tsp.

• Wet Ingredients:
  • Salted Butter – 250 gms
  • Castor Sugar – 120 gms
  • Eggs – 3
  • Vanilla Essence – 1 tbsp.
• Caramel (Click here) – 1 portion

Step 1:     Mix all the dry ingredients except the mixed fruit and sieve it. Then add the fruit and mix well (see that all the fruit is well coated with the flour). Leave aside.

Step 2:     Prepare your caramel and keep aside to cool.

Step 3:     Place a steamer with water on heat till it starts steaming.

Step 4:     Whisk the butter, sugar and vanilla essence till creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time and whisk on low speed till well incorporated.

Step 5:     Next add the dry ingredients in three batches and whisk on very slow speed until all of it is used and well mixed (don’t whisk for a long time).

Step 6:     Add the caramel and mix well with a spatula.

Step 7:     Take a 7 inch square pan and line it with parchment or butter paper. Pour the batter into it. Cover the pan with foil and then again with parchment paper. Tie it with a string or a rubber band (You need to cover the baking tin well so that no water drips in during steaming process)

Step 8:     Open the steamer and place the baking pan in it quickly and then cover the steamer. Steam on medium-low heat for 2 hours and then check if there is enough water. If not add more hot water to the steamer. Steam for another 1 ½ hours. Then poke with a skewer to see if coming clean or steam for more time.

Step 8:    Later, remove from the steamer and allow to cool before de-moulding.

Step 9:    Feeding the Cake (optional)

• Rum – 60 ml

Spread some foil on a clean surface. Then spread two layers of cling film on the foil. Place the cake on the cling film. Poke some holes into the cake with a bamboo skewer. Brush the top of the cake with the rum. And wrap with the cling film and then with the foil. Put the wrapped cake in an airtight container. Keep away until Christmas.

Notes:

• Cream of tartar is tartaric acid available with most bakery product stores. When combined with baking soda it aerates the cake with carbon dioxide (like yeast). Substitute with 3 tsp. of lemon juice if not available at Step 6 and mix well.
• If your steamer, does not retain steam (steam escapes a lot) you will have to check in between to see if the water has not gone dry.