Fruit cake with orange and rum drizzle / Fruit and Nut cake

A rich cake with raisin , walnut , cashew nut ,dates , candied fruits and if that is not richness then drench it with a drizzle of orange and rum if u like.An old fashioned cake for all those who believe in sheer dessert indulgence yet nothing fancy.
Ideal to spice up a party any time of the year .

When it is time for dessert I always find men in the group groan and reluctantly take a tiny piece when the cake is overly frosted so  thought just a light portion controlled drizzle would be nice and I can say it worked like charm with the added attractions ;)

INGREDIENTS

All purpose flour- 1 1/4 cup

Butter -1/2 cup (1 stick) (at room temperature)

Eggs- 3 If large then 2

Baking powder-1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup + 3 tsp

Raisins-1/2 cup (black raisin,white raisin

Orange peel candied / Orange rind-4 to 5 pieces chopped finely ( click on orange to see recipe)

Cashew nuts- 1/3 cup (broken into pieces)
Walnut-1/3 cup (broken into pieces)
Dates-1/3 cup ( roughly chopped)

Tooty fruity / Candied fruit and candied cherries- 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence-1 tsp

Boiling water-1/2 cup

METHOD

1.Caramelize sugar.Take an old pan :) Heat it and put three tsps of sugar in the center of the pan.Reduce flame to medium low  .Do not touch the pan or stir the sugar.Keep a close eye and you will see that the sugar is melting when all the sugar has completely melted (not even one speck of white sugar o.k:)) pour the boiling water into it and switch off flame.Be careful do not add cold water it will splutter and cause serious burns.
Mix the sugar and water well bring it back to boil and put the nuts and raisins only in this.let it boil in this for 5 minutes or until they are tender .Let it cool down.Strain the water and keep aside (used in step 3)

2.Keep 3 tbsp of flour aside and in the rest of the flour mix the baking powder.

3.Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy then add eggs one by one and beat well.Add vanilla essence too.Now slowly fold in the flour mixture into the egg mixture without beating too much.Pour the caramelized sugar water to get the brownish color.

4.To the drained raisins and nuts add the 3 tbsp flour we had kept aside and mix well and the orange peel and candied fruit &cherry/Tooti fruiti as well.This dusting is done to save the fruits and nuts from sinking to the bottom of the cake while baking.

5.Add it to the cake mixture and fold gently.Pour the batter into the greased baking pan and level the top.

6.Bake in a preheated oven at 350 ° F for about 45 to 55 minutes.Until the toothpick /skewer comes out clean.The cake top is dark brown in color .

Once the cake is cool u may cut and serve without the drizzle  if you are going to serve kids too. (Do not cut the cake when it is warm it will crumble.)

ORANGE AND RUM DRIZZLE - (OPTIONAL)

Orange zest -1/2 tsp
Orange juice- of 1 large orange
Rum - 1 cup (any spiced rum)
Butter- 1 tsp
Water- 1/2 glass or more if u want a dialute
Granulated sugar- 1tbsp

Heat butter in a pan add water, sugar ,orange zest and orange juice slowly bring it to boil switch off flame add rum .let it cool .Serve separately to drizzle on individual servings.

The measurements are approximate so adjust measurements to serve a tbsp or two of drizzle per head.

The cake is dense with all the dry fruits and nuts and moistening it with  orange and rum really enhances the flavors .
I am so much in love with the shades of orange and yellow as u can see :) so here is the cake in a cabana ...

Would love to hear from u.

Meena