Easy Homemade Rum Fruit Cake Recipe Perfect For Winter Evening
Written by jheelum basu | October 1, 2024
Warm and fuzzy rum cakes and winter evenings form a great pair, especially with the Christmas season just around the corner. During the winter festive season, rum cake is often served hot.
With its rich flavor, fall spices, and alcohol-soaked dried fruits, winter evenings become cosy and comfortable.
Known for its moist, chewy texture and a complex flavor profile, rum cake makes winter evenings more enjoyable.
The rich, dense cake features rum-soaked dried fruits, nuts, and fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, along with clove and ginger. Soaking the dried fruits, nuts, orange peels, and tutti frutti in rum enhances the signature flavor of the cake. Rum often extends the shelf life of a cake by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Credit goes to its high ethanol content.
The choice of rum to be used is subjective and varies widely based on preferences. The best part is, the rum cake recipes have room for experimentation. For rich and complex flavor, dark or aged rums are popularly used in rum cake recipes, while spiced rums help add more taste to the cakes. This winter, make the evenings more memorable with rum cakes filled with the goodness of nuts, raisins, spices, with a hint of alcohol.
Why Is This Ideal For An Winter Evening?
With every single serving, a slice of rum cake on a winter evening creates a cozy ambience. Whenever in the oven, the kitchen air is filled with the strong aroma of spices infused with rum-soaked fruits and nuts. Be it the flavor and aroma or the ease of the recipe, rum cake is an ideal accompaniment to cold evenings for a number of reasons.
A classic rum cake recipe includes ingredients that are ideal for winter. While rum brings in the signature boozy flavor associated with winter and holidays, the dried fruits are soaked in rum to develop a deep flavor. Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are added to highlight the subtle and comforting notes.
Besides the nitty-gritty of the ingredients, flavor, and taste, often making rum cake is seen as a family activity. Winter festive traditions often come up with something as exciting as a cake mixing ceremony, where the families and friends come together to have a fun time.
Easy Homemade Rum Fruit Cake: Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed dried fruits (raisins, currants, cherries, and dates)
- 1 cup of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans)
- 1/4 cup tutti frutti
- ½ cup candied orange peels
- ½ cup candied ginger
- 2 cups of rum to soak
For the cake
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of orange juice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅓ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅓ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1:
Start by preheating the oven to 180°C. Keep a baking pan ready by lining it with a baking sheet.
Step 2:
Prepare the dry fruit mix by soaking the dried fruits, nuts, candied orange peels, candied ginger, cherries, and tutti frutti in rum for at least 7-8 hours. To prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake, consider adding a little flour to them before soaking.
Step 3:
Use an electric hand mixer to cream the softened butter with brown sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Next, beat in eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and the orange juice as well.
Step 4:
Once the wet ingredients are mixed well, add the dry ingredients such as all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix all of them to form the cake batter.
Step 5:
Combine the prepared fruit mixture with the cake batter and give it a good mix before pouring it into the prepared baking pan.
Step 6:
Bake it for about 70-80 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top layer is browning too quickly, a piece of parchment paper can be placed on it with a hole in the center for the last 15-20 minutes.
Step 7:
Once it is out of the oven, allow the cake to cool completely in the tin. While it is still warm, pour some more rum all over the cake and allow the cake to absorb it for some time before serving. This method is known as ‘feeding’, which makes the cake even moister and extends its shelf life.
Conclusion:
Be it a festive season or not, baking for the loved ones is always a classic love language. With Christmas just s few weeks away, plan for a fun cake mixing ceremony and invite family and friends to simply share the joy of making a rich rum cake together. Cause winter and winter festivities are all about sharing love, joy, and laughter.