Everyone, whether kids or adults, eats fruit cake with great pleasure because it is very tasty. Fruit cake prepared by mixing dry fruits, nuts, tutti frutti, etc. It’s often the centerpiece of festive occasions.
We do a lot of planning to make our special day more beautiful and memorable. If there is a fruit cake along with decorations and gifts on your special day, it is a different thing altogether, it adds color to the atmosphere. Making a fruit cake is very easy, anyone can easily make it with the simple steps.
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Here, we will discuss a complete guide for baking a rich fruit cake recipe at home. You will also know common fruit cake baking mistakes to avoid and popular variants of fruit cake recipes.
Behind the Layers: The Story of Fruit Cake Recipe:
The history of fruit cake in the world is not today’s but is centuries old. Although it originally started in countries like England and Europe, currently people of every country make it in their homes and eat it with great fondness.
According to the traditional fruit cake recipe, it was prepared by mixing fruits, nuts, spices, and alcohol and could be stored for months. Gradually, it started being made on festivals like Christmas and New Year.
Must-Have Ingredients for Fruit Cake Recipe:
To make a fruit cake, you must have a sufficient amount of basic ingredients. Only then can you make the cake tasty and spongy.
Here are the must-have ingredients for fruit cake recipe you need while preparing it-
1. Best Dry Fruits and Nuts for Fruit Cake
Dry fruits and nuts play an important role in making fruit cake delicious. This gives a rich flavor to the cake. You can mix dry fruits like raisins, tutti frutti, dates, and figs. You can make your fruit cake more delicious by using nuts like walnuts, almonds, pistachios, etc.
2. Spices That Add Depth to Fruit Cake
Spices are very important to add depth to the fruit cake. For this, you can add powders of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves ginger, etc. These provide fragrance to the cake and are very beneficial in winter.
3. Flour, Sugar, and Fats for Cake Base
Flour, sugar, and fats mean butter is used to prepare the base of fruit cake. Along with this, we also use eggs in fruit cake. For eggless cake, curd and condensed milk are used in place of eggs.
Step-by-Step Fruit Cake Recipe for Beginners:
Making fruit cake for beginners is a little more difficult than usual but with the help of the right recipe and step by step process, you can prepare it easily.
Here is the step-by-step fruit cake recipe for beginners-
1. How to Soak Dry Fruits the Right Way?
To soak dry fruits properly, cut and keep them in a bowl. After this, add brandy or orange juice to it. Now keep it in the fridge for 24 hours or more. This keeps the moisture in the cake intact and the flavour is quite strong.
2. Preparing the Batter Without Overmixing
While preparing the fruit cake batter, do not over-mix. For this, mix the butter and sugar well and add eggs one by one slowly. After this, sift the flour, spices, and baking powder and add it to it. Keep mixing it till it is mixed well and now add dry fruits. In this way, you can prepare the cake batter well.
3. Correct Baking Time and Temperature
Before putting the fruit cake in the oven, preheat the oven to 150-160°C. Now before putting the cake batter in the bowl, grease it with oil. After this, pour the batter into the bowl and bake it for 60-90 minutes. Keep testing the cake with the help of a toothpick in between and take it out when it is completely baked.
4. How to Cool, Store, and Wrap Fruit Cake?
After removing the fruit cake from the oven, let it cool for 15-20 minutes. When it cools completely, wrap it with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. After this, you can easily store it in an air-tight container for a week. You can also keep it in a deep freezer for several months.
Common Fruit Cake Baking Mistakes to Avoid:
Small mistakes during baking can give bad results due to which the cake is not prepared properly. Therefore, before baking a cake, it is important for us to know about those mistakes so that we can avoid them.
Here are the common fruit cake baking mistakes you should avoid –
1. Overbaking and Dryness
While making fruit cake, we sometimes overbake it, due to which dryness starts appearing in the cake. Therefore, always check the temperature with an oven thermometer. Do not bake the cake more than necessary, otherwise the moisture of the cake may disappear.
2. Fruit Sinking to the Bottom
While making fruit cake, apply a little flour on the fruits and mix it in the batter. Due to this, they do not sink to the bottom and the fruits are evenly spread along with the batter.
3. Cracking and Crumbling Issues
Overmixing the fruit cake batter fills it with air, due to which the cake cracks and crumbles. Cracks can also occur due to the oven being too hot. Therefore, take the right measurements and bake the fruit cake at the right temperature.
Popular Variations of Fruit Cake Recipe:
At present, many variations of cakes are available, which you can prepare at home. The taste of all these cakes is completely different. Here are the popular variations of fruit cake recipe you must know-
1. Eggless Fruit Cake Recipe at Home
To make an eggless cake, you have to use curd and condensed milk instead of eggs. After this, prepare the consistency of the batter of orange juice or milk and keep it separately. Now mix the correct proportion of baking soda and baking powder in a vessel. After this, prepare the entire mixture and bake it. In this way, you can make eggless fruit cake.
2. Alcohol-Free Fruit Cake for Kids
To make an alcohol-free fruit cake, soak the dried fruits in orange juice or apple juice. After this, you can easily prepare this cake with the normal process. It is very healthy for children. It does not contain spices. It is sweet in taste and children like it a lot during the festive season.
3. Christmas Fruit Cake with Spices and Nuts
While making Christmas fruit cake, we use plenty of spices, nuts, and brown sugar in it. It is prepared a few months in advance by soaking the fruits in brandy. People enjoy it a lot during Christmas.
Conclusion:
Baking is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you are interested in it, you can learn professional cake baking. You can also give your hobby of baking the form of professionalism. Here we have discussed all the aspects of the Fruit Cake Recipe in detail so that you can prepare an aromatic and delicious fruit cake.
Everyone loves homemade fruit cake. You can prepare it at home with simple ingredients without any help. On the day of the festival or special function, you can prepare traditional fruit cake for your family, friends, and relatives and share it with everyone.
Learn baking from Cake Baking Classes in Delhi and fulfill your dreams. Good Luck!