Christmas Fruit Cake

I remember my dad getting this special fruit cake from the bakeries especially during christmas and new year. They were rich cakes made with dried fruits and nuts and tasted great. I wanted to recreate the fruit cake and this is my attempt to make this delicious exotic fruit cake. It ages well and tastes even better when eaten after about a week.

I made two cakes, we enjoyed one immediately and I have stored the other to be cut on Christmas day!

You can check out last years christmas cake here.

I adopted the recipe from here and I tweaked it a little bit.

Ingredients
Flour - 2 cups
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Brown sugar - 1 3/4 cups
Nuts - 3/4 cup chopped (I used almonds, pecans and walnuts)
Dried fruits chopped and soaked in orange juice - 1 cup (I used dried apricots, dates and raisins)
Orange juice - 1 1/2 cups
Cloves - 3
Oil - 3/4 cup
Eggs - 3 large
Boiling water - 1 cup

Directions
Soak the chopped dried fruits in the orange juice. I soaked them for a day it could be stored in the refrigerator if storing for about a week.

Now starting with the cake preparation,
In a heavy bottomed vessel take the brown sugar and put it on medium heat.

After about six to seven minutes, it starts to melt and caramelize. Take care it does not burn. This should be done in low or medium heat. All the sugar melts and look like this.



Pour the boiling water slowly into this caramelized mixture. Take care because it splutters. Simmer for about 3 minutes until all the caramel dissolves and forms a thick liquid. Allow it to cool completely.

Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add the oil, cooled caramel and eggs and beat together with an electric mixer or using a whisk. Slowly add the flour one cup at a time and beat until combined. Stir in the soaked fruits and nuts and stir until well combined to form the cake batter.

Preheat oven to 190C/375 F.

Pour the batter into a greased baking pan. I used a round cake pan and a loaf pan.

Bake for about 50 minutes until the cake springs back from the pan.

Cool completely on a wire rack. Slice only after it cools completely.

The cake can be allowed to age for a bout a week by wrapping it in an aluminium foil and a cling wrap. It tastes better with time. The cake also freezes well.

Sending this to the following events:
Show Me Your Cake being hosted here in Dil Se..
Desserts, Pastries and Icecreams hosted by Radhika
Cakes and Cookies hosted by Mahimaa
Its time to jingle again hosted by Priyanka

Merry Xmas!!

Sending this to bread mania

Kadalai Paruppu Kuzhambu / Chana dal curry

This is a different version of chana dal curry. It is a variation from the usual dal made using toor dal. This uses split chana dal or kadalai paruppu as called in tamil. It is a very quick one and can be made in a matter of minutes using a pressure cooker. it goes well with rice and any poriyal or kootu or with some appalams/papads.


Ingredients
Chana dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 1 cup
Coconut(grated) - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Sambar powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

For the tempering:
Oil - 1 spoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dhal - 1 teaspoon
Dry red chilli - 1
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Jeera/ Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few

Directions
In a pressure cooker add the washed dal along with the turmeric powder and water enough to cover and cook the dal. Pressure cook for about 3 whistles. Open the pressure cooker add enough salt and grated coconut and simmer for about five minutes.

Meanwhile in a saucepan do the tempering adding all the ingredients one by one. Pour the seasoning over the cooked dhal.


Serve with hot rice.

Sending this to MLLA: Eighteenth Helping hosted by Srivalli and started by Susan

Baked Falafel

This is a healthier version of falafel. I tried baking the falafels in my muffin pan instead of deep deep-frying them. This can make a wholesome meal along with some pita bread and hummus and can be enjoyed without guilt. I got the idea from here

Instead of hummus, I made tzatziki a cucumber-yogurt dip to go long with the falafel. Will post the recipe soon. It was really refreshing and we had a simple and nutritious dinner!


Ingredients

Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans - 1 cup ( to be soaked overnight) or 1 can drained
Onion - 1/2
Fresh Parsley - 1 cup loosely packed
Garlic - 2 cloves
Whole Wheat Flour - 2 tablespoons
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1/4 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Olive oil - 2 spoons
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water. It should double in size. Alternatively, you could use the canned ones. Drain the liquid.
In a blender, add all the ingredients together and blend to form a coarse and chunky mixture.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for half an hour. it would rise a bit.
Take a muffin pan and grease with oive oil or cooking spray.
Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and place in each muffin pan. You can use an icecream scoop for easier shaping. You could also use a cookie/baking sheet instead of the muffin pan alternatively. i used the muffin pan since it gives a good shape to the falafels.
Do not put too much batter in each falafel. Keep it thin so that it turns out crispy.

Bake at 375F in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, flipping the falafels half way through.
In the final two minutes turn the oven to broiling mode in order to get crispy falafels. Take care they do not burn.


Enjoy with pita n hummus!

Sending this to MLLA: Eighteenth Helping hosted by Srivalli and started by Susan

Other middle eastern recipes in my blog:
Falafel (deep fried version)
Hummus
Lavash and Falafel Wrap
Cumin Hummus
Baklava
Piroshki / Pierogi / Potato Pies

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Happy Cooking!!

Show Me your Lunchbox Roundup

Hi everyone! I am here finally with the roundup of the Show me Your lunchbox! event..
Thanks everyone for showing me your lovely lunchboxes. I will never have to think of ideas for lunchboxes hereafter.

Also do send in your cake entries for Show Me your Cake! event..

Sumana








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Check out the roundups of the previous editions..
Show Me Your Breakfast Part I
Show Me Your Breakfast Part II
Show Me Your Sandwich
Show Me Your Omelette