Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake … warm, spicy, festive!

The quintessential Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake, one I bake every year. Here’s this years version inspired by different recipes from @bbcgoodfood and a bit of my own. Fruit mince from scratch soaked in a gentle mix of orange zest, orange juice, garam masala, whiskey, brandy and rum. Not very potent yet pleasing enough.
Some folk are surprised at garam masala in cake. This was what my mother always used when we were young. Ground cinnamon, nutmeg etc. were unavailable in the local market at the time. Garam masala or warm winter spices made up a heady bouquet, available in all our homes. A new year fruit cake was customary to bake in the armed forces then. I try to keep that tradition going!Each year I promise I’ll get the cake done in time, each year promising my self that I won’t procrastinate. Each year I fall back. This year too. Well, to my credit, I soaked the fruit in November and was walking on the moon! Aaaaaaand slowly, the clock ticked away, and soon it was December! Time to panic, yet I did only get the tins lined after Cocoka nudged me. Big time!So, three days ago I quickly got into baking mode, or rather Christmas Fruit Cake baking mode. Dug into recipes, ideas for last minute cakes, inspiration for here and there. Finally came up with this, inspired largely from a recipe on BBC Good Food, then a bit of my own.The hero of the cake is of course garam masala, my secret ingredient which makes the cake what it is. Strong warm spices that marry the cut fruit, languish in heady spirits, sweet fresh orange juice, some zest too. The end result is flavourful and so good!Look how beautiful the Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake looks! And I did have some soaked fruit leftover too. Watch this space to see what I used it for. Until then, here’s the recipe for the Garam Masala Fruit Cake. Maybe make it for New Year like my mother always did?

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Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake

The quintessential Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake, one I bake every year. Fruit mince from scratch soaked in a gentle mix of orange zest, orange juice, garam masala, whiskey, brandy and rum. Not very potent yet pleasing enough.

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cake

Ingredients

Fruit Mince

• 800 g fruit {currants, raisins, candied ginger, candied orange peel, dried cranberries, dried blueberries}
• 2 tbsp garam masala
• 150 ml brandy, whiskey, rum
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 1 orange

Fruit Cake Batter

• 225 g butter room temperature
• 200 g brown sugar
• 4 tbsp caramel {made from 4 tbsp sugar then 1 tbsp water added later}
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 200 g all purpose flour
• 100 g whole almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150 g walnuts finely chopped
• 180 g cashews finely chopped

Instructions

Fruit Mince

• Chop candied ginger and orange peel in food processor. Place in a large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients for mincemeat.
• Mix to coat well. Clingwrap tightly and sit in a cool place for about a week. If it is warm, you can place the sealed bowl in the fridge {Remove a few hours before you plan to bake the cake}

Fruit Cake

• Line one large 8" deep tin or 1 7" round tin + 1 mini loaf pan + 1 3" small round tin with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven to 150C.
• Place the flour, almonds and baking powder in the jar of a processor. Process until the almonds are ground fine. Reserve.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk the butter and brown sugar on medium speed till smooth, 5-6 minutes.
• Whisk in the eggs one by one, followed by the caramel and vanilla bean paste.
• Once well blended, stir in the flour mix and chopped nuts.
• Transfer batter to prepared tins, and bake for about 2.5-3 hours, until done.
• As soon as they come out of the oven, pour oven about a cup of mixed red wine, brandy and rum {optional}
• Allow to cool completely, then cover with clingwrap and leave in a cool place. Slice only once cool.
• You could feed the cake a couple more times if you like.