Indulge yourself to a Holiday Treat, loaded with Fruits n Nuts soaked in Rum… an Old fashioned Christmas Fruit Cake aka Kerala Style Plum Cake…! Moist, Rich, and Luscious… just how you would have wished your perfect fruit cake to be… Happy Holidays…!
So, another eventful year is coming to an end with a lot of excitement over the time, and I am here writing my last recipe before the holidays; wrapping up on a sweet note with a Traditional, Old Fashioned Christmas Fruit Cake, aka Plum Cake. With a backdrop of my hometown, Plum cake races me back to my childhood days and memories, as it is a very famous dessert in Kerala, especially during Christmas. I do not know the history behind its origin, but I believe it was the Britishers who brought the original dried fruit variety of the cake to India. A common misunderstanding of the cake going by its name is it being made of the fruit Plum, but actually it refers to its plumped ingredients; the dry fruits which swell up over its soaking period. Funny, isn’t it?
The highlight of this cake is the aroma of the spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg), and the alcohol soaked fruits. The longer the fruits n nuts being soaked, the better it’s flavours. I recommend soaking them for a minimum of 2 days before baking the cake, so that the flavours sum up. This Christmas I started my preparations earlier, and hence got a chance to soak my fruits for a month. You can even keep them for up to 6 months; now that would be heavenly, right?
There is usually no icing on a traditional Christmas cake, but variations with Cream Cheese or Whipped Cream are also popular. The cake is intensely rich and moist and is a perfect balance of sweetness from the smoky caramel syrup and the dry fruits. This cake makes a great addition to your holiday table as a dessert, or as a Christmas gift for your family and friends.
And if you planned to go this year with a non-alcoholic version, check out my Non Alcoholic Christmas Fruit Cake recipe, Trust me…it’s the Best!
Here are a few ingredients options for you before you plan your bake, I highly recommend going through them:
- Dry Fruits varieties: Raisins / sultanas, apricots, dates (seedless), prunes, currants, figs, tutti fruit, glazed cherries, dried unsweetened cranberries.
- Nuts: Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Pistachios, Pecans.
- Soaking liquid (alcoholic): Rum, Brandy, Cognac, Amarula, Baileys Irish Cream.
- Soaking liquid (non-alcoholic): 100% grape juice, apple juice, orange juice, or water.
- Spices: Dry Ginger powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, cardamom.
Enjoy baking, Merry Christmas…!!!
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Indulge yourself to a Holiday Treat, loaded with Fruits n Nuts soaked in Rum… an Old fashioned Christmas Fruit Cake aka Kerala Style Plum Cake…! Moist, Rich, and Luscious… just how you would have wished your perfect fruit cake to be…!
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 6-8 apricots
- 5 dates (seedless)
- ½ cup cashews
- ½ cup almonds
- 1 cup rum (or more)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 cup flour + 2tbsp
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter (1 cup) (softened at room temperature)
- 1½ cup powdered sugar
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- zest of one orange
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp dry ginger powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp rum (from the soaked dry fruits)
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Chop dry fruits n nuts into bite size pieces, and transfer to a dry glass container. Pour the rum into the container and ensure that the contents are completely immersed in it. Place its lid and keep the container tightly closed.
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Soak the fruits for at least 2 days, you can even preserve them up to 6 months; I soaked mine for 4 weeks. Shake the jar every alternative day and keep refilling it with extra rum as the fruits start absorbing it.
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You can use 2 to 2 ½ cups of soaked fruits and nuts while baking a cake.
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For soaking instructions and other tips, refer the notes section below.
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Add the sugar and 1 tbsp water into a pan and heat on a medium flame.
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As the sugar melts, turns golden in color, and bubbles, lower the flame and give it a quick stir. When the color changes to dark brown, switch off the flame and take the pan off the heat.
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Now carefully add the rest of the water a tablespoon at a time and stir. Your dark colored caramel syrup is ready. Keep it aside to cool down, stir in between.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Line a 9 inch nonstick springform pan with parchment paper; on the bottom and and along the sides extending 2 inches above the rim of the pan. Butter the paper thoroughly and set aside.
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Drain the rum soaked fruits and keep the liquid aside for later use. To the drained fruits, add 2 tbsp flour and mix to coat the fruits; this helps preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the cake while baking. Keep aside.
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Separate egg whites and yolks. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, set aside.
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Prepare the dry ingredients by sifting flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.
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In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, this helps to mix it evenly.
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Add egg yolks followed by grated orange zest, vanilla extract, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and dry ginger powder. Beat well.
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Add the cooled caramel syrup, dry ingredients, and the beaten egg whites in two batches, beat lightly until well combined.
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Now add the flour coated dry fruits into the batter along with 2tbsp of the drained rum. Do not beat, instead fold in all the ingredients thoroughly with a spatula. The batter is ready, it will have a slightly thick consistency.
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Pour the batter carefully into the prepared baking pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes.
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Gently run a knife around the edges of the pan and then unlock it. Move the cake to a wire rack keeping the lined parchment paper intact and let it cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar (optional).
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Once cooled you can remove the paper, and the cake is now ready to be served.
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To store, you can wrap the cake in an aluminum foil and keep in an air tight container at room temperature for a week. Refrigerate thereafter.
- Soak dry fruits in alcohol to enhance the flavour. I recommend soaking for at least 48hrs but you may do so for days, weeks, or even up to 6 months. The more it soaks, the better it tastes.
- Chop the fruits to be soaked into bite sized pieces. Use a clean air tight glass container to soak and store. Shake the jar or stir every alternate day as it helps to rehydrate the fruits and not dry out. Fill with extra rum as needed.
- After draining the soaked dry fruits before baking the cake, coat them in a few spoons of flour. This helps the fruits to stick on to the batter while baking and prevents from setting down to the bottom.
- Be cautious while preparing the caramel syrup, the melted sugar is very hot and will boil intensely when water is added. It can burn you if not carefully handled, also ensure to remove the pan from the flame when adding water.
- After removing the baked cake from the pan, allow it sit on a wire rack to cool down at room temperature. Do not remove the parchment paper from the pan when the cake is hot, it might crumble.
- Wrapping the cake in an aluminum foil helps it to retain moisture and prevent drying out.
- You can keep the cake in an air tight container at room temperature for a week. Refrigerate thereafter.
- If you want to make your cake boozy, you can brush the left over drained rum from the soaked fruits over the cake, once it is cooled from the oven. For those who prefer an aged/matured cake, you can bake it in advance and daily brush it with the remaining rum and wrap it back in the foil, until the day of serving / Christmas.
I had no idea that you had in Kerala this kind of cake! But it makes sense to have been brought by the British…
I have never baked this kind of cake, so this seems like the perfect start 🙂
Thank You Makos..Hope you love this recipe:-)
2 sticks of butter is how many cups
1 cup
Hi! I plan to bake this cake. How much is 1 stick of butter in cups or Indian measurements. Thanks
Hello Ekta, 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams.
Thanks. My cake became crumbly. Isthe fruit cake like that only.
Hey Ekta, Sorry to hear that. No, this recipe should result in a moist cake. The only reasons I can think of for your cake turning crumbly are; the ingredients were not properly mixed or it was overbaked. The baking time can slightly vary from oven to oven, so next time do a toothpick test ahead of the bake time and adjust accordingly.
Hi
Whats the total bake time. You wrote one hour and 55-65 minutes. Does it means almost 2 hours of baking?
Hi Raina, sorry for the confusion as it was a typo. The total bake time is usually around 60 minutes but mine took 65 minutes, the variations depend upon your oven. I have corrected the timings in the recipe as well. Thank You for pointing it out.
Hi Akhila
Raiting this recipe again because yesterday even i made a mistake while raiting it and now not able to rectify it. I adjusted the temperature at 170 c and by checking the colour again and again after 45 minutes , i was able to get a perfect 🍰 at 60 minutes. I used a 9 inch loaf pan. I adjusted the sugar level to equalant to flour i.e. one cup and subsituted brown sugar in place of white. Further used wheat flour and results were awesome. Thanks for the reciepe.
Thank You Raina for the wonderful feedback, so glad it came out well. I will have to try it out next time with a wheat flour and brown sugar combination, thanks for the tip.
What do we do with left over rum left from soaked dry fruits.
Hi Pramila, you will first need 2 tbsp of the drained rum to add to the batter as per the recipe. The remaining can be used to brush over the cake once it is baked and cooled, if you like it to be boozy. For those who prefer an aged/matured cake, you can bake it in advance and daily brush it with the remaining rum and wrap it back in the foil, until the day of serving / Christmas. I have added this as an extra point in the Notes section above.
Hi. I really like this recipe and have made it several times. Just curious to know what you think will happen if I substitute butter for ghee in this recipe. I noticed the ingredients in store bought plum cakes have ghee and not butter. I wondered if it would taste more authentic with ghee.
Hey Ziba, I haven’t baked any cakes with ghee yet but I am sure that the flavor would be good. You will have to see how the texture turns out to be, do let me know if you try it out.
Hi Akhila, tried this gorgeous cake recipe for christmas this year. I went the extra mile and fed the cake with more rum every couple days. And I have to tell you, my search for the perfect Kerala plum cake ends here! This is it! It wasn’t too dry, the flavour was great and the ratio of dry fruits to cake was perfect! Absolutely loved it! 😊
Thank you so much Gitanjali for this wonderful feedback. So happy you like it 🙂
Thanks for the recipe..Tried this cake .. turned out super soft , yummy cake..😊😊
I am so glad you liked this Vini..Thank You 🙂
This was the first time i tried baking a plum cake . It came out really good . Thanks to your recipe everybody liked it very much ,especially my in-laws .Only change i did was to use wheat flour .
That’s awesome!! So glad to hear your wonderful feedback. Thank You so much Reshmi 🙂 <3
Hi Akhila!
I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow. Where can I buy all the dry fruits you mentioned?
Also, I have dried plums, can I use them?
Hi Olive, you can buy them from any local grocery store like Walmart, check their Nuts and Baking sections. Tutti Fruti can be found in Indian / Asian grocery stores.
I wouldn’t recommend dried plums though for this recipe.
Hi Akhila,
I tried this recipe and it came out really good. I did use dried plums and used dark brown sugar instead of white sugar.
Question for you – Why we need to beat the egg whites? It seemed such a lengthy process. Also, I’ve sen plum cakes that are darker almost like chocolate cake. Is there a different ingredient that makes it darker?
Thanks so much for all your details. They were very helpful!
Thank You Olive!
Egg whites are whipped separately to enhance cake aeration and rising. This cake will need that as it already has a lot of soaked ingredients which tend to make your cake dense and doughy otherwise.
To make your cake darker, your sugar syrup should be well caramelized to a dark brown shade.
How much do we bake it at? .. Aapne toh bataya Nahi..
Sorry. Amateur cook here
Hi Shaina, please read the recipe Instructions clearly. It is already mentioned under Preparation of Cake -> 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
can we replace eggs with milk?
Nope, This recipe already has a lot of liquid ingredients (rum and caramel syrup) and substituting eggs with milk will increase the moisture content of your cake thereby making it dense and doughy.
My boyfriend is from Kerala and after looking at a few recipes we settled on yours. I am so glad we did because this was literally the best cake I have had in my life! I wasn’t even sure what plum cake would taste like, but when we took it out of the oven it smelled heavenly and tasted even better. We served it to family at Christmas and they instantly devoured it. Thank you so much for sharing this with the world – could not have been happier with the results! We will use this recipe in Christmases to come and look forward to trying out more of your recipes. ❤
Thank You so much Heather, this is the best comment I’ve had so far in 2020! And Thanks again for trying out my recipe and coming back to post your feedback here 🙂
Hi Akhila, wanted to know what other non alcoholic beverage/juice can be used instead of rum.
Thank you
Hi Sanjana,
These are the non alcoholic options – 100% grape juice / apple juice / orange juice to soak fruits.
Hi Akhila
This recipe looks so good ! Can’t wait to try it. All the comments here are so positive too.
I just wanted to ask if it is necessary to refrigerate this cake? I’ve always heard that fruitcakes need not be refrigerated and I personally have never kept any fruit cakes in the refrigerator, I just store them in the pantry covered with foil.
Also wondering if you could put up videos too, your presentation and photography is absolutely stunning,especially for this cake ! 🙂
Hi Jyothsna, in general this cake can stay long without being refrigerated but its shelf life can vary based on the temperature/humidity of the place. I have not tested its expiry, so would not know for sure. I mentioned it in my notes just to be on the safe side.
Videos are on my todo list, hopefully soon 🙂
Hi Akhila,
I just saw your non-alcoholic version of the plum cake. Slight variations compared to this recipe.
However, can I substitute the rum to a fruit juice with this recipe? Will it cause any issues to the flavor or texture?
I am in doubt, since you have two recipes of the plum cake i.e. alcoholic & non-alcoholic.
Meanwhile, your recipes are awesome…foolproof!
Thanks!
Hi Nisha,
Thank you for stopping by and for the feedback 🙂
Honestly I haven’t tried interchanging the recipe, but I am sure adding rum instead of fruit juice is ok. Of course the flavor will be different but it wont affect texture. Hope this helps.
Hi Akhila,
I have started soaking the fruits for this years cake today (3rd year in a row using this recipe) and its about high time I commented I think. This is by far the ABSOLUTE BEST plum cake recipe and trust me, I have tried out quite a few duds! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thats awesome Divya, Thank You so much for posting this wonderful feedback. You made my day <3
Can i use Wine instead of rum/Brandy??
I have provided a list of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic soaking agents in the recipe post. I don’t think wine will work, haven’t tried it out.
Hi. I am in the process of trying out your recipe for the first time. I was wondering what I can use instead of egg. Can you suggest something without losing the texture and taste? Thanks
Seema
Hi Seema, I’m sorry. I have not tried any eggless cakes and so I do not have any recommendations at the moment.
Hi. Would love to try this recipe. A quick qst, should the rum soaked fruits be left outside the fridge at room temperature or should it be stored in the fridge? Would be good to know . Thanks
Hi Shikha, the rum soaked fruits need not be refrigerated and can be left outside at room temperature.
loved the recipe wanna try this Christmas !
What type of rum should be used for soaking fruits? Can this cake be eaten by toddlers?
I’ve used Bacardi Black Rum, but you can also use other black or spiced rums.
The alcohol cooks out once baked and you should be good to give it to toddlers, but do not give them a cake which was made extra boozy by brushing with left over rum after baking (Refer Recipe notes).
Hey, I have never made a plum cake before and wanted to try the recipe.
I was just wondering, won’t the caramel syrup and the sugar make it too sweet? And is there any way I can reduce the sweetness?
Nope, the recipe has been tried and tested by many (refer comments) and the sweetness is apt. If you still want to reduce sugar you may, but I wouldn’t alter the caramel syrup as that adds the color and flavor to the cake as well.
Can we use last year’s leftover drained rum for soaking dry fruits this year?
I wouldn’t recommend that as the you will not get the same flavors when using a fresh batch of rum.
Hi Akhila, I tried out your cake at least thrice and my husband and I loved it. I used wine to soak fruits for the first two times and for the third time I used rum. Rum’s more pungent than wine and especially raisins soak them up quite a bit. I used Bacardi black to soak. Is there a rum that you would suggest? I also wanted to try the non-alcoholic version and have already soaked fruits in grape juice for about a week. There are a couple of questions I wanted to ask regarding that. I noticed that the egg whites weren’t beaten separately in that recipe. Would you still recommend doing that for that cake? Is it because of the orange juice reaction that you don’t beat the whites separately? Furthermore, what kind of brown sugar did you use? You also seem to be using less caramel there. Is it to minimize the overall sweetness?
Thank You Jenny for stopping by and posting your valuable comments, it means a lot to me!
Good to know that you used wine to soak fruits as I have had many asking me if wine works, although I have never tried it.
Yes, Bacardi Black (non-spiced) is what I use for this recipe.
To your questions about the differences with the non-alcoholic recipe, the non-alcoholic version is not an adaptation from my alcoholic one and was shared by a family friend of mine (credits mentioned in the story) which is unique in its own way. I wouldn’t compare both recipes, but trust me… you can follow the non-alcoholic recipe blindly and you would love it.
I use C&H Brown Cane Sugar, but any similar product should do.
Just want to say a big thank you for an awesome recipe…it was my first attempt at a fruit cake and I couldn’t be happier… worth all the effort and ingredients (which I was really apprehensive about at the start, especially if it doesn’t turn out well) that it calls for. The only tweak at my end was not soaking the cashews and almonds along with the dryfruits: this gives a nice crunch.
Wishing you and your family a beautiful Christmas season
Thank You for your trying out my recipe and taking the time to come back and comment 🙂
Wish You and Your Family a Merry XMas!
Fantastic recipe! I made this cake today and it turned out perfect! Thank you so much for such a detailed, well-explained recipe!
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thank you so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays Nima!
Excellent recipe. I soaked the nuts in rum and have been looking for a good recipe.Trid this today . The same taste I used to get in Kerala. Thanks a bunch
Thank You so much Sindhu for trying it out. I am so happy to hear your feedback. Happy Holidays!
Hi,
I tried your recipe several times and most of the times the centre of the cake goes down after i have finished baking. taste wise it’s very good and we all liked it. could you tell me what could be the issue?? Am I doing anything wrong ??
Hi Debrupa, there are multiple reasons why the center of a cake goes down. Some of the common mistakes I’ve seen are; using ingredients (butter, eggs) directly from the refrigerator without bringing them to room temperature, not placing the batter immediately in a preheated oven and allowing it to sit outside idle for a while, opening the oven door multiple times before the completion of bake time to check on the cake, and so on.
Otherwise, I do not see a reason why this recipe has failed, hope it works out next time.
Hi Akhila, thank you for the fabulous recipe- I tried it out last Christmas (my first plum cake ever) and it was a huge hit!
I’m planning on baking it again in a couple of days and don’t have orange zest at the moment (it’s not orange season). Is there a substitute I can use?
Thanks again for sharing this!
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, I am so glad that you enjoyed this recipe Anusha 🙂
You can omit orange zest as it is optional.
Do you post videos of these recipies in any platform?
I can see lots of great comments, but for me I need to know the consistency visually.
Yes, do visit my Instagram handle @pepperdelightblog.
I will be posting a video of this cake in a weeks time.
Hi Akhila,
Thank you for this wonderful recipe.. it tastes really awesome. When I baked this cake following the recipe, the center part of the cake did not rise.. it sort of sank.. the taste however was still very good. Any advice on what I may have done wrong! Thanks and wish you a merry Christmas and happy 2022!
Hi Divya, Happy to hear that you loved the cake and Thank You for stopping by with your feedback!
For this recipe I have seen that happen only when the butter and eggs are still cold and not brought to room temperature properly.
Secondly if sugar is more, for this recipe if caramel syrup is not properly formed and still sugary crystalline.
Wish You too a Merry XMas and a Happy 2022!
Thanks so much Akhila. I will check your notes and definitely try again for sure.. I think i also preheated too long.
I have to say other than the look of my cake 🙂 , it really really is very delicious and we cannot stop eating it 🙂 The best ever recipe.. Thank you soo much..
Just got done with a batch. Amazing recipe. Came out so moist and perfect blend of spices. Thank you for sharing this gem with us Akhila. I used a 12 slot mini loaf pan and halved the baking time. And every piece has a crust around it. My family loved it. The search for Christmas plum cake ends here! Can’t thank you enough!
Thank you so much Sindhu for the wonderful feedback.
Happy Holidays <3
This cake was a great hit here at Christmas 🙂 Froze some left overs and am just having the last piece 🙂 Thanks a bunch!!
Hey Lijina,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!
I cup flour is how much gms 1 cup butter is much gm butter
Everything I need in gms measure
Hello, I have used this recipe for couple of years now. It is always spot on. Thank you for the recipe.
Baked 2 yesterday, turned out awesome 🙂
It will be repeat every Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Hi
Can we use molasses instead of caramel and if so how much would you recommend using.
I am sorry but I haven’t tried molasses for this recipe!
Hi, please let me know if i can use brown sugar for this recipe.. thank you!!! Im eager to try it out
Hi Priya,
I apologize for the delayed reply.
Yes, you can substitute brown sugar in this recipe, the app conversion would be 1 cup brown sugar for 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Hope this helps!
Happy Holidays 🙂
Lovely recipe. The cake turned out just as I expected it to. Thank you for the perfect fruit cake recipe.
Thank You so much Swathy, glad you guys loved it. Merry Christmas <3
Hello Akhila,
I have been baking this cake every Christmas for past couple of years. Thank you a lot for the recipe. This year I am going to use ghee because I ran out of butter and hoping it turns out same as previous attempts.
Ghee sounds like a wonderful substitution, I hope it turned out well. Thank you for stopping by and for your feedback.
Hi Akhila
This is my go to recipe for a boozy plum cake to warm up the winters a tad bit. Baked it first during the covid lock down times and it was a raging hit. Baked it a couple more times and it always turned out amazing. Missed baking it last year though. But this year, the fruits were soaked in rum, in early Nov. Intending to buy an oven, I was sure I’d be baking this for Christmas. Long story short, the oven has still not been bought and yesterday night, the baker in me took charge. Baked this in a pressure cooker. Took 65 mins of baking and the house smelt heavenly.
The cake, oh my God!!!! It’s divine. I wish I could post a pic.
So thankyou for a winner of a recipe. God bless and a happy new year!!! ❤️
Awesome!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! xx