Ghee sounds like a wonderful substitution, I hope it turned out well. Thank you for stopping by and for your feedback.

Awesome!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! xx

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!!! ❤️

Thank You so much Swathy, glad you guys loved it. Merry Christmas <3

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 🙂

I am sorry but I haven’t tried molasses for this recipe!

It will be repeat every Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Hey Lijina,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!

Thank you so much Sindhu for the wonderful feedback.
Happy Holidays <3

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..

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!

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!

Yes, do visit my Instagram handle @pepperdelightblog.
I will be posting a video of this cake in a weeks time.

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.

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.

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 ??

Thank You so much Sindhu for trying it out. I am so happy to hear your feedback. Happy Holidays!

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 for your trying out my recipe and taking the time to come back and comment 🙂
Wish You and Your Family a Merry XMas!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful Christmas season

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.

I wouldn’t recommend that as the you will not get the same flavors when using a fresh batch of rum.

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.

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).

Hi Shikha, the rum soaked fruits need not be refrigerated and can be left outside at room temperature.

Hi Seema, I’m sorry. I have not tried any eggless cakes and so I do not have any recommendations at the moment.

Seema

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.

1 cup

Thats awesome Divya, Thank You so much for posting this wonderful feedback. You made my day <3

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!

2 sticks of butter is how many cups

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.

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 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 🙂

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 Sanjana,
These are the non alcoholic options – 100% grape juice / apple juice / orange juice to soak fruits.

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 🙂

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.

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!

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.

Hi Shaina, please read the recipe Instructions clearly. It is already mentioned under Preparation of Cake -> 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

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.

That’s awesome!! So glad to hear your wonderful feedback. Thank You so much Reshmi 🙂 <3

I am so glad you liked this Vini..Thank You 🙂

Thank you so much Gitanjali for this wonderful feedback. So happy you like it 🙂

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.

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.

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.

Thanks. My cake became crumbly. Isthe fruit cake like that only.

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.

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 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.

Whats the total bake time. You wrote one hour and 55-65 minutes. Does it means almost 2 hours of baking?

Hello Ekta, 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams.

Thank You Makos..Hope you love this recipe:-)