Steamed Fruit Cake

Today's post is about the steamed(baked) fruit cake that I made yesterday for my youngest and of course secretly for myself.  This is actually a steamed fruit cake recipe but I don't have my steamer with me and I am lucky that my apartment has a built in oven that is at my dispense so I baked this cake in a water bath and it turned out just like the steamed fruit cake.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (I didn't have any so I used 1 teaspoon of lime juice and added it to the wet ingredients)

1 1/2 cups + 1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 sticks (250gms) salted cold butter

1/4 cup hot water

300 gms mixed fruits

1/2 teaspoon rose essence

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

3 large eggs

Method

1.  Prepare a steamer on rolling boil.

2.  Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar and set it aside.

3.  Add the 1 1/2 cups of sugar into a pot and heat it on low heat.  Let the sugar melt. When 

     the sugar starts to turn yellow, keep a careful watch over the sugar. Let it continue to 

     caramelize until it reaches a nice amber color.  Don't  let the sugar caramelize too much 

     otherwise the caramel will become bitter.  

4.  Once the caramel has reached the nice amber color, carefully remove it from the stove 

     and add in the cold butter. Stir for a few seconds and add it in the hot water. Be careful as 

     the caramelized sugar is very hot and it will splutter when you add the butter and hot 

     water. 

5.  Continue stirring slowly for a about a minute and add the mixed fruits, 1/4 cup of sugar 
      and essences. Stir until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and leave it to cool to 
      room temperature.

6.  Use an electric mixer and beat the eggs until it becomes thick and frothy. Keep it aside.

7.  Once the caramelized sugar and mixed fruits are cool, mix in the flour in and mix until 
      just combined.

8.  Lastly fold in the beaten eggs and mix well. 

9.  Pour into an 8" cake tin lined with grease proof paper. 

10. Grease an aluminium foil and wrap it cover the cake tin with the greased side inside 

       facing the cake batter.  Seal the edges and steam for about 2 to 3 hours or until.

Note:

1.  If you don't have a steamer you can bake the cake in a water bath or bain marie. Just 

     preheat oven to or 300 degrees Fahrenheit or 150 Celcius and place the cake in a tray and      fill the tray with boiling water. Bake for about 21/2 to 3 hours. I used bottom heat only.

2.  If you don't have cream of tartar (which is an acidic agent), you can substitute this with 
     lime juice or even vinegar and add it to the mixed fruits. The acidity reacts with the 
     baking soda and helps the cake to rise.