Recipe adapted from here
For the cake in the photo, I followed the ingredients in blue and baked in a 7″ square pan
INGREDIENTS for 4 x 6″ round or 1 x 6″ round (ingredients in red) or 1 x 8″ round or 7″ square pan (in blue)
1.3kg dried fruit mix (325g) (650g)
250ml rum, plus more for drizzling (63ml) (125ml-I use more to cover the fruits)
6 Tbs white sugar (1.5 Tbs) (3 T)
12 Tbs evaporated milk (3 Tbs) (6T – I used UHT milk)
560g plain flour (140g) (280g)
2 tsp baking powder (1/2 tsp) (1 tsp)
3 tsp mixed spice (rempah kueh) (3/4 tsp) (1.5 tsp – 1 used 1 tsp cinnamon powder)
1/2 tsp salt (1/8 tsp) (1/4 tsp)
300g walnuts, coarsely chopped (75g) (150g – only threw in leftover pine nuts and walnut about 50g)
500g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (125g) (250g)
350g brown sugar (85g) (175g – I reduce it to 140g)
8 large eggs (2 eggs) (4 eggs)
1 Tbs vanilla extract (1 tsp ) (2 tsp)
For decorating:
125g green glazed cherries, halved (30g) – I use as needed
125g red glazed cherries, halved (30g) – use as needed
100g whole almonds (25g) – as needed
For glazing: 2 Tbs apricot jam (1/2 Tbs) – omitted
METHOD
1. Combine the dried fruit and rum in a bowl and set aside to soak for at least two days at room temperature. (I soaked it for a couple of months until rum dries up (reason simply because I was procrastinating!) then top up with Limoncello to soak a few days. Drain out extra liquid before used. Left over liquid can be used to soak another batch or use it for other baking needs or add into other cakes for flavor)
2. Preheat oven to 150 deg C and line cake pan with parchment paper. Prepare another slightly bigger pan together with enough cardboards to insert around the cake pan.
3. In a small sauce pan, add white sugar and 4/(1)/(2) Tablespoons of water . Bring to a boil and once sugar has started to caramelize, remove from heat and let it cool for a minute before pouring in the evaporated milk (UHT full cream also works). Place the pan back on low heat and stir until small bubbles appear. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. Sift flour, baking powder, mixed spice (rempah kueh) (I used only cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder) and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
5. Add the nuts to the soaked fruits together with 9 Tbs/ (3T)/(5T) of the flour mixture and give it a good stir until evenly distributed. Set aside.
6. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly drizzle in the caramel sauce and the vanilla extract. Add in flour mixture in a few portions and mix on low speed until just combined.
7. Remove the stand mixer bowl with the cake batter and add the fruits mixture. Use a sturdy spatula to fold in the fruits until evenly distributed.
8. Transfer the batter into the cake pan and level the top. Decorate as desired with cherries and almonds. Line the bottom of the bigger pan with a layer of cardboard. Place the cake pan in and insert two layers of cardboards in between the pans. You can wrap the cardboards with wrapping paper if it bothers you.
9. Bake for 2.5 hours at 150C. (I baked on the 2nd lower rack for 2 hours, switched off the oven then tent the cake and left it in the oven until almost cooled because I had to go out) The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Cool the cake slightly before unmoulding (top facing down) onto a baking paper placed on a wire rack. Using a skewer, poke holes into the bottom (now facing up) of the cakes and drizzle 5 to 6 tsp of rum over each cake. Flip them over (now top side up) onto a serving place or cake board. (I omitted this part as I have soaked the fruits for a few months before use).
11. Mix the apricot jam with 1/2 Tbs of water in a bowl and microwave it for 30-40 seconds. Stir in 1 tea spoon of rum or Limoncello and use this to glaze the cake if you wish.
12. Chill in fridge over night before slicing and wrap it well to prevent the cake from drying up. I cling wrapped mine in individual slices and take out a piece to enjoy whenever I want. This way, your cake can last for months in the fridge!
