Monday, December 22, 2014

Buttermilk fruit cake




Buttermilk fruitcake is a delicious cake that can be prepared even at a short notice. It is nicely moist, loaded with raisins and dates and flavored with aromatic spices. Most of all it is eggless.
Last year during Christmas , I had posted a recipe on Easy Fruit cake. This year , I wanted to try something on similar lines but eggless. I tried this recipe and we all liked it so much that baked another loaf soon after. This cake tastes well with your morning coffee. This is also my entry to the second segment of the Blog Hop event.


This is how you too can make this cake...


INGREDIENTS:
  • All purpose flour / Maida : 200 grams ( 1 1/2 cups)
  • Pitted dates : 1/2 cup packed (90 grams)
  • Sugar : 2/3 cup ( 130 grams)
  • Salt : 1/4 tsp
  • Allspice powder : 1 tsp
  • Nutmeg powder : 1 tsp
  • Cinnamon powder : 1 tsp
  • Baking soda : 1 tsp
  • Unsalted Butter : 1/2 cup (113 grams)
  • Butter Milk : 1 cup (240 ml) (I used store bought)(Buttermilk should be at room temperature)
  • Pure Vanilla Extract : 1/2 tsp
  • Green raisins : 1/2 cup (65 grams)
  • Golden raisins : 1/2 cup (65 grams)

PROCEDURE:


  • Preheat the oven to 325 F (165 C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour or use a nonstick baking spray on a 9 inch x 5 inch x 3 inch loaf pan.

  • Put 1/2 cup (65 grams) of flour on a cutting board and chop the dates. The flour prevents the dates from getting too mushy. The dates should be well covered with the flour.


  • Put the flour-date mixture into a big mixing bowl. Also add the remaining flour (135 grams), salt,spices (allspice powder, nutmeg powder and cinnamon powder) baking soda and sugar. Mix .
  • Whisk melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla extract.

  • Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the raisins too. Mix until everything is well incorporated. Pour this batter into the prepared loaf pan.




  • Place the loaf pan in the baking sheet and bake for 50-55 minutes. The cake is ready when it starts to pull away from the sides and the toothpick  inserted in the center comes out clean.Remove from the oven and place it on the cooling rack.
  • After about 15-20 minutes, you can remove the cake from the pan .
 
  • Slice and serve .  The slices come out perfect if the cake has cooled down

.Notes: This cake has been adapted from a recipe by Stephanie Jaworski. I have followed the recipe to the most part.The only change is the omission of currants from the recipe. 

18 comments:

  1. Lovely one Subha, and you have nicely presented. I really want to try all these recipes as I also love baking.

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    1. Ty Jayashree!! Do try it.. as i mentioned I love baking .. though was abit scared in the beggining but now its like therapy for me:) Happy baking dear:)

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  2. Use of butter milk makes this recipe very unique. I can get a whiff of all the girgeous spices that has gone into this super delicious cake. This pictures are making it so difficult to resist. Shubha you are indeed an expert baker and I refuse to accept your version of being a new baker who us still learning. If you bring out such awesome looking dishes being new I can't imagine what you will be putting forth as a pro. Overall you have won my heart over with both your posts. Kudos dear.

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    1. Ty Hun!! I was very scared about the whole baking thing when i had entered the world of baking.. but slowly started falling in love with it.. Still have miles to go.. I am planning to join a cake decoration class ..lets see :) Ty so much for kindest words.. Means alot:)

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  3. Love these Double decker dhamaka...one the short bread and other....these fruit cakes....lovely

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  4. egg-free, alcohol free yet perfect moist texture with the fruits spread through the cake - excellent! very festive lloking pictures too :)

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    1. Ty so much Anu.. we had just set up the Christmas tree few days back.. So thought about using it in the pictures:)

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  5. Lovely fruit cake dear. Looks so moist and soft. I have never prepare it at home. I am amazed to see how perfectly you have made it. Very nice clicks too. Well done shuba. :)

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  6. Hello,
    Can u tell me what is all spice powder.

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    1. Hi,
      Thanks for dropping by!! Allspice is also called Jamaica pepper or myrtle pepper or pimenta pepper..
      Allspice is the dried, unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, an evergreen tree in the myrtle family. After drying, the berries are small, dark brown balls just a little larger than peppercorns.
      Allspice is pungent and fragrant. It is not a blend of "all spices," but its taste and aroma remind many people of a mix of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
      I used allspice powder from the brand Mccormick

      http://www.mccormick.com/Spices-and-Flavors/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices/Allspice-Ground
      You click on the link above to see the product i used..
      Hopefully this answers your question:)
      Thanks ,
      Have a nice day!!


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  7. Hi Shubha,
    A very good morning dear!
    As Piyu said, you are very good in baking department too, as all recipes posted till today are excellent in presentation and best narrated. Most important it is very very difficult to click images and prepare cake together as both hands are busy in the process, if not very buttery, and handling camera is very difficult thing. You need helping hand to click images..

    Baking not only needs expert knowledge abt subject,but very very important qualification needed in baking is our Patience.. then only you can able to create such wonderful recipes..So you score high in this department too..

    My kitchen is very compact and OTG is not yet placed , so i find it very difficult to think abt baking..
    I have national microwave with convection and grill cooking, but that don't give good result.

    Your all recipes are pinned, and these recipes help me a lot in future,

    Thank you so much Shubha, have a good day..:)

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  8. Dear Deepa,
    Thank you so much for those words of appreciation:)yes clicking the pictures of the step by step pictures gets tricky at times( the times when u see my hand in action in the pics) thats when i take H's help. ..
    Very correctly said.. baking is all about patience and accuracy.. Until a few years ago, I would shy away from baking but once i started it was no looking back... it actually works as therapy for me .. it calms me down.. i know it sounds silly... but that is a fact in my case:)
    Thanks alot for pinning my recipes.. i will be glad if i could be of some help
    Have a good evening:)
    Shubha

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  9. A beautiful looking cake, Shubha, I can just imagine how the buttermilk lends not only moisture but a lovely tangy depth to the cake. It's definitely our choice of ingredient when baking, especially eggless recipes. I love that you are using allspice and not mixed spice!

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  10. Oh, amazingly tempting. Please, I would love to tuck into one.

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  11. Spectacular cake dear... Love the idea and perfect presentation.

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  12. Scrumptious looking cake dear ...I too love using buttermilk to get the perfect moist cake..so perfect for the holiday season.....Happy holidays!!

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