Eggless Plum Cake

Ingredients

• 35 grams chopped raisins, kishmish
• 50 grams tutti frutti
• 35 grams cranberry, chopped
• 35 grams prunes, chopped
• 25 grams apricot, chopped
• 15 grams almonds, chopped
• 15 grams cashew nuts, chopped
• 10 grams walnuts, chopped
• 10 gms chironji
• 200 ml apple juice
• 200 ml water
• 50 grams salted butter, softened
• 125 grams brown sugar
• 50 grams oil
• 200 grams curd
• 150 grams maida, all purpose flour
• 25 grams almonds, ground to a fine powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 2 tablespoons halved cashews
• 2 tablespoons tutti frutti

Steps

1. In a saucepan, take apple juice and water and bring to a boil. Add chopped dry fruits and nuts and cook for 8-10 minutes on low heat till the dry fruits absorb all the juices. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 9 inch round cake tin with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugar until they lighten in color & become fluffy & creamy, preferably using an electric whisk. See note 2
4. Add oil and curds & whisk further to get a fluffy mixture.
5. Use a sieve to sieve all the dry ingredients into the bowl – maida, almonds powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder.
6. Gently fold in dry ingredients and mix until it’s just combined and there are no large flour pockets in the batter. Do not over mix at this stage.
7. Add the cooked dry fruits and gently fold into the batter without over mixing.
8. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and top with halved cashews & tutti frutti.
9. Bake at 160C for 50-60 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for an hour & serve.