Ingredients

• Rum - 1/4 bottle
• Cherries - 250 g
• Raisins- 250 g
• Ginger - 250 g
• Tutti-Frutti - 250 g
• Dates - 250 g
• Apple, Orange peels - 250 g
• Butter - 1.5 kgs
• Sugar - 1.5 kgs
• Flour - 1.75 kgs
• Egg - 2 dozen
• Baking powder - 3 tsps
• Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• For cake masala: Shahi jeera 10 g,
• Nutmeg - 1/2, Cinnamon - 10 g, Cardamom - 10g
• For caramel: 100 g - sugar
• Some water

How to Make Traditional Goan Christmas Cake

• Prep work begins one (even six) month in advance:
• Stone the raisins and dates. Cut them along with the other fruits and peels into small pieces.
• Soak everything in rum, along with the cake masala. Let it marinate until it is time for baking, which may be a couple of days before Christmas.
• To prepare the caramel:
• Take sugar, add 1/2 cup water and place it on the flame. When the sugar turns brown, keep adding a little water a few times until it gets a rich dark brown colour.
• Take off the flame and mix in the cake mixture.
• To prepare the cake tray:
• Grease the base and sides of the tray with butter.
• Sprinkle and dust with flour to cover the greased sides and base, by holding the tray and turning it around.
• To prepare the cake mix:
• Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
• Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs.
• Add one yolk at a time to the butter-cream and whip till well blended.
• Beat the egg whites stiff and keep aside.
• Sieve the baking powder, salt and flour together.
• Flour the fruit mixture slightly (to avoid sinking). Add this to the cake mixture.
• Gently fold in the flour, vanilla essence and egg whites. Mix in the caramel.
• Add two tbsps of warm milk, if necessary, to get a dropping consistency.
• To bake:
• Pour the mixture into the greased cake baking trays.
• Bake at 350 degrees F in a moderate oven for about 1 hour, till the cake is done.