Mincemeat Cake

Last year I had soaked dried fruits in homemade fresh black grape juice and also in spice infused tea decoction. Using that I had made a couple of fruitcakes too. My family is not a big fan of these fruit cakes and I end up distributing everything that l bake. So, this time, I decided not to soak the dried fruits. Instead I made mincemeat using lot of dried fruits and candied orange peel

and zest and spices. The mincemeat tasted quite sweet and flavourful. I made a small batch of mincemeat pie and used some of the remaining in this mincemeat cake.

This cake is almost like any fruit cake made during Christmas. It’s loaded with roasted nuts and mincemeat. The dark treacle gives it a beautiful colour and the cake tastes quite delicious. Feel free to use any nuts of your choice. A few tablespoon of applesauce can be added as an egg substitute and this will help in binding the cake. Or you may even use a mashed boiled potato. Once the cake is out of the oven, you can brush it with a simple sugar syrup and this will help to keep the cake moist. Or alternatively, one may keep a bowl of water in the rack below the cake tin and the steam developed during baking will keep the cake moist.

Better to use a weighing scale for more accurate measurements. If you like your cake to be very sweet, you can add upto 100 gram of sugar. Using a dark brown sugar will enhance the colour of the cake.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 200 gm
• Salt a pinch
• Butter 75 gm
• Baking powder 3/4 tsp
• Baking soda 1/2 tsp
• Spice mix 1/2-1 tsp
• Mincemeat 150 gm
• Brown sugar 50-70 gm
• Treacle 3 tbsp
• Black tea 3 tbsp
• Dry nuts 75 gm
• Orange zest 1/2 tsp
• Lime zest 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven at around 150-160 degree for atleast 10 minutes.
• Grease a loaf tin with butter and line the base with parchment paper. I have used a 9 by 4 inches tin.

• Toast the almond, cashew and walnuts till it’s a bit crunchy.
• Chop it into small bite size pieces.
• Sieve the flour, salt, spice powder and rising agents for 2-3 times.

• Beat the sugar and butter along with the treacle till it’s light and creamy.

• Add the mincemeat and mix gently.

• Slowly fold in the flour adding the black tea decoction in between. Start and end with the flour in batch of three or so.

• Now add the chopped dry fruits and fold gently. Do not overmix.

• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and smoothen the top with an offset spatula.

• Arrange the cashew nuts in a desired manner.

• Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes or more till a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Take the tin out of the oven and cool for 4-5 minutes.
• Transfer the tin onto a wire rack and cool completely.

• Slice the cake only after its fully cooled. Use a sharp knife.

• You can brush some sugar syrup on the cake if you wish.

Notes:

• Keep a bowl of water below the rack containing the cake tin. The steam will help the cake to remain moist.
• This cake can be baked in an eight inch round cake tin too.