Bake your cake and eat it too, this Christmas!
The Hindu
Food fads come and go but plum cakes remain an eternal favourite of the season. A few home bakers share their secrets...
Love them or lump them, plum cakes are as ubiquitous as carols, candy cane and Christmas trees this season. Whether they are rich, moist offerings that exude a heady aroma when unwrapped or the crumbly kind masquerading as the real deal, there is no escaping a slice wherever you go.
Every baker has their signature secret where plum cakes are concerned, but they all agree on one thing — the longer you soak the dry fruits the better! While it may seem stupendous to those who believe in ready batter mixes, the serious baker keeps dry fruits soaked for up to a year; sometimes even longer.
Srivatsan Sriram of Sri’s Cake Lab in Bengaluru says he keeps dry fruits soaking for at least six months. “I follow a 90-year-old recipe from a close family friend and it is amazing. I use almost 11-12 kinds of dry fruits including pecans, almonds, black currants, candied orange and lemon peels in my cakes,” says Srivatsan, who is preparing Grinch-themed plum cupcakes this year, apart from rich plum cakes and almond iced plum cakes.
“I’ve never even been to these places before,” she laughed, “and suddenly I have memories in all of them.” The dates, she added, were genuinely good — long walks, easy conversations, and meals that stretched late into the evening — and the best part was that none of it felt heavy. The boys she met are all planning to visit her in Mumbai soon, not under without any pressure but with a sense of pleasant continuity. “I’m great,” she said, and she meant it.
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