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Rediff.com  » Getahead » Food » How to make a Chocolate Christmas fruit cake

How to make a Chocolate Christmas fruit cake

By Chef Ranveer Brar
December 22, 2018 09:30 IST
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To make your Christmas celebrations cheerful, Chef Ranveer Brar has created some decadent treats. 

Caramel gingerbread cookies

Photograph: Courtesy ulleo/Pixabay.com

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup Hershey's caramel syrup
  • 1½ cup refined flour
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • ¼ tsp clove powder
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg powder

Other ingredients:

  • ½ cup white chocolate, melted

Method:

  • In a large mixing bowl combine butter, sugar and start beating with a hand blender till soft and creamy.
  • Add Hershey’s caramel syrup and mix again till well combined. Now add in refined flour, baking powder, baking soda and all the spices. Give a nice mix with a spatula till all combined.
  • Dust your hands with refined flour and smooth out dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
  • Take the dough out of refrigerator and sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin. Roll dough to a ¼ inch thickness. Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
  • Line a baking tray with butter paper and pre-heat the oven at 170°C.
  • Cut out cookies with a ginger man cookie cutter or any other desired cutter.
  • Place the cookies 1 ½ inches apart. Bake the cookies in batches. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160°C for 7-10 minutes.
  • Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
  • Decorate the cookies with melted white chocolate.

Chocolate Christmas fruit cake

Photograph: Courtesy Daria-Yakovleva/Instagram

Ingredients:

For soaking:

  • ¾ cup dry fruits and nuts (tutti frutti, cherries, raisins, almonds)
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp rum essence (optional)
  • 2 tsp orange zest
  • 1 tsp candied ginger (optional)
  • ½ tsp cinnamon powder
  • 2 tbsp wheat flour

For cake:

  • 1 cup ragi flour
  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • ½ cup Hershey's cocoa powder
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • A pinch of salt
  • ½ cup Hershey’s chocolate syrup
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup melted butter
  • ¼ cup icing sugar

Method:

  • For soaked fruits, take dry fruits and nuts in a bowl. Pour in orange juice and rum essence. Add in orange zest, candied ginger and cinnamon powder. Mix everything well. Let this rest for 2-3 hours.
  • For the cake, take a bowl and add in all the dry ingredients. Mix well.
  • Now pour in chocolate syrup, milk and melted butter. Combine everything well, ensure there are no lumps in the batter.
  • Toss the soaked fruits with 2 tbsp wheat flour. This keeps the fruits from settling down while baking. Add in the soaked fruits and mix everything well. Batter should be of thick pouring consistency.
  • Line a cake tin with butter paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pour the cake batter in the lined tin. Tap it gently to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35 minutes or until the knife comes out completely clean. De-mould the cake and let it cool down to room temperature. Dust the fruit cake with icing sugar and serve.

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Chef Ranveer Brar