I’m going to keep this blog post short. The idea for this Christmas rum cake actually came from Natasha. We were discussing ideas of how to involve more people during the winter break. Originally, we were in talks with a fairly popular restaurant in Delhi who were interested in selling some desserts from the blog through their chain of restaurants. However, that kind of fell through. Natasha thought of doing a rum soak given how common this tradition of eating a rum cake in the winter is. It's interesting how the tradition comes from Jamaica and has made its way to the rest of the Christian hemisphere - and surprisingly is so popular in India too!

We found so many recipes, each touting to be the best. Some were made without alcohol while others retained the alcohol but let go of the eggs (an omission that still baffles me). After a lot of push from Natasha, I gave in and we decided on running this rum soak. My benchmark for its success was capped at 10 people making this with me. To my surprise over 250 of you shared pictures and reels of their soak and I’m sure there are many more that are taking part in the process. This surge of collaboration has been wonderful to see. It makes the blog more of a living-breathing community than just a fan page where I speak and you follow! So, so happy we are ending the year with this lovely event!

The cake itself isn’t hard to make. A basic creamed butter cake that just has a lot of stuff in it! Most recipes ask for a 3-hour long bake but in our tests, we baked for an hour and 15 minutes and the cake tester came out clean. In an ideal world, you would cover the cake with paper around its circumference to get an even browning on all sides, but I quite like a pale inside to it. Though a traditional cake would be a deep brown on the inside and then fed with rum every day for 10 days but I feel as though our fellow soakers in Gujarat who bootlegged rum from across the border enough for this cake would really revolt. But there you have it! A delicious cake made for us by us. A successful first BakewithLOST event!

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

For the Soak

50g cashews/almonds/walnuts

50g dried cranberries/blueberries

50g dried apricots/prunes

75g raisins/sultanas

2 tablespoons worth of ginger

A stick of cinnamon

2-3 whole star anise

Peels of an orange

150ml dark rum (whiskey or bourbon works well too. For a non-alcoholic version use orange juice or a simple syrup of 75ml water and 75ml sugar that is mixed in a saucepan over a simmer)

An airtight container

For the cake

225 grams Unsalted butter, softened (Salted is fine just omit the salt from the recipe)

225 grams Brown Sugar 1 cup + 1/3 cup

1 cup + 1/4 cup Flour (225 grams)

5 Medium eggs (4 if you’re using large organic eggs) [ 1 cup of yogurt or flax eggs would work well for an eggless option]

Zest of 1 Orange

85 grams of dried fruits (walnuts, almonds, pecans)

2 cups of our Rum Soak

2 tablespoons of Molasses or Honey (please use good quality honey since this is the essential moist maker of the dish)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp star anise powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp ground clove

1/4 tsp allspice (optional)

For the Rum Glaze

1/2 cup icing sugar (60grams)

1/4 cup butter, cubed (45 grams)

2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons rum

Method

Rum Soak

• Shake well and keep in a cool dark space for anywhere from a day to 30 days. The longer the better (a fridge is fine if you live in a warm place).

• That’s it! Now, if you aren’t soaking in alcohol, you can do the same process with simple syrup but only about two days before the bake.

Cake

• Preheat oven to 150 Celsius. And line your baking tin with parchment paper (An 8 or 9 inch cake tin works. I used a 9 inch round tin. You can purchase a tin from my amazon store here. Grease the sides well with softened butter or baking spray.

• Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale, then gradually beat in the eggs followed by the honey, until light and fluffy. If the mix starts to split or look lumpy, add 1 tbsp of the flour and keep beating.

• Sift in the flour, spices and ¼ tsp salt, and fold in using a large spoon. Fold in the orange/lemon zest, nuts, soaked fruit and soaking liquid.

• Spoon the batter into the tin, level the top. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins, or until it has risen, is a dark golden colour and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Put the tin on a cooling rack and leave until warm. The cake is good to be consumed right here! But if you want to make a glaze that just adds some crunch and accentuates some of the flavours in the cake

Rum Glaze

• In a saucepan on medium heat, add all the ingredients and mix well. Pro tip: Sift the icing sugar in. This will reduce clumping. Cook until you get a smooth, mildly thick syrup.

• Pour on a cooled cake and spread. Dust with icing sugar, some rosemary sprigs and enjoy! The cake can stay outside for about one month. Keep refrigerated and serve warmed in a microwave for about 30-45 seconds.