Dad and Steamed Fruit Cake

Hey Dad, this post is dedicated to ya. Though you don't have a faintest idea.
So, one day I decided to make steam a fruit cake, using a recipe I saw in Mum's recipe book (bet there are more gems inside). It called for me to 'fry' sugar! FRY?! Yup. Fry.


This recipe was originally from Dad's Malay colleague. I quartered the recipe, and tweaked it abit. Here you go! To tell the truth this fruit cake owes alot to Dad. I had absolutely no idea how to fry sugar and even wrote down the wrong ratio of sugar. Thank goodness Dad wanted to bake with me.



And when this rock bent this...

[picture taken after I tried bending it back btw]

and became this...


Dad to the rescue!


This time we got it right.


Okay, anyway, after saying so much about 'frying' sugar, this is actually the last step. You pour this thing warm into the batter. Weird instructions right? That's why I wanted to bake this in the first place.



It didn't look promising at first. (Looked like mud) But it got rave reviews from everyone! I guess the 'fried' sugar worked after all.



Steamed fruit cake
150g all-purpose flour
125g butter, softened but still cool
2 eggs
50g icing sugar
100g mixed fruits
60g granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon orange essence

Butter a 2lb/8X4- inch loaf tin, including the sides.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and icing sugar until white. Add the eggs and beat well, until incorporated.

Sift flour into another bowl. Add mixed fruits, cream of tartar and baking soda to the sifted flour. Combine.

Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture bit by bit, beating after each addition, then add orange essence. Beat until just incorporated.

In a small saucepan over low CORRECTION- medium-low heat, stir the sugar constantly with a wooden spatula until it becomes a thick brown liquid, about 10min. Remove from heat, and, stirring constantly but not vigorously to prevent it from hardening, pour into the batter.

Stir well by hand with a spatula. Pour into prepared loaf tin and smooth the batter.

Steam for about 1 hour over medium heat until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.