Eggless Plum Cake

How can a Christmas season go without baking a plum cake!!! During December, in Fortkochi, the place where I live now, everywhere it smells sweet plum cake!!! I love the smell and how I used to eat it so much in my childhood days. Now I am a pure vegetarian that I dont want to have the traditional plum cakes where egg is also an ingredient. So I tried making plum cakes without eggs. Most of the attempts failed. This time I tried condensed milk as egg substitute and it worked!!! So here I am sharing with you the recipe of a super tasty eggless plum cake I made this holiday season!!

Eggless Plum Cake
This delicious eggless plum cake is soft, rich and alcohol free. As the dry fruits are not soaked but boiled, the preparation time will take only around 2 hours.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup multicolored tutti fruttis
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup seedless sultanas
- 1/4 cup deseeded and chopped dates
- 1/4 cup chopped cashews
- 1/8 cup chopped glazed cherries
- 150 grams unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup condensed milk
- 1/2 tsp plum essesnce or vanilla essence
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup maida or all purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp cornflour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- a pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/8 tsp clove powder
Instructions
- Add granulated sugar into a heated saucepan and wait till it starts browning
- Once it starts browning slightly stir with a spatula
- After the sugar gets completely melted it will start frothing
- At this point switch off the flame
- Pour 1 and 1/2 cup water into the caramelized sugar (Take care and use a long handled spoon to pour water into the pan, as water may splash suddenly)
- Add into this all chopped dry fruits and nuts and boil for around 5 minutes at low flame
- Allow this to cool to room temperature
- Next beat butter and condensed milk till smooth using an electric beater
- Add in the essence and beat again
- Sieve into this bowl all the dry ingredients
- Add in the dried fruits and nuts in caramelized sugar
- Mix everything well with a spatula
- Pour the batter into two paper/tin moulds of 1/2 kg size
- Top the batter with broken cashews, sultanas and halved cherries
- Meanwhile keep the oven ready with preheated for 10 minutes @ 160 degree celsius
- Bake for 40 minutes @ 160 degree celsius
- Allow to cool completely and cling wrap it
- Consume it on the next day