CHRISTMAS RUM AND RAISIN CAKE



500 grams refined flour or Maida
300 grams soft brown sugar
100 grams powdered white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons spice powder
1teaspoon nutmeg powder
200 grams chopped black currants
200 grams chopped raisins
100 grams chopped sultanas
100 grams chopped orange / lemon peel
100 grams chopped cherries
500 ml Rum or Brandy
250 ml Wine
500 grams butter
4 eggs beaten well
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon almond essence

Mix all the dried fruit together and soak in rum / brandy and wine for at least a month. When required drain and keep aside. Reserve the leftover rum.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Dust the soaked fruit / peel with a little flour.
Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar well. Add the beaten eggs, almond essence and vanilla essence and mix well. Add the orange / lemon peel and dried fruits, nutmeg powder and spice powder and mix thoroughly. Slowly add the flour and fold in well. If the mixture is too thick add a little milk. Pour into a greased and papered baking tins or dishes and bake in a slow oven for about one hour or more (or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean). Remove from the oven when done. Prick the cake with a toothpick and pour the remaining rum over it.
Remove from the tin when cold and wrap tightly in foil or waxed paper and keep in an airtight container for the cake to absorb the rum.
Just before serving, heat for a minute in a microwave oven and pour some more rum on the cake while hot. Tastes delicious!!!!!

KALKALS


KALKALS
Ingredients
I kg refined flour or maida
6 eggs beaten well
2 cups thick coconut milk
½ teaspoon salt
300 grams sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Oil for deep frying
Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together. Add the coconut milk and eggs and knead to a soft dough. Keep aside for an hour. Form kalkals by taking small lumps of the dough and roll on the back of a fork or a wooden kalkal mould, to form a scroll. Alternately, roll out the dough and cut into fancy shapes with kalkal or cookie cutters. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry as many kalkals as possible at a time. Keep aside.
To ice the kalkals, melt 1 cup of sugar with ½ cup of water and when the sugar syrup crystallizes pour over the kalkals and mix well. Store in airtight boxes when cold.

ROSE COOKIES

ROSE COOKIES
Ingredients

½ kg refined flour or maida
250 grams rice flour (optional)
1 cup coconut milk
200 grams sugar
6 eggs beaten well
½ teaspoon salt
1 litre oil for frying
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix all the ingredients together to form a smooth slightly thick batter.
Heat oil in a deep pan till it reaches boiling point. Now place the rose cookie mould into the oil to get hot. When the mould is hot enough dip it half way only into the batter and put it back immediately into the boiling oil. Shake the mould to separate the cookie from it. Heat the mould again and repeat the process. Fry rose cookies till brown. Continue in this way till the batter is finished.

Note: The batter will stick to the rose cookie mould with a hissing sound only if it is sufficiently hot otherwise it will just slide off the mould