Christmas Fruit cake

Ingredients:

• Butter - 100gms
• Ghee - 125gm
• Fine grain brown Sugar - 1.5cups
• Egg yolks - 4nos.
• Vanilla essence - 1tsp.
• Sugar - 4tblsp (to caramelize)
• Mixed dry fruits – 500gms (dates, raisins, currents, cherries, mixed fruits, orange peels, apricot, ginger candy etc)
• Cashew nuts - 100gm
• Brandy/Rum/Wine - 1/2cup
• Cake flour/ Maida - 2 cups.
• Baking powder - 1/2tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4tsp
• Milk - 1/4cup
• Egg white - 4nos.

Procedure:

•  Chop all dry fruits and cashew nuts finely and soak them in Rum/Brandy in a clean dry bottle for minimum one week. Lnger it is soaked, tastier it is.. 
• On the day of baking the cake, steam the dry fruits for 10 minutes and allow the fruits to cool completely.
• Heat 4tblsp sugar in a pan shaking continuously. When it becomes dark brown add 1cup hot water and stir until it becomes thick.(this can be done a day ahead)
• Sieve together all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda. Toss the steamed cooled mixed fruits in the flour-mix well in a large bowl, so that the fruit is completely coated. Keep aside.
• Cream butter, ghee and sugar; add egg yolks one by one and beat in. Add vanilla essence, caramel syrup and beat well. Add flour-fruits mix slowly alternating with milk to the cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour-fruit mixture. Stir well with spatula to blend uniformly.
• Beat egg whites till stiff . Fold in egg whites in to the cake mixture.
• Pre heat oven to 170C/340F. Line the bottom and sides of cake pans with lightly greased parchment paper. Pour cake batter in to prepared pan. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 1 hours or till a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. (Start checking after 30min if you are using low height cake tin. My cake was cooked in 25 min, i used a very flat cake tin) Cool in pan on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.