Christmas Cake with Dried Fruits

Ingredients

• 50 g dried apricots
• 50 g dried plums
• 50 g Raisins
• 100 ml rum
• butter (for the pan)
• flour (for the pan)
• 200 g butter
• 180 g brown sugar
• 1 untreated orange (zest)
• 1 pinch salt
• 4 eggs
• 225 g flour
• 100 g ground hazelnuts
• 50 g chopped almonds
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 100 ml milk
• powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Coarsely chop the apricots and plums and soak them with the raisins in rum for at least 2 hours.

2. 2.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) with upper and lower heat. Grease a springform pan with butter and dust it with flour.

3. 3.

   Beat the butter with sugar, orange zest, and salt until creamy and no longer gritty. Separate the eggs; fold each yolk in one at a time. Mix the flour with nuts, almonds, and baking powder, then alternately stir in milk. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the batter. Drain the soaked fruits, let them dry, and fold into the mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake for about 45 minutes (test with a skewer).

4. 4.

   Remove the cake from the oven, allow it to cool, carefully release it from the pan, and let it chill completely on a wire rack.

5. 5.

   For decoration, place a pastry torch over the cake and dust powdered sugar. Gently remove the torch after use.