Steamed Fruitcake and Carrot Cake

[ColleenM]

Hi

As a newbie that is temporarily without an oven, I've been experimenting with cooking cakes in the Varoma. I figured that if it didn't need a crust steaming would be a good thing to try, so moist fruity cakes would be an idea. I have an oval pyrex dish that fits in the bottom of the Varoma. I lined the dish with filmwrap, with enough to cover right over the top to prevent drips from landing in my cake. The first time I used a full mix for a 8in tin mix. This was too much for my pyrex dish and it took ages to steam and I had to turn it over to finish it off. The boiled fruit cake worked much better when I made a half mix. It was steamed in about 45 min. I just bend a couple of bamboo skewers to allow the steam through under the dish.
Nice and moist. Think I will try and get a larger pyrex dish, so I can make bigger cakes, coz they taste so nice and moist.

Here's the fruitcake recipe. This is a half quantity which I used for steaming.

1 kg of dried fruit of choice. If using large pieces of dates or ginger, chop these roughly in TMX first before adding rest of fruit.
75 g Butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup port
1/4 cup apple juice or water
1 tsp mixed spice
Mix 12 min/100^o/reverse slow
Cool to below 50^oC
Add 1 egg, 1 cup of plain flour,  1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda. .
Brief reverse mix to blend (yes it will be a bit frothy)
Pour into steaming dish, lined with film wrap, cover with film wrap. Steam 45 - 60 min until cooked.

Tastes just like it does when I bake it in the oven. If cooking in oven, use double this recipe and bake 140^oC for 90 - 120 mins.

members' comments

cookie - It's steaming as I write. I've had to give it a bit of extra time. I think I should have used a shallower dish. Colleen was your dish deep? The raw mixture tasted delicious.
We tasted the cake last night when it came out it was delicious, but very crumbly. This morning it is better. I'll definitely be making this again. Very little sugar or fat. It is probably one of the richest boiled fruit cakes I've ever had. Very nice, thanks Colleen. I hunted round and found an older style casserole dish I had and just propped it up on an egg ring. I ended up steaming it for about 1 hour 10 minutes or so. It firms up as it cools. Lovely taste with the port (I used marsala) and I used orange juice instead of water.

Colleen - My dish was 7 cm deep and the raw mix about half filled it. I never time anything much when I'm cooking, so time was a guess, also my mix was still fairly warm when I put it into cook.

andiesenji - I would like to remind everyone that you can test your cake to see if it is done by checking the internal temp with an instant read thermometer. When the internal temp is  200° F. -  94° C, it is fully cooked.  Any less than that and the center will be under-cooked.


 
 

[zebraa]

great idea. Would it be like a steamed pudding?

[cookie1]

Thanks Colleen. I love fruit cakes. If you like you can put an egg ring under your pyrex dish to allow the steam to circulate too.

[ColleenM]

I don't have egg rings, I just use a couple of bent bamboo skewers to raise up the dish. Works well. Also this allows the use of a deeper dish.

[cookie1]

True. We don't use egg rings but I found a couple tucked away. I have no idea how long they had been there. Probably since we were first married-nearly 40 years ago.

[RoxyS]

Thanks Colleen. My husband loves fruit cake so  now I have no excuse for not making it. I may have to improvise and try doing the mix in a number of smaller ramekins as I don't have the right size oval dish to use. Will have to think about it and see what I come up with but great idea and thanks for posting the recipe.

[cookie1]

I'm planning to try this this afternoon.

[cookie1]

It's steaming as I write. I've ad to give it a bit of extra time. I think I should have used a shallower dish. Colleen was your dish deep? The raw mixture tasted delicious.

[cookie1]

We tasted the cake last night when it came out of the oven and it was delicious, but very crumbly. This morning it is better. I'll definitely be making this again. Very little sugar or fat.



It is probably one of the richest boiled fruit cakes I've ever had. Very nice, thanks Colleen.

[judydawn]

You cooked it in the steamer didn't you Cookie, not the oven?  It looks really lovely - great picture.

[cookie1]

Yes in the varoma. I hunted round and found an older style casserole dish I had and just propped it up on an egg ring. I ended up steaming it for about 1 hour 10 minutes or so. It firms up as it cools. Lovely taste with the port (I used marsala) and I used orange juice instead of water.

[ColleenM]

Hi

Glad it turned out well. My dish was 7cm deep and the raw mix about half filled it. I never time anything much when I'm cooking, so time was a guess, also my mix was still fairly warm when I put it into cook.

[andiesenji]

I would like to remind everyone that you can test your cake to see if it is done by checking the internal temp with an instant read thermometer.

When the internal temp is  200° F. -  94° C., it is fully cooked.   Any less than that and the center will be undercooked.

[cookie1]

Andie, thanks so much for that. I didn't know. I will buy a thermometer when I'm shopping and start using it. I sometimes have raw cakes in the middle. Well slightly raw anyway, but the tester comes out clean.

[Very Happy Jan]

Thanks Andie. I didn't know that either. I haven't got an instant read thermometer that goes that high so will have to look for one.
Found this.
http://www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au/Search-Results?search=thermometer

The Cake one doesn't give a temperature range but the digital one looks versatile