Steamed Fruit Cake.... a very moist version..

Wishing all my Muslim readers Eid Mubarak & Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.... Hope you have had a great time catching up with relatives & friends & enjoying the sumptuous spread of food... 

Tonight, I'm sharing with you a recipe for the steamed fruit cake I made for this raya. This recipe is different from the one I shared before. But I'm sure there are many of you out there who had used it before... not surprising as I kind of like this cake too... it's definitely more moist than the one I shared before. The taste is quite the same but if you prefer a very moist kek kukus, this is the recipe to go for. The moist texture is the result of adding proportionately more sugar but less mixed fruit vis-a-vis the previous recipe. Definitely a keeper!

Steamed Fruit Cake (Kek Kukus)

Ingredients:
300g mixed fruits (I used a combination of mixed fruits & blackcurrants.)
60g sliced almonds (I added.)
60g flour

375g butter (Golden Churn or SCS)
180g fine sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp orange essence (I added.)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I added.)
sarsaparilla brown liquid colour
*300g plain flour
*1 & 1/4 tsp baking soda
(* combined & sifted)
280g granulated sugar (for burnt sugar)

Method:

1. Line, grease & flour a pan (8x8 inch). Prepare a steamer.
2. Combine mixed fruits, almonds & the 60g flour until the fruits are coated with flour. This will prevent them from sinking when steaming the cake. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine butter, fine sugar, nutmeg, orange essence, vanilla essence & brown colour. Mix with a hand whisk or wooden spoon. 
4. Add eggs, one at a time & mix just until well-blended. Do not over mix as the cake will become dry if the eggs are overmixed.
5. Fold in flour & mix just until well-blended. Do not over mix. Set aside.
6. Prepare burnt sugar by placing granulated sugar into a non-stick skillet with a handle over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon as the sugar melts. Once it turns dark brown, remove from heat and carefully pour to the butter mixture. Mix until well blended using a wooden spoon. (What I did: Before pouring the burnt sugar, I made a well in the butter mixture & poured the burnt sugar into the well. Starting from the center, I stirred the burnt sugar into the mixture. This is to prevent the burnt sugar from sticking to the side of the bowl as it hardens almost as soon as it sticks to the side. The hardened sugar that you manage to scrape from the side of the bowl can still be added to the batter.)
7. Finally, fold in the mixed fruits & almonds until just blended. Do not over mix.
8. Pour mixture into the baking pan. Cover the pan with aluminium foil & tie it with a string (I used a rafia string). Tuck in the foil, making sure the pan is water-proof.
9. Place the pan on a steamer & steam for 4 hours. (Diana steamed on high heat for first 2 hours & lower the heat to medium for the rest of the steaming time.)
10. After 4 hours, remove pan from steamer. Remove foil & leave pan aside for 10 minutes. Then remove cake from pan. Leave to cool.

Adapted from DianaA @ myresipi.

Notes:

1. Do not mix the cake mixture using a cake beater as this will result in over beating which in turn will produce a dry cake. Just use a hand whisk or wooden spoon.
2. According to Diana, you may also steam the cake for less than 4 hours but it will not keep well.
3. If it's steamed for 4 hours, the cake can be stored in the fridge for 6 months. To serve, leave the cake in room temperature for about 3 hours before serving.
4. I've adjusted the quantity of ingredients to fit an 8x8-inch pan. (The original recipe yields two 7x7-inch pans.)