Sri Lankan Christmas Cake

from Catherine S.
This cake combines traditional ingredients with exotic fruits and spices. In Sri Lanka, a marzipan made of cashewnuts is the only icing used, and the cake is served in small pieces which are individually wrapped in decorative paper. Eating this cake was the culunary highlight of my year and I used to sneak into the kitchen and taste it during its preparation. Using a food processor to chop the fruit and nuts tends to alter the texture of the cake and although it is time consuming, I would advise you to chop all the ingredients by hand.

(Preparation time 55 minutes. Cooking time 1 hour 15 minutes.)
Makes 2 cakes.

Ingredients

• 50g (2 oz) candied peel
• 100g (3.5oz) chow (without syrup)
• 100g (3.5oz) stem ginger (without syrup)
• 100g (3.5oz) raisins
• 300g (10oz) sultanas
• 125g (4oz) currants
• 225g (8oz) candied ash pumpkin or crystalised pineapple
• 225g (8oz) cashew nuts chopped
• 50g (2oz) almonds chopped
• 100g (3.5oz) glacé cherries
• 3 tablespoonsful brandy
• 3 tablespoonsful rose water triple strength
• 2 tablespoonsful honey
• 1 tablespoonsful vanilla
• 1/2 a nutmeg grated
• 2 teaspoonsful ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonful ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoonful ground cloves
• 225g (8oz) semolina
• 225g (8 oz) butter at room temperature
• 12 size 2 eggs
• 400g (14 oz) soft brown sugar

Directions

1. Finely chop the fruit and the nuts (the first 10 ingredients). Put into a bowl together with the honey and essences (the brandy, rose water, vanila) and the spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves). Mix thoroughly and leave covered for 24 hours.

2. Double line 2 cake tins of diameter 20 cm (8") with lightly- oiled greaseproof paper. Put the oven on to 140oC (275oF)

3. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the semolina and the butter. Separate the eggs. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar until pale. Mix in the semolina. Add the fruit, a little at a time using a cutting motion, to make sure that the cake batter is thoroughly mixed in with the dried fruit. This movement provides a lot of wrist exercise!

4. Whisk half the egg whites until stiff. (The rest can be used for meringues.) Add 4 tablespoonsful of the egg whites and beat into cake mixture to slacken it. Fold the rest of the beaten egg whites and mix thoroughly. Put the cake mixture into the two tins and cook for about 1½ hours, or until a skewer when inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Once cold prick the surfaces with a skewer and pour two tablespoonsful of brandy over each cake. Cover with foil, place in an airtight tin and leave for a week before icing.

Triple strength rosewater is available from chemists shops. In Sri Lanka the christmas cake is cut into pieces and individually wrapped and served during the festive season. The marzipan is made from ground cashew-nuts.

Kiri Pani (Yogurt And Treacle)

This is the most traditional of Sri Lankan desserts. The buffalo milk yogurt which is set in eathenware pots, has a delicious layer of cream. It is always eaten with treacle (kitul pani ) which can be made by boiling down jaggery which can be bought in Sri Lankan shops. Greek yogurt made from ewe's milk is an excellent subsitute.

(Preparation time 5 minutes. Cooking time 30 minutes)

Ingredients

• 2 200g (7oz) cartons of yogurt
• 225g (8oz) jaggery
• ½ cup water.

Ingredients

1. In a heavy-bottomed pan bring the jaggery and the water slowly to the boil. The heat should be kept to a minimum until the jaggery has dissolved. Once the jaggery has dissolved bring it to the boil and allow to reduce until you have a thick pouring sauce. Strain into a sauceboat or jug and pour over the yogurt before serving.

Love Cake

A legacy from the Portuguese who once ruled the island of Ceylon as it was then called. There are as many recipes for Love Cake as there are cooks, and as many strong opinions on just how to achieve a soft texture in the centre while having a firm and chewy exterior. The secret is in slow baking and correct size of cake tin.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb Semolina (Wheatlets)
• 1 lb Sugar
• 1/2 lb Butter
• 750 g Cashew nuts
• 6 ozs. Pumpkin Preserve
• 12 Eggs
• 1/2 bottle Rose Essence
• 1/2 bottle Almond Essence
• 1/2 vine glass Brandy
• 1/2 vine glass Bees Honey
• 2 sheets Oil Paper
  

Spices:

• 1/2 tsp each of Cardamon, Cloves Cinnamon (in fine powder form)
• 1/2 tsp grated Nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp Grated Lime Rind

Directions

• Warm Semolina with a few lime leaves. Add the butter to it and heat until well mixed. keep overnight.
• Beat egg yolks with sugar until nice and creamy with air bubbles forming.
• Remove lime leaves from semolina. Add semolina and butter mixture to the egg and sugar mixture and beat well.
• Add cashew nuts (cut) and mix well. Next add pumpkin preserve (cut).
• Add Spices and essences and lime rind.
• Beat 8 egg whites until nice and fluffy and gradually add to cake mixture. Do not make it too watery.
• Line tray with news paper, final layer buttered oil paper
• Bake in slow oven.

Love Cake Recipe #2

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 500 g/1 lb/2 cups caster sugar
• 150 g/5 oz unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rose water or 1/4 teaspoon rose essence
• finely chopped zest of 1 lime or lemon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 250 g/8 oz raw cashews
• 250 g/8 oz coarse semolina
• 125 g/4 oz crystallised winter melon or pineapple (optional)

Directions

Line a 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in) cake tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F).

Beat eggs and sugar until thick and light. Add softened butter and honey, rose water, lime zest, nutmeg and cardamom. Beat well. Chop cashews coarsely and stir in together with the semolina and crystallised fruit. Turn into prepared tin and bake in a slow oven for

1 hour or until pale golden on top. If the cake starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Do not use the skewer test, because if a skewer comes out clean it means the cake is overcooked by Sri Lankan standards. It will taste good, but there won't be the moist centre which is typical of this confection. Leave cake in tin to cool. Cut into small squares to serve.

Sau Dodol

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Rice flour
• 4 cups thick Coconut milk
• 4 cups Kithul or Coconut trealce
• 2 tsp Salt

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt thoroughly. Add a little coconut milk to the flour and mix until the flour forms into small balls like beads. Do not add water. Cover and steam the flour beads for abourt 30 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the steamer and separate the flour beads and set aside. Boil the treacle and coconut milk in a large saucepan and add the flour beads while stirring. Keep stirring the mixture until oil starts to separate. Remove from heat. Transfer into a greased dish and shape into a block. Cut into pieces of any shape.

Rulang Aluwa

Ingredients

• 1 lb Semolina (Wheatlets)
• 2 lbs Sugar
• 1/2 tsp powdered Cardamom
• 1/4 tsp powdered Cloves
• 50 Raw Cashews, chopped

Directions

Roast the Semolina and set aside. Prepare a cutting board by sprinkling some roasted semlina and have it ready. In a saucepan add 1 cup of water to the sugar and heat. When the syrup thickens and starts to form a crust like layer on the sides of the saucepan, add the semolina and the spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the chopped cashews and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat before the mix thickens and transfer onto the cutting board. Flatten and form into a block (about 1-1/2" thick). Cut into pieces.

Mung Kavum

Ingredients

• 1 lb Rice flour
• 2 lb Mung flour
• 3 cups Coconut or Kithul Treacle (available in Sri Lankan Grocery Stores)
• 1 tbs. Ghee or Butter
• 1 tsp. Salt
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
  

Batter

• 1/2 lb Rice flour
• 1 cup Coconut milk
• 1 egg
• pinch of Tumeric
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

Mix the rice and mung flour to get an even mixture. Boil the treacle in a saucepan. Add the flour mix. When the mixture starts to thicken add butter and salt. Transfer the thickend mixtue into an aluminum tray (cookie tray) and allow to cool. Add about 1/2 cup water into the saucepan, leave on the hot plate and stir until thick syrup like consistency. Remove from heat. Add small amounts of this syrup to the flour mix in the aluminum tray and spread into 1/2 -1/4" thick block. Cut into shapes. Prepare the batter by mixing the ingredients well. Dip the above pieces in the batter and deep fry in vegetable oil.

Wattilappam 1

Ingredients

• 10 Eggs
• 2 ½ Cups thick Coconut milk
• 1 lb Jaggery
• Pinch of Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Salt
• ½ tsp Cardamom

Directions

• Beat the eggs well.
• Grate the jaggery and mix with the egg batter.
• Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
• Pour the mix into a greased bowl.
• Cover with oil paper & steam for 1 1/4 hrs.
• Let it cool in the container before serving.
• Sprinkle some chopped cashews for added taste and decoration.