Wishing All My Readers A Merry Christmas   Let us celebrate Christmas with this delicious eggless Plum Cake. This was the other recipe which Swathi gave for the Baking Partner’s challenge this month. I saved it for Christmas. The original recipe was suggested by Archana of Tangy Minds and the recipe had eggs. So I set out making it eggless and crossed my fingers when the cake was baking in the oven. I used puréed apple as the egg substitute. This is the first time I am using this so I was not very sure of the result. The aroma of the fruit cake filled my house and it was fantastic. The cake also raised well and browned nicely. I was in a hurry because it was the day I was going out on a trip and I  couldn’t wait until the cake was completely cool.    So when I removed it from the pan and inverted on a plate, it got stuck. So if you are trying this cake, be patient and wait until it cools completely. The syrup you add makes the crust moist and so while hot it is sticky. Even after the sticking part, I was able to restore the cake, and the cake tasted wonderful. Wait for atleast a day before slicing the cake so that it develops all the flavours. When completely cool, cover with foil and place it in an air tight container. My daughter loved it. But the cake is quite heavy because of the dry fruits. A very small piece will make you feel full. Make this and enjoy your evening with a cup of coffee or tea. I will be taking it to MIL’s place to share it with my nephew, niece, BIL and SIL today. Enjoy the day.       Ingredients: For The Dry Fruits Mixture: Golden Raisins-1/2 cup Apricot-1/4 cup (chopped) Dried Figs-1/4 cup (chopped) Candied Orange Peel-1/8 cup Orange Juice-1/4 cup Cashew Nuts-1/2 cup   For The Caramel Syrup: Sugar-3 tbs Water-1 ½ tbs Lemon Juice-a few drops Boiling Water-1/4 cup   For The Cake: Butter-1/2 cup Caster Sugar-1 ¼ cups Apple Puree-1/2 cup( click on the link to see the procedure of making the puree) Curd-1/3 cup Almond Essence-1/2 tsp Flour- 1 ¼ cups Baking Powder-3/4 tsp Powdered Cinnamon-1/4 tsp Powdered Ginger-1/8 tsp Powdered Nutmeg-1/8 tsp Powdered Clove- 1/8 tsp   Procedure: For The Dry Fruit Mixture: Add chopped figs, apricots and golden raisins in orange juice. Bring it to boil, simmer and cook for 1 minute. Add the cashew nuts and cook for one more minute. The mixture will become dry. Remove from stove and allow it to cool.   For The Caramel Syrup: In a sauce pan add sugar, water and lemon juice. Heat the mixture. Do not stir. The sugar will start caramelizing. When nicely brown, add the boiling water and swirl. When it boils, remove from flame. There should not be any sugar lumps in the solution. You will end up with a nice brown syrup.   For The Cake: Sift flour with all the spices and baking powder. Keep it apart. Preheat oven to 170C. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the caramel syrup and beat. Add apple puree, curd and almond essence and beat until incorporated. The mixture may look curdled but it is fine. Add the dry fruits mixture and beat. Now add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon gently. Line an 8” loose bottomed pan or a spring form pan. Grease the pan. Pour the batter into it. Bake for 1 ¼ hours. By 15 minutes the top will start browning. Place a piece of foil on top of the cake to avoid the burning of top. Insert a knife and check if it comes out clean. When done, remove from oven and allow it to cool for 1 hour before removing it from the tin. Loosen the sides of the cake with a knife. Place the pan on a tumbler and gently remove the outer ring.(if using a loose bottomed tin) Place on a wire rack and allow it to cool completely before removing the base plate and the butter paper. Slice it and enjoy.       This recipe is part of my Delicious Egg Free Cakes eBook. There are more recipes in the book and they are not available in my blog. Click on the image to buy it and enjoy. Please leave a review and rating on the website.             I used dark brown sugar to make caramel syrup. So this cake turned out with a rich brown colour. This is made during December 2014. Here is a video to make this delicious cake.