Kulkuls

Ingredients

1/2 kg plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 cup coconut cream

4 tbsps sugar, powdered

1 tbsp butter

Oil for deep frying

1 cup sugar (granulated)

3-4 tbsps water

Mix the flour and baking powder well.

Add the butter a little at a time, mixing gently.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the flour-butter mix.

Add the powdered sugar and coconut milk to this and mix into a soft dough.

Form the dough into small marble-sized balls.

Grease the back of a fork with some oil and flatten and press a ball of dough onto it.

Starting at one end, roll the dough off the fork and into a tight curl. The end result will be a tube-like curl with the design from the fork on it! Make the remaining dough similiarly till it is all used up.

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame.

When hot, fry the kulkuls in it, making sure to turn often, till they are a light golden brown in color. Drain and cool on paper towels.

Put the granulated sugar and water in a separate pan and cook till the sugar melts fully.

Put the cooled kulkuls into this sugar syrup and coat well.

Remove and allow to sit in a plate till the sugar encrusts on the kulkuls.

When fully cooled, you can store the kulkuls for a considerable amount of time if kept in an air-tight container.

Traditional Christmas Cake

1/2 kg all purpose flour

1/2 kg butter (salted or unsalted will do)

1/2 kg sugar

1/2 kg candied peel (Usually soaked in rum from the year before but that is optional)

1/2 kg mixed dried fruit (walnuts, almonds, cashews), chopped into small pieces

10 eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsps vanilla essence

2 tsps almond essence

3 tbsps orange marmalade

1/2 cup dark rum

15 cloves

4" cinnamon stick

15 green cardamom - peeled and seeds removed

2 small/ 1 large nutmeg

Method

Prepare the spice powder by grinding the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom seeds and cinnamon with 1 tsp of sugar in a clean, dry coffee grinder. Keep aside in a small bowl for later.

Spread the candied peel and chopped dried fruit on a clean counter surface or large plate and sprinkle a tbsp or two of flour over it. Toss to coat well. This prevents the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake while baking!

Mix the remaining flour, previously prepared spice powder and baking powder together well.

Prepare your cake tins by lining them with good baking paper. Double line the bottom. Also cut a piece to place on top of the batter while cooking. This should be roughly 2" smaller in measurements on all sides, than the tin's dimensions. This piece of baking paper prevents the cake from rising disproportionately and cracking at the top while baking!

Mix 1 cup of sugar in a pan with 2-3 tbsps of water and put on the fire. Cook on medium flame till all the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to turn dark brown to black in color and begins to smoke a little. Don't be alarmed if it after it melts, it begins to crystallize again. Just keep it on the heat and it will melt again. Once it is ready (as above), turn off the heat. Carefully add 1/4 cup water and put the syrup back on the fire (medium flame) and cook till the earlier syrup and water you just added, is nicely blended. You will end up with a thick, almost black, smooth syrup.

While you are preparing the dark sugar syrup, use a hand blender/ mixer to blend the remaining sugar and butter till smooth, soft and fluffy.

Now add 2 eggs at a time and continue to whisk with the hand blender till all eggs are used up and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla essence, almond essence. Whisk some more.

Add the orange marmalade and a little of the dark sugar syrup at a time and keep whisking. Use up all the dark sugar syrup and blend till batter is smooth.

Use a cooking spoon and add a spoonful of flour at a time to the above batter while continuing to whisk. Each time you add flour, whisk till that lot is fully blended and the batter is smooth before adding more. Continue till all the flour is used up this way.

Add the dark rum now and whisk till fully blended in the batter.

Preheat your oven to 350 F/ 180 C/ Gas Mark 4.

Now add the floured, candied peel and dried fruit to the cake batter, a little at a time and fold in very gently.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared, lined tins till half full. Place the small piece of baking paper on top.

Reduce the oven heat to 250 F/ 130 C/ Gas Mark 1/2 and put the cakes in to bake.

Bake till "you start to smell a cooked aroma, then poke the cake in the center with a thin bamboo skewer to check if it is done. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is done. If not, keep cooking and check every 5 minutes to see if done.

When cooked, allow the cake to cool completely before cutting or icing. When cool, remove from the cake tin and slice or do icing of your choice. 

Serve and enjoy!