Perfect plum cake with no wine and eggs

Plum cakes are a must to ring in the Christmas season. Here is an amazing recipe of tasty and soft plum cake that doesn’t have eggs or wine in it.

Ingredients
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
Zest of one orange
1 tbsp mixed fruit jam
¾ cup sugar
½ cup oil
½ cup yoghurt
½ cup orange juice
2 cardamom pods
5 cloves
1 small piece cinnamon
1 small piece nutmeg
A pinch of ajwain
¼ cup water
2 tbsp chopped cashews
2 tbsp chopped almonds
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp chopped cherries
2 tbsp chopped tutti fruity
2 tbsp chopped dates
2 tbsp chopped black grapes

Preparation
Soak the chopped cashews, almonds, walnuts, cherries, tutti fruity, grapes and dates in orange juice for at least an hour
Prepare caramel by heating ¼ cup sugar in 1 tbsp water in a pan
Pour ¼ cup water when the sugar turns brown in colour to make the caramel syrup
Allow the caramel syrup to cool down
Grind ½ cup sugar, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and ajwain in a mixer jar
Transfer this powder into a bowl
Into the mixer jar add the yoghurt, oil, caramel syrup, soaked nuts, mixed fruit jam, vanilla essence and orange zest
Blend well
Sift the all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda
Add the sifted dry ingredients into the blended wet ingredients
Add the powdered ingredients as well
Fold well into soft batter
Pour the batter into a greased cake tin
Garnish with some whole cashews
Bake for 50-55 minutes in a pre heated oven of 175 degree Celsius
Cut the plum cake into slices after the cake has cooled down completely.