Spice Mix for Kerala Christmas Plum Cake

A Kerala plum cake needs only four whole spices: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, ground fresh on baking day. Use about 1 to 1½ teaspoons of the mix for a cake made with around 250 g flour (roughly a 1 kg cake), and keep the cloves low, because they take over quickly.

What goes into a plum cake spice mix?

• Cardamom (elakka). The sweet, bright smell most people link with Christmas cake in Kerala.
• Cinnamon. Warmth and body. Ceylon cinnamon is softer and sweeter. Cassia is stronger and closer to the bakery-shop smell.
• Cloves (grampoo). Depth and a slight sharpness. A little is enough.
• Nutmeg. Rounds everything off and suits the dark caramel and dried fruit.

Some families add a pinch of dry ginger (chukku) or one star anise. Both are optional. If your family recipe has them, keep them.

How much of each spice?

This makes about 3 teaspoons of powder, enough for two cakes of about 1 kg each.

Start with 1 teaspoon of the mix per cake. If you like a strongly spiced cake, go up to 1½ teaspoons. Taste a little raw batter before it goes in the tin. The spice should be clear but not bitter.

How to grind the mix at home

1. Split the cardamom pods and take out the seeds. Throw away the husks.
2. Break the cinnamon into small pieces with your hands.
3. Warm the cinnamon and cloves in a dry pan on low heat for 30 to 40 seconds, just until they smell. Don't let them darken. Let them cool completely.
4. Put the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom seeds into a small, completely dry mixie jar with 1 tablespoon of the sugar from your cake recipe. Grind in quick pulses to a fine powder.
5. Grate the nutmeg straight into the powder and mix well. Sieve it if you want it very fine.

The sugar helps the cardamom seeds break down evenly instead of sticking to the blades. There's more on this in our guide to making cardamom powder at home.

When should you add it to the batter?

Sift the spice powder together with the flour and baking powder. That way it spreads evenly through the cake instead of ending up in pockets.

Grind the mix on the day you bake, or at most a day or two before. Cardamom loses its smell fastest once ground, so a mix made in November will taste flat by Christmas week.

Can you spice the soaked fruit too?

Yes. Many Kerala homes soak raisins, dates, orange peel and cherries weeks ahead, in rum, brandy or grape juice. Drop two or three whole cloves, a small cinnamon stick and a few lightly crushed cardamom pods into the jar.

Take the whole spices out before you fold the fruit into the batter. The fruit carries their smell into the cake without anyone biting into a clove.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Using garam masala. Most garam masala has cumin, coriander or pepper in it. These don't belong in a cake. Make a sweet spice mix instead.
• Too many cloves. Past 8 or so for two cakes, the cake starts to taste medicinal. Stay low.
• Burning the spices. If the cinnamon or cloves smoke or go dark in the pan, start again. Burnt spice tastes bitter in a cake.
• Leaving in cardamom husks. They don't grind fine and stay stringy in the crumb.
• Using old powder. A tin of cardamom powder from last year's baking won't give the same smell. Start with whole spices.

Ceylon or cassia cinnamon for plum cake?

Either works. Ceylon gives a gentler, sweeter cake. Cassia gives a bolder, more familiar bakery smell, and you may want to use a little less of it. Our Ceylon vs cassia cinnamon guide explains how the two differ.

Whichever you choose, keep the whole sticks in an airtight jar away from the stove until you need them. Our tips on storing whole spices apply here too.

If you're buying for Christmas baking, our Idukki cardamom and Adimali cloves are packed whole, so you can grind them the day the cake goes in the oven.