Jamun Loaf Cake

by Kanak Hagjer · Published June 21, 2020 · Updated June 21, 2020

It’s the season of jamun (Java plum) now and my tree is busy playing host to the birds and the bees. With the first pickings, this is what I made. A simple cake with the purple berries. It’s yearly ritual of incorporating the berries into recipes I hadn’t tried before. Each year brings in something new. Here’s a list…

Mini Pies With Jamun Jam Filling

Trifle Pudding With Jamun Jam

For this cake I used:

15 ripe berries
2 eggs at room temperature, beaten
2 tablespoons yoghurt
1/2 cup brown butter
2/3 cup caster sugar + 1 heaped teaspoon for macerating the berries
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup besan (chick-pea flour)

Wash and remove the seeds from the berries. Crush them a bit with your hands and set aside for about an hour. Java plums have an astringent taste and macerating them helps to get rid of the astringency.

At first I thought I would use the berries in raw form but later decided to cook them in its own juices for about 7-8 minutes. Then the mixture was cooled down before adding to to the cake batter. I set aside two tablespoons of the juice to be added in the frosting.

Whipped cream frosting:

1/2 cup cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons jamun juice

Method:

Place the butter in a pan and put it on medium heat. Continue to cook till you get the distinct aroma of butter burning and the contents are brown. Remove and set aside to cool down.

Sieve the two kinds of flour with the baking powder. Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Line your loaf pan with greased baking paper. I used a 9″ pan that was 3″ deep.

In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients, except the berries, till they come together. Then add the dry ingredients. Lastly, fold in the cooked berries and bake for about 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Take the tin out and cool on a wire rack. Whip the cream with honey till it holds its shape. Then add the jamun juice and give it a good mix. I wish I had added more juice. The cream took on a lavender hue as soon as I added the purple juice. But later it looked so light it was as if I hadn’t added any colour!! Learning along the way…