Last month I treated myself to a copy of Good Housekeeping magazine and in it was a new recipe for Christmas Cake.
The recipe looked lovely and, as its been a good few years since I have made one I decided to give it a go.
To be fair, in the past I have only ever made my Grandma Harriet’s Christmas Cake and this recipe was quite different to that…
… Dried figs, prunes and apricots as well as the usual sultanas and raisins were all soaked for 3 days in orange juice and a nut liqueur before adding to the spiced cake mixture today… it smelled amazing:-
It might be the last time I use my late Mum’s mixing bowl, however, as I noticed a crack in it. Well it is over 50 years old!
The recipe called for a larger cake tin than I own, so rather than go out and buy another I decided to put any left over mixture in a loaf tin. But there was still some mixture left, so after filling my house with the lovely smell of baking for four hours while the larger cakes cooked I then poured the last of the mix into the loaf tin and cooked that too
.
The result was amazing and I now have three cakes to cover with almond paste and icing. The two smaller ones will make nice presents for people I think!!!
I remember my mother making Christmas Cake and puddings about this time of year but never, ever liked it. Crazy I know, I’d peel the marzipan and icing off and I don’t know whatever happened to the cake, she must have eaten it throughout the year! Turned out nicely though and I remember my gran having a bowl like that!
Hi!
Great to see you again, thanks for stopping by my blog, been thinking about you and wondering how things are going. I *so* hope things are going much better and also that Hippie is doing well too.
Looks very Yummy, I can just smell the goodness. I know who ever gets them for gifts are going to love it!
I have a lot of my grandmother’s things , I treasure them greatly.
Baino: It’s strange isn’t it – I didn’t like it as a child and like you, preferred the frosting. But now i quite enjoy a small piece – this cake may last forever!!! Yes, I think its time for a new bowl here!!!!
Sistertex: Yes, thank you my friend, we are all doing very well here now. I too have many treasures from years gone by – I never knew my Grandmother but have many photos and stories that my Mum told – priceless stuff!!!
Yes I think they will make nice gifts too!!!
That bowl does look very familiar – maybe I need to look at a repair job for you – it wouldn’t be Christmas without that bowl!!
How industrious you are – good for you! I usually make a Christmas cake too, from my mother’s recipe, but lately I’ve been trying NOT to have too many sweet, sugary things at Christmas and there’s only two of us like traditional Christmas cake.
Kate, I could even smell the cake as I looked at it. Brilliant. Enjoy.
Keiron: you can try my love but I fear it is cracked too deeply to repair – I’ll buy another one and let history repeat itself!!!!
Jay: I have absolutely loved making the cakes and puddings this year – its been years since I’ve done this…. though my kids aren’t bothered they just want my mince pies!!!!
Barbara: The smell while they were cooking was wonderful! And I have already iced the little ones ready to give away – that will be my next post I think…..