Christmas Cake

Tags

almonds, bicarbonate of soda, brandy, butter, Cake, Castor, cherries, Christmas cake, Cook, eggs, Flour, fruit cake, glace cherries, mixed fruit, recipe, salt, sugar flour, Wax paper

You might say Christmas cake now? Christmas is still four months away.Yes I say now so it has time to mature into the cake it should be.

I share with you today a very old recipe which has been passed down through 4 generations.

Ingredients :

 1 kg mixed fruit

60 g Glace Cherries

125 ml + Brandy

110 g butter

110 g Castor Sugar

110 g Brown Sugar

5 eggs

550 ml (265 g) cake flour

5 ml Bi-Carbonate of Soda

pinch of salt

5 ml mixed spice

60 g whole Almonds

 Method :

Soak fruit in Brandy for 2 days or more.

Cream butter, brown Sugar and Castor sugar – well.

Add eggs one at a time mixing in well.

Sift flour,bicarbonate of Soda, salt and mixed spice.

Add dry to butter/sugar mix a little at a time, alternating with fruit mix.

Turn into cake tin lined with wax paper. Newspaper on the outside of the tin.

Cook 3,5 hours on 259 F or 130 C. Start testing after 3 hours.

Tips :

If butter and egg curdle – add some flour.

Peel of wax paper, add Brandy and wrap in a Tea towel and then in newspaper. 

Feed with Brandy often

Enjoy!

Garlic trick

Tags

food, garlic, olive oil, salt, tips

Garlic Trick: It’s frustrating to part  a garlic clove from its skin only to have half of it stick to the knife when you chop it. Try this: sprinkle a pinch of kosher salt and a drop of olive oil over the cloves before chopping; the salt acts as an abrasive, helping to pulverize the garlic, and the oil lets it slide off the blade. To make a paste, lay the side of the knife on the garlic and, applying even pressure, drag it across the garlic several times.
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