......... a lot like Christmas! I know some of you will now be saying "what, you are only baking your Christmas cake today!!??" But I have always made my cake at the start of December, and I don't think it suffers for not having been made weeks ago! As always I turned to this book
which I have had for rather a long time!
I have always made the same size ....... as Stuart has never eaten Christmas cake (or any cake with currants/sultanas/raisins) I didn't have to start making a smaller one when he left home
having already had the fruit soaking in brandy for the last three days, I assembled all the ingredients
after a great deal of beating and stirring, the cake was ready to go in the oven. Years ago a cookery teacher gave me the tip of poking a hole in the centre of the cake mix, which helps to keep the top of the cake flat as it bakes
two and three quarter hours later, the cake was ready to come out of the oven
the easy way to remove the otside of the cake tin
once the cake is cool I will wrap it in greaseproof paper and then foil. I'll feed it some more brandy, then ice it in time for Christmas
tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for me, as not only do I have the craft fair, but it is also our Christmas lunch at patch'n'chat. The car is packed to the roof with all our goodies, ready to head to Jedburgh Town Hall for 11am, to set up our stall. Malcolm will then drop me off at Borderland Fabrics for my lunch, then pick me up at the end of the afternoon We will be able to get back into the Town Hall at 5pm, giving us plenty of time to do any rearranging of the stall before the doors open at 6.15. It will be quite late by the time we get back home, so I don't think that I will do a post tomorrow night, so you will have to wait until Monday to find out how we got on!