Christmas Cake

Ok...I realise I probably haven't updated my blog for at least 6 months, however I was employed and busy for 3! And now I am a student once again, studying towards a Masters in Museum Studies. Hopefully I will update my blog at least on a monthly basis, I have a fair few crafts to share, perhaps DIY Christmas present ideas :). But to start, a Christmas cake recipe. The recipe is a combined mix of several different recipes; including a recipe recorded by my Great Grandmother (her leather bound journal belongs in a museum!). In addition to my great grandmothers journal I also used the Rich Fruit Cake recipes from "Delia Smith's; Complete Illustrated Cookery Course" (1997)  page 490 - 492 and "Mary Berry's; Complete Cookery" (1997) page 476-477.   (updated and edited 08/12/2014)

Christmas cake base before feeding it with brandy

Wrapped up for Christmas

Ingredients:

30oz (1.875 lb) (850g) Dried fruit;

- 14oz  (397g) Currants

- 8oz  (225g) Raisins

- 8oz (225g) Sultanas

8oz (225g) Glacé Cherries (washed, dried and quartered) (Delia suggests 2oz (50g) but I love Glacé Cherries!)

2 oz  (50g)Mixed peel

3 - 4 tbs Brandy (you will need extra to soak the cake once cooked before storing and for feeding)

8 oz (225g) Plain Flour

8 oz (225g) Butter

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

3/4 tsp Ground Mixed Spice

3 oz (75g) Dark Brown Sugar 

5 oz (140g) Soft Light Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

2oz (50g) Chopped Mixed Nuts

1 dessert spoon of Black Treacle

Orange  zest

Lemon zest

Utensils:

2 large mixing bowls

Electric mixer

A deep round 8 inch cake tin

1. Place the Dried Fruit, Glace Cherries, Mixed Peel and Brandy in a large mixing bowl, and leave to soak over night. Cover the bowl with clingfilm.

2. In a second large mixing bowl add the remaining ingredients and beat thoroughly with an electric mixer. Add the soaked fruit to the mixture, ensure it is well combined.

3. It is very important that your cake tin is well greased as the cake takes several hours to cook through. Grease the cake tin with either butter or margarine, line the bottom and sides with a double layer of greaseproof paper and grease the paper also. Spoon the cake mixture into your prepared tin and place a disk of greaseproof paper on top of the mixture, this prevents the top from burning. As my Great Grandmother also suggests, wrap a double layer of brown paper around the outside of the tin (about twice as wide as the height of the tin) and attach it by tying a loop of string around the tin. To insulate the tin my mum also suggested sitting the cake on a newspaper (it worked!!).

4. Bake in preheated oven on 140 Degrees (275 F, Gas Mark 1) for 4 hour 30 minutes to 5 hours, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and it feels firm to the touch. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. ( I think my cake took exactly 5 hours, however I used a conventional oven without a fan).

5. When the cake has cooled, remove the circle of greaseproof paper placed on top, pierce the cake in several places and pour over a small amount of brandy while in the tin. Remover the cake from the tin, do not remove the greaseproof paper (the greasy paper help keep the cake moist). Wrap the cake in another layer of greaseproof paper, followed by a layer of foil. Store the cake in an airtight cake tin for up to 3 months, unwrapping every so often to feed the cake 1-2tbsp of brandy to keep it moist. 

Please feel free to play around with this recipe, this is how I put it together. Feel free to play with the dried fruit ingredients, perhaps substitute some of the dried fruit for dried apricots, cranberries or dates. My cake is quite light in colour as I used mainly soft light brown sugar (as this is what we had in the house!!), so you may want to just use dark brown sugar. If you prefer you could also substitute the brandy for sherry or a similar spirit. 

I shall follow this blog with ideas for decoration in December 2012!!! Be sure to check back then :) . Please feel free to ask me any questions about this recipe.   

Update June 23rd 2013
Just found an image (apologies for the poor quality) of my finished cake;

Finished Christmas cake

To decorate you cake in this way you will need;

• Roughly 3 tbsp apricot jam, sieved and warmed
• Icing sugar (so it doesn't stick to your work surface!) 
• 700g Marzipan (almond paste)
• 1-2 packets of icing sugar (also depending on decoration)

Utensils:

• Rolling pin
• Bread knife (useful for lifting the icing and marzipan)
• 1 -2 star shaped cutters
• A pastry brush (for spreading the warm apricot jam onto the cake)
• 1 tbsp of water (for sticking on the stars)
• 1 Christmasy ribbon (cut to fit your cake, leaving a few inches to fold it over and attach with a pin)
• 1 pin (to keep the ribbon in place)

This cake is tasty! It is moist and rich ,but lighter coloured than most Christmas cakes because of the combination of sugars. Try it yourself, and don't forget to share any alterations or ideas :)!

Update December 2013

This year I went to a cake decorating class and this is the end result- I love the glittery Christmas trees on the edge of the cake! The group cake photograph shows the other cake designs created during the classes. 

Update 08/12/2014

This year I made my cake in early November and it took AGES to cook (5-6 hours). After reading through numerous blogs and recipe books I have tweaked my recipe a bit - I basically scaled down my ingredients as I wanted a smaller 8 inch cake. 

This article by Delia Smith is really handy if you want to make a smaller or larger cake http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/scaling-up-cake-recipes.html 

If you want to make a larger 9 inch cake I recommend using Mary Berry's Christmas cake recipe (I love the quantity of spices and Glacé Cherries in her cake) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/classic_christmas_cake_04076

It's all about experimenting so have fun and share your recipe ideas! 

Wizarding Scarf (Harry Potter themed)

Hand Knitted Wizarding Scarf

Apologies for the wait of my first post!! As you may well be aware I designed and created a "Wizarding Scarf" in a similar style to the scarves worn by students in the Harry Potter films "The Goblet of Fire" to the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". Previously the scarves worn by the students in the films were a basic red and yellow block stripe design with alternating colour tassles. I chose to base the scarf on the latter films due to preference by Peter. The scarf was initially supposed to be a Christmas, however I did not complete it until the end of January as I was not in the UK between September to December. The scarf took about 1 month to complete, however I am still learning to knit as I go, and I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to crafting!

1. To make this "Wizarding Scarf" you will need size 5 - 6mm needles (this may depend on your wool, check the packaging),   two 148 metre skeins (balls) of red wool in shade of choice, (I used "Life Chunky by Stylecraft" wool in "Cardinal" red) and one 148 metre skein (ball) of yellow/ gold wool with the same thickness as the red wool. I could not find the exact colour yellow I wanted, in the correct thickness so I knitted with two balls of yellow wool at the same time to make up the thickness (I used two balls of 100g "Bonus DK by Hayfield" in shade 0978).
2. I started the scarf by casting on 30 stitches of the red wool. I then knitted (using a basic knit stitch) 22 rows before changing to the two skeins of yellow wool for 6 rows. Knitting with two skeins is not difficult, knit as normal making sure both skeins are knitted. In between the yellow lines, you will need to knit 8 rows of red. Repeat this process until you have 9 large blocks of red and 8 pairs of yellow lines.
3. I then added 7 tassles to each end of the scarf. If you do no know how to make tassles there are many useful videos on Youtube, this is easier than explaining. This is how I made the tassles for my scarf; http://youtu.be/Ra2qbqISwsM  .

If you have any problems or queries feel free to contact me. I often required help while making my first scarf, from my mum and knitting extraordinaire Suz Hart.    

If knitting isn't your thing, but you would like a "Wizarding Scarf" of your own, feel free to contact me and I can knit you one for £15 (the cost will cover the cost of the wool and is a bargain for the amount of time it will take to make!). Please specify colours and design changes i.e. whether you want tassles or want to change the size etc.      

Introduction

Hello all :). As you have probably accidentally stumbled across this blog by accident; I am NOT offering advice to fellow unemployed people. I created this blog in order to document my latest crafting & baking "experiments". As I am well aware the days, weeks and months pass by very quickly while depending on Job Seekers Allowance and filling in endless application forms. Therefore as Suz, my totally excellent friend suggested "why don't you start writing a blog about your daily crafts and bakes?!" I thought, why not! Every day I try to think of new things I could create, however some items I have created have taken several days, if not months to complete! My love of baking and cooking in general has been passed down to me from both of my Grannies and my mum. Granny Edna deserves a special mention; due to her kindness, patience and willingness to teach a child from the age of 3 to bake cakes, buns & all things tasty, I still love baking, thanks Granny :D.    

This is my first post, I will add some photos and some examples of my latest "creations".

PS I am learning to knit. I have completed two scarfs this year. I make mistakes daily with my knitting so my mum and Suz are constantly editing it for me. If you are also learning to knit follow my blog for inspiration and "help". The latter will be provided by a friend, Youtube or my mum lol.

PPS I recommend purchasing a copy of "Stitch 'n Bitch Handbook" by Debbie Stoller if you are interested in learning to knit or wanting to improve your knitting skills!