NoNoNoBloPoMo
It’s December now! And no, I didn’t consciously think of November as NoNoBloPoMo (November No Blog Posting Month), if I did have a theme running round my head it was more along the lines of LoGeLiMo (Local Get a Life Month). I AM NOT KNOCKING PEOPLE WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED/SUCCEEDED WITH NaBloPoMo – lots of people found it fun/a useful discipline/a way of refinding the blogging/knitting joy etc etc. However for me the better discipline was to spend much less time on the computer, getting more done round the house and engaging more with my children. It’s been good, and I’ve been spinning and knitting:
You may remember this:
?
– handspun merino. Well it knitted up like this:
– matching scarf and .. er… teacosy. Kind of bright aren’t they? The scarf (a simply K2 P2 rib) is for Adam and the teacosy (from Spindle and Wheel) is as a thank you/Christmas present for my aunt and uncle who gave me the money to buy my wheel.
I’m really rather excited by these – to my mind they look rather like Trekking XXL (in particular these socks) – I’m really enjoying the blended striping. My recipe – spin from the fold, taking a handful of one colour, then the next, then the next – repeat. Part-fill 3 bobbins, then ply them together (not navajo plying – I was after the opposite effect here.)
I’ve also been cooking. Yesterday Ruth and I made Christmas cake.
In the US fruit cake is often looked down upon. Gluten-free girl says:
I’ve never been fond of fruitcake. It just seems too cloying and condensed, like concentrated maraschino cherries. Didn’t Johnny Carson use to joke that there was only one fruitcake in the world, and it just keep getting re-gifted every year? Bleh.
A little research reveals why our transatlantic cousins have such a negative attitude. My copy of the Southern Living Cookbook (there are more modern editions available, but this is the one I have) uses butter, sugar, vanilla (hmm), lemon extract, eggs, flour – all good so far, but then we get to – 3 cups of yellow, green and red candied pineapple and 2 cups of red and green candied cherries! The rest of the recipe becomes irrelevant – no, No, NO and again NO
If anyone wants to try a traditional-style British fruitcake – and especially if anyone needs it to be gluten-free, here is my adaptation of Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearney’s recipe from Healthy Gluten-free Eating
Christmas Cake – this should ideally be made at least a month before eating
4oz (110g)chopped apricots (the recipe uses glace cherries, but these are incredibly hard to find gluten-free, and I don’t really like them anyway).
2oz (50g) flaked almonds (smash them up a bit – or use whole almonds and blanch and chop them)
12oz (350g) sultanas
12oz (350g) raisins
12oz (350g) currants
10oz (275g) ground almonds
2oz (50g) dates – chopped
2oz (50g) dried figs – chopped
1oz (25g) crystallised ginger – chopped
grated rind of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1 orange
2 1/2fl oz (60ml) Drambuie (or whiskey, or brandy etc etc)
8oz (225g) butter
8oz (225g) soft brown sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
4oz (110g) rice flour (I used Dove’s Farm gluten-free plain white flour)
2 teaspoons xanthan gum (this is to make the gluten-free flour act a bit more ‘normally’ – if the gluten-free thing isn’t a problem for you, just use ordinary white flour and ignore the xanthan gum).
1 large cooking apple
Use a 9 inch round tin or an 8 inch square tin. (I find round tins easier to line and square cakes easier to cut… ) Grease and line the tin with greaseproof paper – making sure that it comes well above the side of the tin – at least half as high again. (The recipe says to use brown paper, and line it with greaseproof paper. I didn’t have any brown paper, so I simply used double-thickness greaseproof.)
Mix the dried fruit, the bashed flaked almonds, 2oz (50g) of the ground almonds, the grated lemon and orange rind and about half the Drambuie and leave for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs.
Add the flour, xanthan gum, spice and remaining ground almonds and stir in gently.
Grate the apple, and add it and the dried fruit/nut mix, stirring in thoroughly but gently.
Put the cake mix in the prepared tin. Make a slight hollow in the middle, smooth the top with a wet hand.
Lay a sheet of brown paper over the top of the tin and cook at 180C/350F for 1 hour. If your eggs are fresh from the chickens at the bottom of the garden, then you can lick the bowl out.
Then reduce the temperature to 160C/325F for a further 3-3.5 hours. Test by inserting a skewer into the centre – the cake is cooked if it comes out completely clean.
Pour the rest of the Drambuie over the cake straight away and leave to cool in the tin.
The next day remove the cake from the tin, but leave the paper. Wrap in extra greaseproof paper and aluminium foil until needed. When ready to eat, it can be covered with marzipan and royal icing.
Now I’m sure that any Brits reading will have their own recipe, and may look on some of the above with horror, but still – the cake it makes is dark and rich and delicious.
ten comments:
Green and red candied pineapple? I’ve just had to go back an re-read your post to make sure I’m not dreaming (or, rather, having a nightmare?). Your cake soundds far more delicious and your delightful kitchen helper seems to appreciate it too.rosie () (link) - 01 December '07 - 12:24
Lovely, lovely photos! That cake looks Good. And Ruth, so grown up.The scarf and tea-cosy thing look gorgeous.
Big Ruth - 01 December '07 - 16:40
Love the handspun scarf and teacozy, that will brighten up anyones day!That cake looks so yummy! I’ve not seen anything like that!.
jessica () (link) - 01 December '07 - 18:01
Wow, that handspun knit up gorgeously! And I’m saving the link to this recipe, just in case…Chris () (link) - 01 December '07 - 21:35
Funny enough I am knitting up some of my own handspun as I type (well – not exactly as I type) and it’s the thinnest I have ever spun and I am doing socks – I can’t wait to see how they look after looking at your lovely collection.BTW – the recipe sounds JUST as my Grandmother used to cook hers. Yum
Donyale Grant () (link) - 02 December '07 - 08:51
Knitted handspun looks beautifully bright! Yup, that Southern recipe would explain a few things and you’re right, I have another variation of a traditional, british, dark fruit cake, but it’s a hand me and reminds me of home. Except I have to cook it myself! Your assistant is beautiful too. The cake sounds/looks yum, but is missing the weekly annointing mine gets of brandy until the week before Christmas. I have to leave it to ‘settle’ for a while before I can marzipan and ice it.Ooo, it’s getting close, the goose is getting fat and all that! xx
Louise () (link) - 02 December '07 - 15:55
I love that Handspun…!!!!!Love
Sarah xXx
Sarah () (link) - 03 December '07 - 01:50
Your handspun knit up so cute! I love that set.Yum, fruitcake. We might be the only family on the West Coast that likes it. OTOH, we have my mother’s passed-down-through-the-generations recipe.
Not to knock the NoBloPoMo crowd but it drove me crazy. I ended up going online a lot less because it was just so overwhelming.
Carrie K () (link) - 05 December '07 - 22:21
I love Christmas cake! We use Delia Smith’s recipe (my husband’s tradition)-By the way, I’ve moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress. Here’s the new address:
http://woollies.wordpress.com/
Tracy () (link) - 10 December '07 - 21:06
I don’t know about blog updating, but eeek, how about total failure to read blog posts during December?! I did have a pretty good excuse though! Your cake sounds yum (and the Southern recipe v. scary!).Daisy () (link) - 23 December '07 - 12:32
