Made the cake

The Christmas cake that is.

On Thursday we decided to go to the cash and carry. We don't have a card but you can get a day ticket. We have avoided going for 18 months as I tend to get a bit carried away in these places. Our neighbours had taken us once last year to show us where it is. But we needed fruit for the Christmas cake and there was an outside chance that they might have currants....fat chance! But I did get a lovely big 1kg box of glace cherries. And a pasta machine. And some butter (Lurpak spreadable, such luxury) We didn't do too badly though, apart from the pasta machine we only bought what we needed.

So yesterday I had a baking day, a nice change from chutney. First it was cherry cake, haven't had one for a while.and with all those cherries begging to be used it would have rude not to.

The cherries don't sink in this recipe

Then it was bread making day so three batches of dough on the go. Two bloomers, two cheese and onion and one pizza base made.

Then for lunch it was leek, kale and sirene pie. With salad. Note to self...use more sugar in the pickled beets next year...they are sharp!

Some of our lovely kale, used instead of spinach and works just as well

Once the bread was baked it was time to put the Christmas cake in. I had improvised with the fruit, following a basic Mary Berry recipe for weights (a little less boozy than the mncemeat!!!) and soaked the fruit in sherry as I didn't have brandy, and orange juice. So the actual batter was as it should have been but the fruit part was golden and dark raisins, cranberries, a few prunes, lots of whole cherries, although we have candied peel I don't like it so orange and lemon zest for flavour, and home grown dried figs and walnuts. So a bit different to the normal fruit but it looks lovely and smells gorgeous. And there are two of them! The recipe called for a nine inch tin and the one I use all the time is eight inch, so I lined a six inch just in case and the mixture did the two cakes. Ah well, it'll keep.

Cake in waiting

Splash has a new box. Dave took the pasta machine out to have a look and the cat was in there before he had put it down. So he is a happy boy, it's just a nice cosy size for him.