Christmas Cake Baking
I decided to bake the christmas cake this year. For one, I know what's in it, and for another I can avoid soya/soy products which have been linked to causing thyroid problems, and whilst I'm not a man, male fertility issues.
I started baking cakes at age 3-4. It was something I was good at. I would stand on a stool because at that age I couldn't see over the table tops, and I would measure out the pounds and ounces. Not at 3, but certainly at 4 I was able to measure the necessary quantities.
I could put the tray in the oven, but was too scared I would burn myself to take my cakes out of the oven so that was mum's job.
I remember when my uncle brought my cousins' 2 boys, around 8-12 years over when i was about 4 or 5. When they foudn out they were about to eat cakes I had made they didn't want to eat them because they couldn't see how a 4 or 5-year-old could possibly make cakes.
But they enjoyed them once bitten.
At 9 I remember making butterfly cakes and entering them in a cake baking competition. the age category was 9-16 years. And I came first. Hahahaha, a 9-year-old beating a bunch of 16-year-olds. Cool.
I progressed to making christmas cake some years. Other years mum made it. And some years I think my sister Helen made it. We took it in turns.
From some point after dad died till now I rarely make cakes.
My fruit cakes haven't come out that well since I stopped baking them regularly. So this year I decided to follow the recipe in the Home Recipes with Be-Ro (it's a very old, but tried and tested book, I used to use it when I was little, so I know I can rely on it to get the job done) to the letter.
I say to the letter. But although I kept the same total amount of fruit, I changed the types. Oh and I left out spices as I didnt' have them.
A few things you need to know about my cakes
Firstly I don't like peel of lemon, lime, oranges. That part is not fruit and has no place being in any dish, it tastes nasty and I dont' want it going anywhere near my fruit cake, so I deleted that ingredient.
Secondly I love cherries, so I added more cherries to make up the difference.
Thirdly, I hate marmalade. Completely ruins the cake. So I used apricot jam instead to line the cake before putting marzipan on.
Fourthly, don't hold back on essence. If you're lucky enough to have actual fruit juice it down and use that. If not use the essences and don't hold back especially on vanilla essence when doing sponge unless you want it to be a different flavour. For fruit cakes I tend to put 4 capfuls of almond essence, and for sponge cakes more vanilla essence.
Recipe I used
Mix sugar with butter.
Seive in flour. Naughty as I dont' have a sieve, so I slowly sprinkled in the flour.
Add eggs, this time I added milk with them as that's what recipe said to do. And I think I'm going to keep adding milk when I do my fruit cakes in future.
Fruit - was supposed to be 75% currants/raisins/sultanas; 12.5% rind; 12.5% cherries.
However, I put in 50% raisins, and 50% cherries.
Bloody hard work stirring by hand. the lazies would get an electric mixer which we do have but I try not to use it that often as it uses energy that could best be diverted elsewhere.
Type your cut contents he
.