No. Not boohoo. I have boobed. I have been making Christmas cakes ever since 2000 when I had a heart attack and was confined to barracks (in that I couldn't drive) for six weeks and suddenly decided to make a Christmas cake or two for Christmas presents. I have made 6 most years since then - even when I was living in New Zealand for half the Scottish winter. Basically it take me a day free of any major distractions to make two cakes. So I set aside today for the purpose and, after having written a couple of letter cards to get into this morning's post, I started measuring everything out. At that point I had a lightbulb moment. I didn't put the dried fruit to soak in brandy last night. Ah well. I will get everything ready and first thing in the morning will use the by then well-soaked goodies to complete the task.
So I had a mince pie and cream and did a cross-word with my coffee and will spend the day as productively as I can doing other things.
If there is any brandy left over you should spend the waiting time sampling it ... for quality control purposes.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm honest JayCee, I have much better Cognac and Armagnac in the house that I would rather attack than my cooking brandy.
DeleteI wonder if we will be doing some baking this year, now that O.K. has finally bought himself the red KitchenAid he has been wanting ever since he set up his own household! Usually, our family friend Rolf, a former baker, makes the loveliest Christmas cookies ever, which means I won‘t bother to make my own. But it seems a shame to have that machine at O.K.‘s and not use it.
ReplyDeleteMeike, it certainly would be a shame. My Kenwood Chef is well over 30 years old and rarely comes out these days other than for my Christmas cakes.
DeleteG'Day, Graham...since my ex passed away in August 2019 I've not made any Christmas cakes...and I shan't do so again this Christmas. I would always send Randall one as part of my Christmas gifts to him...and now, I don't have the heart to make them for myself.
ReplyDeleteI can taste yours from here (sorry for cutting into to them early!) Take good care. :)
G'Day, Lee. I have just put the first two in the oven and am having a coffee and a mince pie. If it were practical I would post you one.
DeleteYou are most kind and generous in thought, Graham. :)
DeleteIf it's time for you to bake your Christmas cake it must be time for me to put up my Christmas decorations. The very next time Lexis comes to visit that is what we will do. Decorating is more fun with little ones, they think any old thing looks good.
ReplyDeletePauline, I rarely put up Christmas decorations. I have been instructed by a friend and neighbour that this year I must get all my decorations out of the loft and make an effort. Ah well. There are 40 days to go. Or is it "there is [a period of] 40 days to go"?
DeleteHello Graham. I have called on you via Rachel's posts and see that you also blog JayCee and Librarian - I blog with them too. May I call in and see you from my bungalow in the Yorkshire Dales - I am 89 and after developing arthritis and also breaking my hip I am now carless - but have plenty of friends who call and also I walk with my walking aids daily and meet folk to talk to. But my blog Weaver of grass is an important part of my life.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you Weaver. In fact we meet in quite a few places. Librarian and I have been blog buddies for many many years considering blogging only really became popular in around 2007. I will pop over and see you when I've cleared up the mess from making the first two cakes (which are now in the oven).
DeleteThat's all good stuff , particularly the fruit cake!
ReplyDeleteRed, it's amazing what one can do with a lot of odds and ends.
DeleteI have not had real Christmas cake in years. The stores have facsimiles but some of the ones I have tasted would do shredded cardboard proud. We are not avid Christmas celebrants so it's not a big deal, but I suspect your cake, properly infused with brandy, baked to perfection no doubt, could cause me to become a devotee. And by the way, if ever you find yourself in southern Ontario, I have just the Cognac to satisfy your discriminating taste. The bed is made and the pillow fluffed in case you imbibe a little more that is commensurate with steady legs. Just be sure to bring a Christmas cake!
ReplyDeleteDavid, oh that that were possible. I was thinking about my Ontario visits last night. When my from-teens friend in Sarnia died several years ago she had been to see me in the December. She could still travel but I cannot get insurance particularly for North America otherwise I would have been visiting too and might well have visited to go on one of your walks. It is so much better having someone to show you where and what to look for.
DeleteI think our kitchen here is too 'bijou' for cake making, so no doubt Lady Magnon will be buying our cake this year. Something she hasn't done for decades. I'll miss the aroma.
ReplyDeleteCro, I'm not sure that it takes a lot of room (unless you are like me and spread everywhere) but it takes organisation. The aroma going through my house at the moment is very good I have to admit.
DeleteGraham, I hope you haven't forgotten the cherries. Don't chop them up small it's both quicker and better just to halve them. I dislike cherries in little bits.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, I certainly have not forgotten the glacé cherries. The ones I buy come halved but I don't cut them further and I use twice the recipe quantity. I think you'd like that.
DeleteBe perfect, the cherries are the best bit. I will put you in touch with Jen who has made my cake for the last ten years. It has taken me five of those to get the cherry ratio correct and to dissuade her from smothering it in almond paste and icing. I eat mine with cheese so if iced it is a waste of icing and almonds. I find it's easier to check the bakers competence if it hasn't sunk or risen and cracked.
DeleteWell, Adrian, I'm glad to say that neither of these two sunk, rose nor cracked.
DeleteI suspect that I shall buy a box of nine (two)bite-sized xmas cakes again. It's not lazyness but more that I really dont want to eat a whole normal sized cake. Too much of a temptation.
ReplyDeletePotty, I don't make a cake for myself, they are all presents for other people. I don't generally eat cake.
DeleteI have never made a Christmas cake. I don't feel I have missed anything.
ReplyDeleteWell, Rachel, I have made dozens of Christmas cakes over the years but I would not miss anything if I never made another one. I don't make a cake for myself and I don't generally eat cake - Christmas or any other.
DeleteI have never eaten what we call "fruitcake" here because it never appealed to me. However the Christmas cakes that you and a few other bloggers speak of sound a lot more yummy than our packaged fruitcakes! I am too lazy to be much of a baker, tho. So I will just have to imagine it! You could post a picture of your cakes to help me!
ReplyDeleteEllen, I will post a picture soon. They are out of the oven now and resting.
DeleteGraham amazing that you make so many and don't est them. Heavy fruit cake is great with sharp cheese. Taking nothing away from your baking skill i have to say to people who don't make it because it looks difficult, that christmas cakes are less likely to 'fail' than a sponge. My Mum's recipe involved boiling the fruit first to make it swell, and feeding the brandy to the cake after it was cooked!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Tigger, that a Christmas cake requires less skill than a sponge. The only cakes I have made frequently have been boiled fruit cakes and carrot cakes which, if the person who usually made them was unavailable, I made for the pottery's café. My Grandfather used to eat Christmas cake with Gorgonzola.
DeleteWell it sounds like you realized your 'booboo' just in time and nothing really got spoiled by it :) I've never baked that kind of cake but I might get round to baking some ginger biscuits later on. If I do it too early they'll be gone before Christmas. But it's time to check that I have the ingredients at home for when I suddenly might feel inspired for it!
ReplyDeleteMonica, I love ginger and, therefore, I enjoy ginger biscuits. I've never made one. Perhaps this is the time.
DeleteOops! I'm trying to decide whether I shall go to the trouble of making a Christmas Cake this year. I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake myself but I quite enjoy the whole tradition of baking one.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I ate my first mince pie of the season :)
Jules, I have boxed myself into a corner over the years so it is a good job that I like making them. I've never made mince pies successfully but I'm going to have a go this year (hopefully) but I've already had half a dozen bought ones.
DeleteYou're doing what I try to do several times a year when I make fruit cakes for my Father, he seems to like them but not my thing. Re: your comment about my mask, it's one I got given that has a cat's face painted on it, I usually get alot of comments on it as it makes people smile.
ReplyDeleteIt's odd, Amy, how many people who make them aren't necessarily so keen on them. I thought it looked like a cat's face. I'd like to have the courage to do that. Insread I wear silly ties and socks.
DeleteI don't actually love fruit cake but there's a sentimentality about Christmas cake. I'm almost hungry
ReplyDeleteKylie, there is definitely a sentimentality about Christmas cake and I know many people who wouldn't dream of not having one.
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