Tis the Week of Christmas.....

After a hot and busy social weekend, I have left the baking of this weeks cake to the cooler temperature of last evening.

Nigella in her 'Nigella Christmas' book, makes a stunning looking cake for Christmas that looks like a bunch of Christmas trees lightly covered in fresh powdered snow. The secret is the fir tree shaped bundt cake tin she uses. I have scoured the countries kitchen shops looking for a tin like this, I even emailed her supplier in England and they are currently out of stock! So I popped down to the Homestore in Merivale and found a bundt tin that looks more like a cathedral dome than a bunch of trees!

The cake is a spruced up vanilla cake. It is rich in ingredients.....quite a bit of butter, 6 eggs, and a good cup of yoghurt go together to make a lovely light textured cake.

I will take it with me this morning to Look Good Feel Better and shout for the Cancer society staff.

Over the past three months, I have been making a variety of Christmas cakes that I have given to friends for Christmas. I will blog about them next and let you know how they turned out and how they tasted.

So Merry Christmas, relax and stay cool in these days leading to the big day. Remember to take 5 minutes among the hecticness of these days to breathe, and reflect on the reason for this fun festive season.

Friends Christmas Dinner

It happens once a year...the Friends Family Christmas Dinner...this year was our turn to host, and it was a lot of fun. The home that hosts, provides the Carnivorous bits, another brings nibbles, another veges and another the desserts. Even though I was on the meat side of the dinner, I just had to make a cake.

Enter 'Nigellas Christmas', a fabulous book we bought a couple of years ago and it is full of Christmas recipes according the domestic goddess, Nigella Lawson. I spied a recipe titled Incredibly Easy Chocolate Fruit Cake. It has the most delicious of ingredients, including 350g of prunes (!) muscovado sugar, Tia Maria, ground almonds, to name just a few. Cooking time was just under 2 hours and she suggested to sit it wrapped tightly in foil for four days before eating. That was handy, as I made it last Wednesday so it was all matured and ready to go yesterday.

Everyone was pretty much satiated by the time the cake made an appearance, so we have plenty to share with work collegues and friends popping in.

So, until next week, stay cool, take time to relax amongst the hecticness that can just happen without intention, and leave room in your tum for cake.

Its Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2nd Sunday of Advent means only three weeks until Christmas. This weeks blog should really be about Christmas cakes. My lovely friend Carole, had a family Christmas at her place this weekend so I gave her a Christmas cake to share with her family.

Way back in October, I started to make a collection of Christmas cakes using all different recipes from many of my favourite cake recipe books. The one I chose for Carole was a cake from The Wooden Cakebox Co. Established in 2001 A.D in New Zealand. The cake is made in a wooden box made from Kahikatea (white pine). Apparently the original wooden cakebox was made over 50 years ago and is still in use today!

The recipe is wonderful. The usual spices, fruit, alcohol, eggs and nuts ( and a surprise ingredient of curry powder!) combine to produce a lovely smell in the kitchen, and it cooks for 4 hours. I really hope it tastes good and the recipients of the cakes at Christmas enjoy them.

It was also my youngest fans' birthday in the weekend. Georgia turned 19 and has been whisked away for a weekend of fun and frivolity and returns tonight. Her request was for a carrot cake, so I threw one together yesterday and smothered it in cream cheese icing this morning and will be at her house today awaiting her return.

P.S Had a text from Carole last night re the Christmas cake tasting!!! I quote..."Well have just had some of your cake and must tell you that it was absolutely delicious!!! Moist and truly flavoursome! I think I can even taste that hint of curry powder! Thank you very much.."

Phew! What a relief that it tasted ok, otherwise what is one to do with 6 failed Christmas cakes..ha ha