RAW Baking

I love the annual ritual of making my  Christmas cake. 🎄 I soak the fruit in alcohol overnight before baking it in the oven. I also add a few tipples of brandy into the cake itself before adding the layer of marzipan and royal icing. 😋   

After steaming the puds for several hours in a slow cooker, the puddings are ready. I wrap them up ready to be collected by friends and family.  The smell of Xmas puds cooking in the kitchen is of brandy and fruit. It's the smell of Xmas!!  

Today is Stir Up Sunday. The last Sunday before Advent.  I made my xmas puddings today, after soaking the fruit is brandy overnight. They are now steaming away in the slow cooker for several hours. This process makes them very moist and full of flavour. Stir-up Sunday dates back to Victorian times, when cooks prepared the Christmas pudding by stirring the mixture and adding silver coins as good luck token!

This is one of my favourite loaf recipes. Thank you to the Surbiton community fridge project, I used leftover bananas for this recipe 😋 

A chocoholics dream! Chunks of kinder chocolate on the top, along with rich chocolate icing and sprinkled with a spoonful of gold glitter.  A chocolate sponge filled with white chocolate butter icing. As requested by my Niece, Tia for her 14th Birthday Cake. 

I had a very taste slice of Cornish heavy cake from the excellent bakery on St. Martins Island,  Scilly Isles whilst on a recent holiday. Its similar to the classic Rock cake but a bit more crumbly. 😋 This was my first attempt at making a batch myself.  Very tasty if I say so myself! The extra sprinkle of sugar on the top makes all the difference 👌