Christmas Cake

It's Christmas time, mistletoe and wine and I'm not home  for Christmas this year. Sad face. Tosakanth is sad. Christmas is my favourite time of year to be in Sri Lanka because my family and the extended jingband all go for a Christmas breakfast at a family friends place. It's the bestest thing ever. AuntyChurchVillage makes the best breudher ever ever. I personally hate breudher because it's always really dry and full of raisins and stuff that I don't like. But this lady's breudher is to die for. I look forward to this day the whole year and I eat till I pop. Second most awesomest thing about Christmas at home is Christmas dinner at my friend BigMommaR's place. I've been attending her Christmas dinners now for about 6 years I think and it's so much fun. A bunch of fun fellas having homemade Christmas dinner and then afterwards playing havoc with  firecrackers. Our favourite thing to do is sweep the bambara chuckra (the spinny wheely thing) with a broom as far as we can using our hockey skills. best times. sigh.  So anyway, this time I won't be enjoying any of those fun stuff because I'm all alone in Sydney. To numb the pain (and also because I love throwing parties) I decided to have a Christmas Jingle at my place for all those orphaned loners who are in Sydney with me. I wanted to do something authentically Christmassy for dessert. So decided to make Christmas pudding. My mother always fusses and says what a painful task it is because it takes so long to make and all the ingredients are really expensive and stuff. But I think I managed to do a super job of it. although I did want to make pudding and not cake, once I had finished making the batter I decided to bake it instead and make it a cake because steaming it would take forever and I didn't have forever. But O.M.G. the cake is divine. It is soooo moist and rich that I myself am very impressed by how it turned out. 

Your Challenge: This cake is all you will want for Christmas. Trust me. Mariah Carey is lying to you.

  

 

             

Ready --- Steady --- Bake!

Christmas Cake
(Serves 10)

INGREDIENTS: 

100g sultanas 

100g raisins 
100g currants

50g glace cherries, chopped 
50g candied peel
50g ginger preserve, chopped

50g mixed glace fruits. chopped
50g pineapple, Chopped
50g chopped nuts (almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, walnuts etc)

125ml (1/2 cup) brandy 

125g butter, softened 

155g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar 
50g white sugar

60ml (1/4 cup) golden syrup 
30ml Honey

2 eggs 

125g good quality dark cooking chocolate, melted 

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour, sifted 

55g (3/4 cup) breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon allspice 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tbs brandy, extra, to serve

 

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to180°C.

2. Line cake pan with baking paper. (two 9-inch cake pans)

3. Combine the fruits (sultanas, raisins, currants, candied peel, pineapple, ginger, cherries, nuts and glace fruit) in a glass or ceramic bowl. 

4. Place brandy in a heatproof, microwave-safe jug. Cover with plastic wrap and heat on High/800watts/100% for 1-2 minutes or until hot. 

5. Pour brandy over fruit mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes to macerate.

6. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar, honey and golden syrup in a large bowl until thick and pale. 

7. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

8. Add the melted chocolate and beat well

9. Add the batter into the fruit mixture, and stir until well combined. 

10. Add flour, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and stir until well combined.

11. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and bake for about 35 minutes until toothpick comes out dry. 

12. serve with a brandy butter cream cheese icing.

Note: if you want to make Christmas pudding instead

Cover with 2 layers of baking paper. Tie unwaxed white kitchen string under the rim of the basin to secure. Cook on Defrost/350watts/30% for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Drizzle with extra brandy and set aside for 15 minutes. Turn pudding onto a plate and cut into slices to serve.

Challenge Accepted ???

Have yourself a MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, my internet buddies!

Enjoy!

Tosakanth

 

Egg-less Coffee Cake

I was craving coffee cake for the last few days because now that classes have finished I don't get my coffee fix for the day anymore. Since I hadn't made anything for a while I decided to finally get off my arse and make something. However, I didn't have any eggs at home because de facto had finished them all. She's obsessed with eggs, she has one or two everyday I think, so we go through them like crazy. So I decided to make do and make an egg-less cake instead. It turned out really well. It was really soft, like a sponge cake, yet moist. There were no air bubbles in it like normal cake. So I'm assuming that's what eggs do to cakes, make them air bubbly. The batter was very watery so I was a little sceptical about how it would turn out but it turned out super. It's definitely a must try, specially if you don't have all the ingredients you would normally use for a cake. 

Your Challenge: egg-less cake just as a trial bake.

Ready ---  Steady --- Bake!

Egg-less Coffee Cake

(Serves 8)

INGREDIENTS

230g Self Raising Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

50g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

300g Granulated Sugar

240ml Vegetable Oil

4 Tablespoons Instant Coffee (dissolved in half a cup of hot water)

200ml Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
if using All Purpose Flour add:

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to160°C.

2. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

3. Sift together the flour, (baking powder, baking soda), salt, cocoa and sugar into a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well. Add the oil. coffee, milk and vanilla essence.
5. With an electric mixer, beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

6. Pour the batter evenly into both 9-inch cake pans. (or fill the 6 muffin cups halfway with batter and divide the remaining batter between both 8-inch pans).
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Check the cupcakes after 15 minutes).

8. Let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the pans. 
9. Serve with coffee cream cheese frosting.

Challenge Accepted ??? 

Enjoy!

Tosakanth