Pirates of the Carribean Christmas Cake

Today I baked my Christmas cake! Whoopee..doo dah..the first one in over 10 years

It's a cake that would have Captain Henry Morgan and his mateys screaming for more. A rich dark fruit cake, it is a recipe I got from my Granny, and have used for years. I have tweeked the recipe a bit to suit my own taste, substitueting candied peel for preserved gineger for instance

Back in the days when I did wedding cakes and christening cakes for friends and family, this cake was a hit, and it can keep for years in a sealed tin..no jokes.

My old uncle Chris, God bless his cotton socks, loved fruit cake, and would buy all the ingredients and have me make him one. Today when I was mixing up the ingredients, I couldn't help thinking of him, he would have been so chuffed to see how good it turned out.

But the secret of my fruit cake is that I use a special ingredient..!

Captain Morgan's Spicy Gold Rum..!
Yip...beats the pants off using traditional brandy any day.

First off, if you want to try baking this cake for Christmas, you had better get cracking, as it needs to mature for 3 months. So go out there and buy all the goodies that go into it asap.  It will make a very big cake, or two medium ones, or one large cake and one small one. I have made a large cake and a small little one which I will give away as a gift once they are decorated. Here is what you will need.

The fruit mixture

6 1/2 cups of fruit mix, (raisins, sultanas and currents, in SA you can buy the big packet of fruit cake mix ready mixed with all the fruit you need, just measure out the 6 1/2 cups).
1 cup of glace cherries left whole
1 cup of whole almonds, skinned, if you buy unskinned ones, soak them in hot water till the skins peel off easier...it's still a mission to skin em...just do it!
1 cup glace pineapple (or you can substitute ginger if you prefer)
1/2 a cup candied orange/lemon peel
1 bottle Captain Morgan Spiced Gold Rum
1 glass Tawny Port

Soak and peel the almonds. Drink the glass of Tawny Port while you do so.Wash all the fruits in warm water and drain off well.  Pick out any raisin stalks if you find any. Chop the pineapple (or ginger) and then mix all the prepared fruit together. Pour over 2/3 of a cup of rum, and mix well, then cover and let stand over night or for a day or so, to let the fruit really soak up that rum!

Prepare the baking tins

Line the bottom of the baking tins with at least 3 layers of brown paper, then make a paper collar to fit around the inside edge of the tins. This is to prevent BURNING...Grease the tin with butter, then stick the paper down to the base and up the inside side of the tin. Grease the paper too...don't be stingy with the butter..gee hom vet..!

The Cake Mixture 

1 1/2 cups butter...(not flippen marg!)
6 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
3 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 glass Tawny Port

Take a sip of Tawny Port. Pre-heat the oven to 300°F (220°C). Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Cream the butter, and gradually add the brown sugar a bit at a time. Add the eggs one at a time to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, beating in well after each egg is added. Give the fruit mixture a good stir, then add the whole lot to the butter and egg mixture, and mix thoroughly. Take another swig of Tawny Port. Now add the dry ingredients to the fruit,butter,egg mixture, slowly,...just a bit at a time, mixing thoroughly, so as to work in any dry lumps. It is a very stiff mixture, so call for back up if your arm gets tired. Take another sip of Tawny Port.
Pack into the prepared baking tins, and push down into the form, smoothing the top with a spatula. Cover lightly with a piece of baking paper to prevent burning..don't push the paper down onto the cake batter, just let it rest on the collar/tin edge. Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Down the rest of the Tawny Port...and relax..keep an eye on the oven, turn in down a notch to about 250°F (180°C).

Once done, take out the oven and let the cakes cool a bit. When warm to the touch, sprinkle with rum on the top. Then turn the cakes over onto a bread board and sprinkle rum over the bottom. Line a cake tin with a tight fitting lid with Alu foil. Once the cake is completely cool, seal in the cake tin. Once a week take the cake out of the tin and give it a generous sprinkling of rum, top and bottom..A week or so before Christmas the botti of rum should be almost finished, and the cake ready for decorating...

Happy baking!

Royal Albert 'English Bouquet' Tea for Four

A rare and very pretty vintage set of Royal Albert Bone China in the 'English Bouquet' pattern.

Cup Shape: Coutness

Plate Shape: Hampton

There are four cups, saucers and tea plates, a cake plate and a milk jug and sugar bowl. All are in good condition with a nice shiny glaze and gilding, all pieces understamped 

Quintissential vintage English china made by Royal Albert, lovely to use for summer time teas, and to display.

Delicate and robust English china that will last a lifetime.

Queen Anne Bone China Coffee Set for Two

A beautiful vintage English 7 piece Queen Anne bone china coffee set in the Old Country Sprays pattern , a truly delightful delicate floral pattern of country garden flowers.

There are two cups and saucers, three bread and butter plates and small sugar bowl. All are in amazing condition with a nice shiny glaze, gilding, all pieces understamped and absolutely no crazing or damage.

Harebells and voilets, buttercups and forget-me-nots, and pink polyanthus on a fine white china.

Wonderful to use and display, very sturdy china that will last a lifetime. Real country vintage!

Delphine Bone China Pastel Rainbow

Chic pastel rainbow and white vintage gilded bone china from Delphine, an elegant set for tea ~ six of each cups, saucers and tea plates,  in perfect condition. Made in England by one of the best china companies, in a delicate pastel rainbow, hand gilded and with a shiny glaze, this china appears to be unused.

A delight to use and display ~ to mix with your china for that eclectic touch of shabby chic Tea definitely tastes better from a bone china cup!

Cass Abrahams Cooks Cape Malay...In Germany..!

If any of my readers are lucky enough to be near the Schwarzwald, and particularly near the town of Rust, between the 1st and 15th August, there is a special treat awaiting!

Star Cape Malay chef, Cass Abrahams is cooking up a storm of traditional Cape Malay and South African dishes at the Colonial House in Europa Park, Rust. Cass has been visiting Germany for the past 4 years at the invitation of Thomas Mack of Europa Park, and while there, along with her assistent chef, cooks up a storm of familiar South African favourits for the geusts.

Last year I went along with my daughter who was invited by Cass, and it was absolutely fantastic. I met Cass and her team, who slave all day long in the kitchen preparing the wonderful dinner. Of course, we are making a family outing of it again this year and taking along some friends for a bit of Cape flavour from the old heimat.. There was a full on braai, with Boerewors, skaap tjoppies, ostrich fillet, sosaties, fish braai.. you name it bud..all done to a turn! There was also the Cape Malay buffet with a chicken curry that was so great I can't even begin to decribe it, words fail me, this was accompanied by yellow rice with raisins, and of course Cassies delectable home made chutneys, blatjangs and sambals. There was Babotie and bredies, salads for Africa, Malva pudding with custard, souskluitjies, dark chocolate cake...there was such a huge variety of mouth watering dishes a person would need 3 stomachs to try everything! All accompanied by a selection of fine South African wines.

Europa Park laid out the venue at the Colonial House so beautifully, building a lapa outside where the buffet is served, the braai fires going alongside, live music, and the tables set out in the garden under the trees. It was absolutely beautiful, and a big hats off to the organisers who work so hard to make it a special evening!

Booking is essential, as over the past years word got around about this feast, and Cassie cooked for a sold out house every night last year. I will post an update of our evening next week. Hope you can make it too..!

UPDATE - It was lekker...!

My working environment...

I thought I would make all you poor office slaves stuck in a concrete block all day a wee bit jealous, and show you what a loverly office I have in a protected nature reserve. It is in a little fachwerk building, situated right next to a river surrounded by potplants and flowers.

Am I not a lucky girl..!

The river banks are full of trees and plants, and behind my office is a small patch of woodland area.

In the early morning I take a walk round the back and just enjoy the quiet, and listen to the birds. The ground is covered in wild grasses and buttercups, and othere small wild flowers. I have red squirrils that run up the tree next to the office occassionally, and have even had a hedgehog come sniffing around by my door. I usually only see hedgehogs squashed on the roads, so it was a real treat to see one up close and alive!

There are many wild birds that nest around the area, and apart from many black ravens that nest in the tree tops, I have even seen the fairly rare 'Blaumeisen', which is the cutest little blue and yellow birdie ever..
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Spring time in the city

The city is looking beautiful with all the trees in bright spring green.

The Rathaus

cars and bicycles

Colombi Schlosspark is looking really pretty with all the spring bulbs blooming

Black Forest Cup and Fruit Jogurt Cup at the Ice Cream parlour on the Rathausplatz is a must after a hard days shopping!

Dappled shade in the park behindthe church

Floral detail on the wroght iron fence surrounding the churchyard

The lawn around the church is full of buttercups and tiny white 'Gänseblumchen', little miniture daisies.

A wreath of sandstone roses adorn an old tombstone in the churchyard

I was delighted to see Bluebells growing among a tangle of weeds and ivy on an old overgrown grave.

Real Bluebells, although common in much of Britain and Ireland,  are rare in the rest of Europe and absent from the rest of the world. The populations in the UK represent about 30% of the global population. The species has greatly declined over the past 50 years and is globally threatened.

Beautiful old Gothic tombstones covered in moss

This lady buried beneath this pretty tombstone, Emma, was born in 1858 and died in 1878.

The Beautiful Chelsea Pensioners Garden

The Ecover Chelsea Pensioners' Garden was Julian Dowle's 26th garden - and 26th award winner - at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2005.

Julian's inspiration for his entry came from discussions with a group of Chelsea Pensioners over a pint. The result was "A Soldier's Dream of Blighty", - a nostalgic vision of an English country pub garden in 1945.

The pub, the "Chelsea Pensioner", has a thatched roof with traditional rendered walls covered with climbing roses. Outside is a stone terrace, with benches and tables, surrounded by a cottage garden.

A timber-framed shelter provides a seating area beside the "Dig for Victory" vegetable patch. The vegetables were grown by the Royal Hospital Chelsea using varieties selected from a 1939 catalogue.

A stone gravel path links the pub to a village green and duck pond. The village green - as befits five years of wartime neglect - was awash with wildflowers, symbolically dominated by wild poppies. Both fence and pub were adorned with Union Jack bunting, representing celebrations of the homecoming.

Creeping, climbing beauties..