Chaos and Cake

Chaos

This was my sewing at 14:30 yesterday, not a pretty sight, on the right are the center panels for Marina's quilt blocks, fairly OK small stacks ready for chain sewing. The rest are the fabrics waiting to be cut for the side panels. It was so bad that I had to have a coffee or 3. I am a tea drinker by preference but this needed some serious caffeine.

Once fortified I set to with my trusty rotary cutter, out came the iron and a bit of foot to the floor on the machine led to this

.A tidy stack of completed blocks and the remaining fabric ( you can see lots in the background) which will become the backing, maybe. The Jury is still out on that, I have to trawl through the L.A. treasure trove first. I plan hope to have this completed by Sunday. It is not Marina's birthday yet but I can see another quilt in my mind's eye and the fabric is there also.

Now to cake.

Here are the boiled fruit cakes from yesterday, I have been making this recipe as long as I have been cooking and I have never had a failure. I have even added a bit more fruit, a slosh of brandy and iced them for Christmas and Birthdays.

In a saucepan put 

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of water

450 gms mixed dried fruit, I use the basic range.

225 gms butter. It has to be butter but again use the basic range.

Bring this to the boil, remove from the heat and stir till the butter is melted.

Have a cup of tea while it cools.

Add 1 cup each of P.lain and Self Raising flour

Add 1 heaped tsp of mixed spice and 2 of cocoa powder

Add 2 beaten eggs and mix well to a dropping consistency.

Here is where I jazz it up sometimes with a handful of chopped glace cherries or the grated zest of an orange, some chopped nuts or even chocolate chips. Or you can leave it as is.

I cook mine in a 2lb loaf tin or a 7 inch round tin, I have some silicone liners that came from Poundland about 4 years ago and they are still like new but baking parchment is fine. I always line my tins, it is a life long habit.

In my oven they take 80 minutes for loaf tins and 90 minutes for round at 140 in my fan oven.

Mostly I make loaf shape because I can put 4 in and they cook quicker, less 'leccy.

Cool in the tins and turn out onto a wire rack until completely cold.

I then give 1 each to lovely neighbours , if I make 4 I take 1 to work and we have the other. 

This sometimes gets sliced, nuked in the "ding" oven and served with custard and maple syrup. 

Now I am hungry so Bran Flakes here I come, not forgetting the skimmed milk, deep deep joy.

I could be having fluffy pancakes with Bananas and Maple Syrup but the scales say " not on your nellie Podge)

TTFN   Pam