Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It's beginning to look (and smell) a lot like...........

Christmas!  Yay!  


I will be taking the cake (literally) for the family Christmas  celebration this year.....and have had the recipe out on the bench for a while........then I bought the fruit.......and the brandy........and on Saturday night I decided I really should get it all started........


Then the brandy.........maybe just a splash more.......note my little cook's assistant on the floor on the right....LOL....and she didn't even have a sniff of the brandy..............

and 24 hours later..... into the oven........note the spuds on the left.......the kids were coming for dinner and the cakes were in the v slow oven so I couldn't use it for anything else....so it was baked spuds with tuna mornay........which worked pretty well actually.


I bought the right size tins this year and now have two beautiful cakes.......probably could have bought them for less than it cost me to make....but I love this recipe and there is something special about the smell of slow cooking Christmas cake. Now I just have to put them out of sight so I am not tempted to taste test!  Will need to get them out occasionally and give them a splash of brandy......it will be "don't eat cake and drive" on Christmas day.

No stitching going on at the moment.......I was in bed with the chooks last night....not literally of course...but chooks tend to go to bed at sunset....and I could have stayed up and slept on the lounge but decided to go to bed instead.  Have been out walking this morning......beautiful weather......cool mornings/evenings and warm days.......good living weather!   Off to work.............it's all go there.......looking forward to a few days off over Christmas.....then it will be Australia Day.....again!!  How the years are flying by! 

'Til next time........................Lorraine

15 comments:

Sheryl said...

Yum, I can almost smell those delicious cakes from my house, sadly I'm the only one in my house who loves fruit cake so it's a bit of a waste to make one but then again I could share it with our friends...

seabreezequilts said...

MIL is insisting on having Christmas at her house, so I have bought the turkey (going to try it from the local chicken shop this year). Haven't ever attempted xmas cake, one year when I have a bit more time. Back to teachers pressies, don't think the girls are going to get anything handmade this year.

Kris said...

Oh they will taste soooo much better than a bought one! They look just beautiful.

Pip said...

Mmm Christmas cake baking, lucky the weather wasn't too hot or your kitchen would have been uncomfortable to work in. As Kris said homemade tastes best, and you know exactly what went into it.

Joolz said...

I'm afraid if I made a Christmas cake I would eat the lot - no-one else likes it in this family.

I also say 'it's good living weather' when we get some nice days where the days are warm but not hot and the nights are cool but not too chilly. I think you sleep a whole lot better then.

Cheers - Joolz

Lynda said...

Love Christmas cake - your cakes look beautiful. My fruit needs to soak for another week or so.

Wish we were having some nice weather - I'm over the cold and rain. Far out, it's supposed to be summer.

Today is tree decorating day.

Jeanette said...

Oh those cakes look yummy. I'll be making mine this weekend along with the pudding. The recipe i use has the fruit sitting for a month to marinate. Even enough to make fruit mince pies. :) Not sure why i'm making them as i'm the only one who likes the cake & pudding. But my eldest daughter insisted. At least i know the pies a liked. Hugs,

Lenora said...

I can almost smell them in my house too!

Dawn said...

good on you making the Cake, by the time I have done dozens of Bickies and Gingerbread house, cinnamon scolls and Choclate Chistmas logs along with 10 dozen mince pies...I am pooped... so pooped I just buy a Lions one.. enjoy...sounds yummy
Husg Dawn x x x

Shay said...

I applaud you for making Christmas cake because Im a slacko and buy mine.

They look delicious ...

Katie said...

Yummmmm…...

Chocolate Cat said...

Oh I could almost smell those cakes from here!!!

Leanne said...

Nothing like home made cake. You could be an advertisement for Angus Park.

quiltygal said...

ooohhh I really should think about putting the tree up at least ..lol...2 weeks away arrrggghhhh...need some of the brandy ( keep the cake) going to have a go at mince pies this year as I have found a half decent pastry so heres hoping...

Vivian said...

Since the kids grew up and moved away, very little baking goes on in our house. DH and I eat way too much if baked goodies are sitting around, a problem with many of us empty nesters.

Even though we can buy something cheaper, the homemade things are the best, whether its a quilt or clothing or a wonderful Christmas cake. And nothing is better than the fragrance of baking Christmas treats. Looking forward to daughters coming home so we can do a bit of baking again.
Thanks for sharing some of your holiday preparations.