This is a no need to boil cake @Dovefromabove , it's like @LG_ says hot tea and soak overnight, then make as normal. Very moist, even better with a tot of something added 😁
Soaking fruit in tea seems to be fairly universal, tho I haven't yet met any French recipes or traditions for it.
I make a Borrowdale tea bread which is essentially a fruit cake with all the fruit soaked in tea overnight. I made one for the Ukrainians that installed our new loft insulation. They said it was just like Mum made at home.
My Xmas cake is a Creole cake from Delia's Christmas book. That has all the fruit soaked in a mix of booze for a week before cooking so can be done a week before Xmas and needs no feeding. It's luscious.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Some of my students would make don't dare drive home after a bite rum Christmas cake. I think the fruit was mashed and soaked for a lot longer than a week😋
Oh yuk! What's wrong with a bit of treacle or molasses or just using brown sugar?
No mincemeat here so no mince pies. i've made my own in the past but suet is hard to find too. However, I've just seen this recipe on a Vendée FB page and it looks like it might be a good substitute. No fat so it won't keep as long but should taste great.
Christmas jam
100g dried, stoned dates 100g dried apricots 100g dried
figs 200g prunes 100g raisins (option to soak in rum first) 1 reinette/russet/Pippin apple
cut in cubes 100g walnuts, chopped 300g caster sugar 5ml mixed spice 500ml apple juice
Chop the dried fruit and prunes into smaller pieces – raisin size – and then
mix everything in a large enough pan, cover and leave to soak overnight.
Heat gently to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pot up in sterilised jars, seal and leave to cool.
Serve spread on bread, toast, brioche or use in tarts.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I think it might have been a nod back to the war years @Obelixx , when sugar was rationed, and wasn't un-rationed until 1953. I think it was used to colour more than taste in a cake. Still 🤢. As a Sixties baby I somehow remember Nanna doing it.
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I never bothered saving it as it was always on the side of the packet - until it wasn't😐
I make a Borrowdale tea bread which is essentially a fruit cake with all the fruit soaked in tea overnight. I made one for the Ukrainians that installed our new loft insulation. They said it was just like Mum made at home.
My Xmas cake is a Creole cake from Delia's Christmas book. That has all the fruit soaked in a mix of booze for a week before cooking so can be done a week before Xmas and needs no feeding. It's luscious.
Do any of you remember when they used to put gravy browning in the cakes too? 😮
No mincemeat here so no mince pies. i've made my own in the past but suet is hard to find too. However, I've just seen this recipe on a Vendée FB page and it looks like it might be a good substitute. No fat so it won't keep as long but should taste great.
Christmas jam
100g dried, stoned dates
100g dried apricots
100g dried figs
200g prunes
100g raisins (option to soak in rum first)
1 reinette/russet/Pippin apple cut in cubes
100g walnuts, chopped
300g caster sugar
5ml mixed spice
500ml apple juice
Chop the dried fruit and prunes into smaller pieces – raisin size – and then mix everything in a large enough pan, cover and leave to soak overnight.
Heat gently to a simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pot up in sterilised jars, seal and leave to cool.
Serve spread on bread, toast, brioche or use in tarts.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.