Afternoon Tea? Sorted!

I love a bit of cupcake action and although I have never claimed to be Nigella, despite on occasion been mistaken for her (!), hot damn I think I come a close second; especially with these babies I whipped up for the girls' afternoon tea today.  My ever stylish friend Mrs C is a deft hand at cupcakes and she presented one of hers to Miss M last Sunday that would run rings around mine, but I have taken her advice and used a piping gizmo to do the icing and I must say, despite icing going where icing should never go, I'm chuffed with the results.  I even copied her use of little icing flowers for decoration. If only I could coax that "secret icing recipe" out of her I might finally be in with a chance.....  "Vino Mrs C??"

Off now to wash the icing out of my fringe...

xxMs.K

ps Miss M says my cupcakes were good but just not as "high" as Mrs C's......dang!!

The Best Bake of the Year

The time has finally come! I normally do this around October but due to the busy business that's been going on this year I'm v.late in comparison. So, one week before the fat man comes (is that phrase still kosher?) I have finally hup-two'd into the kitchen to bake my Christmas Cake. I don't mind a bit of aprons-on old fashioned baking but I must say the Christmas Cake is my most favourite bake of all.....feeling "sad" just re-reading that sentence!! I do have a life....REALLY!
And as luck has it my Secret Santa is a woman of great style so I ended up with these babies (among other goodies) in my stocking......No, they didn't actually lay those eggs, although I wasn't in the room the whole time...

I put them to good use during my Christmas Cake bake. Little cuties!! I've always enjoyed a bit of Nigella action in the kitchen so it is only fitting for me to use one of her recipes for The Cake and my favourite one that I have used for the last couple of years is the Chocolate Fruit Cake. Find it HERE.
Basically you bung about 750g of chopped dried fruit into a large saucepan; I use the remainder of whatever I couldn't fit into my fruit mince jar, with a few other ingredients, gently boil for a while, add the "cake" ingredients and cook for about 2 hours. Smell but don't look while it's boiling in the saucepan! Trust me.

After it has cooked and cooled I take it out of the tin and wrap it in Gladwrap then a layer of alfoil and put it to sleep in a cool dark cupboard until the unveiling on Christmas Day. Easy peasy! Nigella puts a lot of gold bling on the top but I don't have time for that so au naturel is my serving method of choice. Bon Apettit!


xxMs.K

This can only mean one thing.....

He he he....no, not that it's wheelie bin day, but that we're in the thick of Spring! For me it's the time I not only think about the cuteness of newborn baby lambs but more importantly: Fruit Mince!!  When the beautiful Jacarandas are in full bloom around Brisbane is about the time I stock up on my ingredients for this Xmas delicacy which I make every year. So without further adieu I present to you my version of Fruit Mince.

You will need:

1 large glass jar with a screw top lid

A cup of pecans

1/2 cup of honey

Rind and juice of an orange

A green apple, chopped

Dried fruit of your choice; I use sultanas, raisins, prunes, dates and figs (enough to fill the jar)

Cointreau

Vodka

Cranberry juice

Fresh lime

First of all you will need to pour one nip of the vodka, half a nip of the cointreau, a splash of cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime into a cocktail shaker (yes, I'm serious... you'll thank me). Whack in some ice and give a good shaking for about 30 seconds. Decant into your fave cocktail glass.

Step 2 is to finely chop all of the dried fruit and nuts. Take a quick swig sip of the Cosmopolitan (in case you didn't know) that you have just mixed....you'll need it to help you get through all this chopping. I like a bit of Nigella action and do my chopping with a mezzaluna.  Those with squeamish tendencies look away now.....

They're prunes, I swear!

So once all of the chopping of fruit and nuts is done put them into a large bowl and add the chopped green apple, the honey, and, as I don't like mixed peel, I use orange juice and the finely grated rind. Give a good mix and tip into the sterilised glass jar.

Pour in enough Cointreau to fill about a third of the jar and pop on the lid, then sit back, and slowly sipping your Cosmo, admire what will very soon be the best fruit mince you've ever tasted.

Store in a cool dry place and tip upside down on day two, then back the right way on day three etc for the first seven days. This will keep for months and will be perfectly sloshed in time for your fruit mince pies on Xmas Day and used as a topping on vanilla ice cream thereafter. Mmmmmmm!  Please excuse the tangled mess of Xmas ribbon I have draped so unprofessionally around the base of the jar...

and now a moment of truth:

My first attempt at sterilising my brand new jar with boiling water. Don't do it!

xxMs.K