I’ve added pumpkin to a fruit cake, but I’ve never put it in a chocolate cake mix. I guess it would work, especially as this cake has a cup of sultanas and some mixed spice added. It’s definitely not your usual chocolate cake though.
Last year I was looking for a recipe for a zucchini loaf to take on a family picnic. I found this chocolate variety and decided to add a chocolate cream cheese frosting that I use on another cake. It worked really well and was a great hit with the family.
This Zucchini Loaf is easy to make and if you’re one of those parents home schooling your kids during this Covid19 crisis it could be a good project to give the them as part of their maths work. The added bonus is that you get something good to eat when it’s cooked. I admire you all, parents and kids, it’s a difficult and challenging time and you’re doing a great job. Stay well everyone………………
Looking for something to make for afternoon tea while you’re stuck at home? Why not try this. You don’t have to make it quite as fancy if you don’t want to, it would be just as good without the top cut into 8 wedges and probably a lot easier to eat.
I decided this week to hunt out recipes from Mum’s collection that you could make without flour, pasta or rice, which sadly panic buying wiped off the supermarket shelves last week. I found this Chocolate Almond Cake, it’s heavy on eggs, but if you have enough to make it I reckon it will cheer the family up.
As far as I can work out this recipe came from the bottom of a new Willow 8″ round cake tin, probably back in the 50s. Between my own cake tins and those I inherited from Mum I haven’t bought a new cake tin for years so I have no idea if they still come with a recipe, but if they do I hope it’s a bit more accurate than this one, as they’ve left out the quantity of tinned pineapple to use. A 440g can should work, baked in a 20cm cake tin and at 180o.
I’ve never made a Hummingbird cake and hadn’t heard of it until I found this recipe. Wikipedia tells me that the Hummingbird Cake was created on the island of Jamaica and was named after the island’s national bird and that it’s been a favourite of American county fairs and baking competitions since the 1970s. This one is made using pecans, but you can use walnuts, if you prefer.
Back in the day Christmas cakes and pudding were often made using lard, but that’s not easy to get these days and most recipes use butter instead. This cake substitutes copha for lard. I haven’t made it, but think I might do it next year as it sounds interesting.
Yes, this is a fruit cake, but it’s only October so I’m not suggesting it should be your Christmas Cake. It won’t be long before it’s time to get the Christmas recipes out and make the pudding and cake, but think there’s a few more weeks before you need to do that . Sadly these days I only make fruit cakes at Christmas, but really they’re an easy cake to make, they keep well and ingredients like the pineapple and carrot in this recipe add extra flavour. Worth making all year round really……
I’ve lost count of the number of fruit cakes recipes I’ve read over the years, but this is the first one I’ve seen with a cup of coconut in it. It could be an interesting change and as it’s a quick to make, it’s probably worth trying out.
