I’ve posted recipes for lots of different fruit cakes since I started this blog, but have just realized that a Pumpkin Fruit Cake recipe is missing from the collection. Mum and I have both made the pumpkin version over the years, we didn’t use wholemeal flour, but either way the pumpkin is a nice touch to the traditional cake.
I found this recipe among the collection and think it’s a great way to use up the egg yolks leftover from pavlova making. I usually end up making a very, very yellow omelet, but I like this idea better.
They say the older you get the more like your mother you become and I found that out this week. My good friend Deb and I were discussing the Christmas cakes we’d just made and hers sounded very unusual. Unusual, because it’s the first time I’ve heard of the fruit being soaked overnight in strong coffee and then a block of chocolate added – no sugar, no butter – she assures me it tastes great. So like Mum, I had to ask ‘can I please have the recipe’. She got recipe from a co-volunteer at the local Op. Shop who makes it all the time and so the cycle continues…………………..
I always marinate the fruit for my Christmas Cake in brandy and then slosh a bit more onto the cake hot from the oven. It makes a wonderfully rich cake which is great at Christmas, but is a bit too rich for other times of the year. This recipe has a great tip to substitute the brandy with cold tea. I’ve turned a failed Christmas Pudding into a cake by doing that, but this is the recipe I’ve come across that suggests using it from the beginning.
This is a bit of a twist on the usual carrot cake. No eggs needed and a great way to use up very ripe bananas, which is always useful.
Plain cake always sounds so boring, but in reality is tastes great. It has a heavier texture than a sponge and it goes really well with a cup of tea or coffee. Adding the lemon or orange rind to turn it into a Madeira Cake is a great idea.
If you don’t like dates substituting dried apricots in this recipe is a great idea. Served up buttered for morning or afternoon tea it’s always well received.
