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.
This one is for ginger lovers. As it says, it’s deliciously moist, especially when left for a day before serving.
I’ve always thought that a Tea Cake was a cake which can be made quickly just before visitors arrive and eaten fresh and warm with a cup of tea or coffee. Cakes made like this don’t keep well and are really best eaten the day their made.
TEA CAKE
Beat on high speed 3-4 minutes. Place mixture in large cake tin (200ml). Bake moderate oven 180o for about 30 minutes. Turn out while still hot and spread with butter. Mix together 2 teaspoons coconut, 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and spread on cake.
I found this unusual birthday cake recipe among Mum’s Herald Sun cutouts. She must have been quite taken with it as she cut out around the picture, although I’m sure she never made it. I really wish it was printed in colour as it must look quite good with the red, yellow and green jelly cubes inside. Not quite sure what it would taste like though, but if you’re looking for a kids cake you don’t have to spend hours decorating this might work for you….
Mum collected this recipe from the Herald Sun cooking page, Checkout. The note with it says it was sent in by a lady from New Jersey in America. Just shows how even before the internet recipes were shared around the world.
The wholemeal flour in this fruit cake means that this isn’t at a traditional Fruit Cake, but it has heap of flavour and is nice and quick to make.
I think this recipe came from my sister-in-law’s grandmother. Mum’s mother died when she was quite young and no recipes from her seem to have survived. The addition of mashed potato makes this fruit loaf a bit unusual.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 