A Homemade Christmas

My daughter and I have been busy in the kitchen this week.  Actually mostly my daughter has been busy.  I was responsible for baking the Christmas cake but she iced it, made the mince tarts and truffles.  This year for the first time, I made my own Christmas mince which I found out was hugely cost effective and tastier than the commercial mince. This particular Christmas cake is called Easy Peasy Christmas cake and is just that.  I have tried several over the years but keep coming back to this one.  We iced it using homemade fondant, a new trick as we usually purchase this as well.  The polar bears are also fondant and the red and green spots are butter cream.  I think my daughter is so good at icing cakes she may well permanently inherit the job!

Easy Peasy Christmas Cake

Mix in a saucepan and heat:

 1 cup water

 250gm butter

 1kg mixed fruit

 1tbs vinegar

 1tbs nutmeg

 1/2 tsp each of ginger cinnamon and mixed spices

Boil then add:

 1 tsp baking soda

 1 tin condensed milk

 2 tsp of any essence

Cool then add:

 2 cups sifted flour

 1 tsp baking powder

 1/8 tsp salt

Mix well

Prepare a cake tin by covering with a sheet of baking paper.  Bake for two hours on 150deg Celsius or until tested with a skewer.

Before placing in the oven, sprinkle cold water oer the top of the cake mixture to stop cracking.  When the cake is cold, prick with a fork and brush over with sherry or whiskey

Ice if desired.  Bon appetite

Definitely no sugar or eggs are needed in this recipe.