The Dish: It’s not your ordinary Christmas cake
December 22, 2011
Margaret Kirwin and her family love Christmas cake.
Each year, Margaret makes the traditional treat using the recipe given to her mother in 1943. The recipe came from a friend and was entitled — appropriately, given its yummy taste — “My favourite Christmas cake.”
The cakes are filled with a jumble of currants and raisins, chopped prunes and sliced almonds and pieces of sugary peel and pineapple. Red and green glacéed cherries peep out cheerily from each slice.
Margaret remembers her mother making the cakes every Christmas season.
“To save money, she would buy the almonds in the shell and I remember having to sit and crack them all and remove them from the shell — a tedious job.
“She would keep it in cookie tins in the cold cellar until Christmas. If there was any left over after Christmas — a rare occurrence — she would steam it and we ate it as Christmas pudding with either a custard sauce or a brown sugar sauce or both!”
Margaret suspects she and her family are a rare breed when it comes to their love of Christmas cake. But, as she points, all the naysayers would probably change their minds if they had a taste of a well-made, home-baked cake, no matter the results.
“I’m sure it won’t be healthy, but it won’t stop us from eating it! It’s only once a year, after all.”
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