Lauren Gemmell

Food, Fitness, and Technology

Category: Christmas

Soaking Fruit for Christmas Cake 2013

Last year for the first time I made my own Christmas cake flavoured with chocolate and cherries. It was meant to be a little different, but to be honest it wasn’t that different from a traditional Christmas Fruit Cake.

This year I am trying again to go a little on to the unusual side. In this case by using Indian spice blend Garam Masala instead of just the usual Christmas spice collection: cinnamon, ginger, cloves and all spice.

I am following this recipe for Garam Masala Christmas Cake.

Can you guess what I am making today?

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Gingerbread and Sultana Mug Cake (5 minutes)

I’ve just started a sewing class, you know to learn how to use a sewing machine and make a skirt. It’s a Sunday night class, because I can’t make the ones during the week, and it turns out these things take concentration.

Sewing in a straight line takes focus and sewing a curve is worse. By the time I leave with a skirt full of unpicking to do… it’s blowing a gale outside, it’s dark and raining. I want something to eat but I know we have nothing in the cupboards.

Then I get into the house, it’s bright and warm, my husband asks me as I enter the front door if I want a hot drink, and suddenly I relax. I know what I am going to make.

Gingerbread Mug Cake topped with custard and almonds

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Christmas Cake: Iced

In the run up to Christmas I did eventually find the time to ice my cake, but only just enough time. In the end I went for a very simple Christmas tree decoration.

Iced Christmas Cake

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Christmas Leftover Fried Rice

This is a recipe I first made at the start of December but it is so perfect for Christmas leftovers that I wanted to leave posting it till now.

Christmas Leftover Fried Rice

Using leftover turkey (or maybe even ham), rice, a couple of eggs and some Chinese 5 spices you can whip up a very quick taste Christmassy dinner.

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Christmas Cake: Feeding the cake

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while.

Every couple of weeks I have been feeding my Chocolate Christmas Cake with Amaretto.

Feeding the Christmas Cake

Of course I can’t tell you much about how it tastes, but it smells wonderful – deep, rich and christmassy. Every time I unwrap the cake the aroma fills the kitchen.

Feeding the Christmas Cake

Tomorrow I will ice the cake, however I still haven’t quite decided on how to decorate it, my options so far on this iced Christmas cake pinboard.

Then once I have taken like a billion photos, I will chop it up and eat it.

I’ll let you know how it tastes.

Chocolate and Cherry Christmas Cake

At the end of December I wrote a post about how I had stopped cooking and baking during the stress of planning a wedding. How I had resolved to get myself back into it using a list of techniques and dishes I wanted to create by the end of 2012. Needless to say I can’t strike a single thing off of that list.

My first year as a married woman has not been spent as a domestic goddess, with apron on, baking delicious treats and warming homely dinners. While it is extremely unlikely I will ever be that woman, I can always hope (and pursue) more of a life/work balance for the next year.

However there was one thing that shines out above all others on the list, to bake, marzipan and ice a cake.

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