I was so preoccupied with planning for and hosting a family lunch yesterday that it has only dawned on me just now that it's Friday. And I am suppose to have come up with an idea for this week's five related whatevers. But to one who is by nature more misanthropic hermit than bonne vivante, feeding informal lunch to a handful of lovely familiar people is an undertaking of the order of magnitude of the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
And what, you might be curious to know, comprised this epic feast? Well, there was:
- Stuffed bread (an excavated unsliced pan filled with a sort of meat/veg-loaf mixture, the lot then wrapped in tinfoil and roasted in the oven);
- Potato salad (this is Ireland, after all);
- Dips (tomato and black olive, hummus) with crudités (carrots and home-grown courgette);
- Cheese (lovingly hand-crafted, from a regional artisan producer) and Branston pickle (lovingly machine-crafted, from a multinational corporate producer);
- Boiled fruit cake* and home-made shortbread biscuits fancified by adding a dollop of marmalade and a covering of dark chocolate on top.
So there you have it—five linked items, as per contract!
Boiled Fruit Cake
INGREDIENTS
6 oz currants
2 oz chopped walnuts
2 oz glace cherries
2 oz mixed peel
6 oz butter or margarine
3–4 oz granulated sugar [the original recipe calls for 6oz, but that is very sweet]
10 oz plain flour
4 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp baking powder
METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Grease and line an 8” round or 7” square cake tin (a 2lb bread tin will do fine as well).
Put sultanas and currants in a saucepan; just cover with water, bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 min. Remove from heat and strain off liquid [keep it for a hot toddy: just add a dash of rum!]
Add walnuts, cherries, mixed peel, butter, and sugar; stir over a low heat until the butter has melted.
Beat the eggs and add to the fruit with flour, baking powder and spice.
Pour into cake tin and bake for 1 – 1½ hrs.
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