Avonleigh Country Quilting

At long last ... the fruit cake recipe!

Many of you have requested this recipe and I've been so slack getting it posted up onto the blog.  But here it is...

Kay's Fruit Cake:

1kg dried mixed fruit.
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
250g butter
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 cup Grand Marnier to brush over cooked cake.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Put fruit and brandy into a large bowl, cover and stand for a day, stirring occasionally.
Line the base and sides of a deep 23cm-round cake tin with 3 layers of paper, extending the paper about 5cm above the edge of the tin.
Beat together butter, rind and sugar until combined.  Add honey and beat until just mixed in.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just mixed in between additions.  Stir the mixture into the soaked fruit and then stir in the sifted flours and spice.
Spread the cake mixture into the cake tin.  Bake for approximately 3 hours.  Brush the hot cake with extra Grand Marnier, cover tightly with foil and cool in the pan.  The cake can be served once cool or left to mature for a month or two.  I brush with extra Grand Marnier once a week if the cake is left to mature for Christmas.  Yummo! 

Yummy Apricot Squares

For those of you who attended the Marg Low Christmas in July weekend and tasted Sharon's yummy apricot slice, here's the recipe as asked.  For everyone else, Apricot Squares by Missy are seriously good!  Whip up a batch tonight - Sharon promised me that they aren't difficult to make and even I should be able to make them ok! :-))

Yummo!! Whole Orange and Chocolate Cake

I love Whole Orange Cake - it is just SO easy. 

And my favourite recipe became a whole lot more sinful this weekend when I really needed a chocolate fix.  Please take note of the word : NEEDED.  Not wanted, but needed.  A bit like fabric really.... ;-))  So the recipe had a little bit of this and a little bit of that added to it to make it into a healthy chocolate cake.  Well, what else could it be?  It's made with a whole orange, for goodness sake!

The sinful Whole Orange and Chocolate Cake fresh out of the oven.

1 whole orange - unpeeled.
180g butter
3 eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
4 heaped tablespoons of cocoa
1/2 cup dark choc drops
2 tablespoons Contreau (or more if you like!)
Icing sugar / cream

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and flour a ring tin.
Quarter the orange and cut out most of the pith.  Put the quartered orange into the food processor and processing until well pureed. 
Add all the other ingredients, except the choc drops, and process until well blended.  Add the choc drops at the very end and stir mixture with a spoon until the drops are mixed through the batter.

Pour mixture into greased ring tin and bung in the oven for 40 - 45 mins.

I'm afraid I don't generally ice cakes so you're welcome to make up your own icing.  I would imagine that a normal icing with added orange juice and maybe zest would be great.  I simply sprinkle it with icing sugar and serve with cream.  Too easy!

And if you're not into chocolate - do everything above but leave out the cocoa, choc drops and Contreau.  The Whole Orange cake tastes just great on its own.

 

Loquat & Apricot season!

It's that time of the year again when it's raining loquats and apricots! Well, it is if you stand under my trees!  Unfortunately fruit fly is definitely still with us, despite baiting and practising good orchard management by picking up all fallen fruit and baking it in black plastic bags!  This year we have an extremely good harvest of both fruits though so are getting more than enough good fruit to make jam and dry for the winter.  Allan, my partner, and I are hard at work at the moment as the apricot tree is dripping with fruit!  Last night we picked, cut and packed the drier and for the rest of the week, we'll probably both be making jam!  Kara, my Kelpie dog, is in seventh heaven as she LOVES all this fruit but it certainly isn't good for her and she's been banned from the orchard!

Loquats about to be made into jam.

 The final product - yummy jam waiting to be eaten with relish over winter!

Apricots drying on racks last night and this morning!  Don't they look scrummy?  I love chopping them up and putting them in my porridge in winter.

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe for Loquat Jam:

Equal weight of fruit (deseeded) and sugar.
200ml water and finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons per 1 kg fruit.
I usually add JamSetter as well

Simmer fruit in water till soft. Either mash well, hit it with a blender stick or put it through the food processor.  Add juice, rind and sugar - and JamSetter if using. Boil rapidly till a little sets on a cold saucer. Bottle and seal.