Well My local Bee Club is putting up a field day and we can enter in some cakes for competition.
Unfortunately the competition is about fruit cake. And I don't like fruit cakes. And after reading the recipe I believe its been set up to make fruit rocks.
So I am going to modify the recipe to my personal preference. Please note that I have not tested this out yet. But will try make an effort to post pictures.
Also, I have never made fruit cake before.... either. I would have liked to experiment with the original first but the ingredients are uite a lot. And I personally Dont like eating fruitcake.
Honey Christmas Cake (Original recipe taken from The Buzz October 2012 Club Newsletter) -
www.gcabs.net.au 1 1/4 Cups Wholemeal Flour
1 1/4 Cups Wholemeal Selfraising flour
185g butter chopped
750g Mixed dried fruit
(eeww yuk)3/4 cup honey
3/4 Cup Hot milk
(yep this will make it all sink to the bottom... the brownie effect?)2 tablespoons Brandy
2 eggs
Method
Oven Temperature 150 C
Cooking time Approx 2-2 1/2 Hours
1. Line Base and sides of deep 20 cm Round cake pan with three layers of baking paper, bring paper 5cm above top of pan
2. Preheat oven to slow 150C
3. Combine Flours in a large bowl , rub butter in with finger tips
(What? are we making apple crumble?) 4. Stir in remaining ingredients
5. Spread mixture into prepared pan
6. bake in preheated oven approx 2 to 2 1/2 hours
7. Cover hot cake tightly with foil and cool in pan.
WARNING UNTESTED RECIPE Mek's Modified Honey Christmas Cake - *Design Stage*
Ingredients
2 3/4 Cups Whole meal Self raising Flour (cos I make flat cakes - extra uarter cup cos i add slightly more butter, extra milk fats from the sour cream and need more actual cake to compensate for the extra ingredients).
200 g Butter Softened (easier to cut butter into 4/5)
750g Fruit medely (its like apricots and raisins and dried apples and pear)
3/4 cup Honey
3/4 Sour cream (raising agent and will keep cake moist and soft extra fat is good and have a lee way to add extra flour if there is too much fruit and nuts)
2 Tablespoons Brandy (hmmm grog)
2 Eggs
200g Glace Cherries
120g blanched almonds
110g Macadamia Nuts Halves (cos its cheaper)
finely grated Rind of an orange
finely grated Rind of a lemon
1/4 Cup Roughly chopped Crystilised ginger
1/4 Cup raisins
Extra Sour cream or Whole meal self raising flour spare
Topping
1/4 Cup honey extra give or take
1 Tablespoons Brandy
Salt to sprinkle
Method
Night before or two hours prehand Soak 1/4 Cup raisins with two tablespoons Brandy
Line a 20 cm deep cake pan and have a muffin tray out
Preheat oven to 150C
Cream soften Butter and add honey gradually
add lemon and orange rind to the creamed butter mix
Dribble in lightly beaten eggs
mix in sour cream
Fold in Flour
Mix all fruit and nuts
Bake in preheated oven for 2 -2 1/2
Mix honey and brandy topping
Paste topping 3 minutes before cake is cooked lightly sprinkle with salt.
Cover hot cake tightly with foil and cool in pan
Extra cake mix in muffin tray check in 12 minutes 20 minutes then five minutes there after to see if cooked.
It's debatable to add some mixed spice or cinnamon and nutmeg to the creamed butter stage to give the cake a more christmasy feel.. which is this years cooking theme... but I want to keep the flavours fresh and focus on the honey flavour.
The second issue to this baking thing is I still dont have bees yet so I will have to use shop bought honey.
Cake may turn out better with crystallised rather than runny honey.
WARNING Mek's Modified fruit cake recipe has not yet been tested.
Photos and alterations (if any) will be posted later on.
