Welcome to Jacican
I love to cook, I've always loved to cook.
As a young girl, my time was spent reading the cookbooks that mum kept in the bottom kitchen drawer. Always looking for a new recipe to try, a new food idea. Many weekends were spent making rainbow cakes with as many colours as possible – have you seen my Instagram, not much has changed, and looking for recipes that I could cook using what was available in the cupboard or from the vegetable garden.
At the aged of about 16, I remember stating that I wanted to leave the farm and travel the world. This would be followed by retiring by about 30 and moving back to South Gippsland to grow vegetables and cook. From 16 fast forward 20 years and I returned, starting Jacican Food Studio in Mirboo North, Gippsland where I grow vegetables and cook. This blog is where I share my food adventure.
I thought I'd start the blog with a song...
"It's Christmas time, and there's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and banish shade
And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy"
"Throw your arms around the world
At Christmas time"
Do They Know it's Christmas Time?
Midge Ure / Bob Geldof*
Now that you can't get the song out of your head, you might want to make someone that needs it a Christmas cake. Unlike the recipe for Christmas Cake - Easy, this one needs a little more love, a little more care, and very different fruit.
I made three 10 cm round Christmas cakes with this cake batter. I don't really know what size cake you would make (I'm guessing a 23cm square) as I downsized the recipe from a 15 kg cake batter.
Christmas Cake with Glace Fruit
Ingredients
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125 grams glace cherries 125 grams sultanas 125 grams currants 125 grams raisins 125 grams glace peaches** 250 grams glace apricots** 125 grams dates 125 grams prunes 250 ml port 150 grams plain flour |
65 grams almond meal 2 eggs ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground mixed spice ½ orange, zest, and juice ½ lemon, zest, and juice 125 grams butter 125 grams brown sugar |
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Method
Soak dried fruit overnight with port, orange zest and juice and lemon zest and juice. I think I left mine in the bucket for about a week. Mmmm... the extra flavor. Roughly chop glace fruit; this can be done in the food processor.
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and mixed spice together. Add flour to butter mixture and combine. Stir in fruit. I was lazy and used the Mix Master to mix it all together. (It was also less washing up for the 15-year-old.)
The three 10cm tins were lined bottom and sides with baking paper. At the time, I didn't know how many tins I would need, so I lined a couple of extras.
The cakes took 2 hours at 155°C to cook. They were a little dark around the edges, so perhaps turn the oven down even more for a very slow bake.
** Note: I couldn't get glace apricots, so I used glace peaches and pears to a combined weight of 375 grams.
* Read more: Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas Lyrics | MetroLyrics