Grandma's Christmas Cake

Anyone who knows me well will know that Christmas is my absolute all time favourite time of year. I BLOOMIN' LOVE IT. As soon as summer is over I'm getting hyped for the festive season. Now, I usually try to behave myself and don't get into the Christmas spirit until the last week of November at the very least. However, if you want to make a Christmas cake then mid-October is the perfect time to do it. I very much enjoy the fact that this gives me an excuse to have a few hours of feeling 'Christmassy' super early. I had to make my cake at the end of September this year before I moved away to University but if you've not done it yet, now is the perfect opportunity.

My Grandma was an amazing woman for many reasons but one thing that she is remembered fondly for is her incredible cooking and baking! Her Christmas cake recipe is undoubtedly the best and you lucky lot have me to share it with you! So get the festive tunes on and get baking.

so, so haps to have an excuse to wear my xmas jumper! (and to look like a twat)

Ingredients:

• 8oz (225g) butter
• 8oz (225g) soft brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 8oz (225g) plain flour
• 4oz (115g) glace cherries
• 4oz (115g) ground almonds
• 4oz (115g) raisins
• 8oz (225g) currants
• 8oz (225g) sultanas
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 tablespoon black treacle

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar 
   
2. Gradually blend in the eggs and flour 
   
   
   
   
3. Put all fruit and spice into a separate bowl and stir in the ground almonds 
   
4. Combine the two mixtures, add the black treacle 
   
   
   
   
5. Transfer the mixture to an 8 inch, lined cake tin 
   
6. Cook at 160° for 2 hours 
   

Once the cake has cooled, you need to wrap it in grease-proof paper and store in a tin.

Dates for the diary: At the end of October, make holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 2 tablespoons of brandy. Then, at the end of November, spread a thin layer of apricot jam over the cake and then place a thin layer of marzipan to cover the cake (I just use shop bought marzipan). In the week before Christmas (or whenever it is that you want to eat the cake) add a layer of royal icing. You can either buy 'ready to roll' icing or make your own. Last year I made my own using this Mary Berry recipe and it was delicious! In between all of these steps, re-cover the cake with grease-proof paper. You won't need to do this once the cake is iced.

Follow me on Instagram @cornerofkatie  to see what my cake looks like once it's finished in December. No doubt I shall post a picture of it!

Don't forget you can follow this blog too (blue 'follow' button in top left corner).

Thank you so much for reading. Let me know if you have a go at this recipe - I'd love to see your versions!

Love,

Katie xxx

Farewell, Autumn.

Dear Autumn,

I want to thank you for crisp mornings and falling leaves,

for red and yellow and orange on trees.

You make me feel alive - what with spiced pumpkin soup warming me through,

and cold evening air leaving my cheeks a pink hue.

My friends think I'm crazy for asking summer to leave,

but that hot, sweaty feeling just isn't for me!

I'll miss you Autumn, I really will.

So, until next year, good bye and farewell.

Autumn got me like...

Dead but beautiful.

I love going for walks in Autumn. The colours around the countryside at this time are so beautiful and I will relish in any excuse to get my boots, scarf, coat, hat, and gloves on! I definitely prefer autumn/winter fashion to that of spring and summer - get me in a turtle neck over a halter neck any day of the week. 

Colour co-ordination with berries?!

There are lots of things I love about this time of year: from drinking hot chocolates on the sofa in front of the telly, to seeing the low sunlight bursting through the treetops behind my house every morning.

I will never stop being completely awestruck by God's creation... all the wonderful colours: reds, yellows, greens, lilacs, oranges, browns; the diversity of plants and animals, how it's like a cleansing period - the old fades away to make way for the new to arrive in the Spring.

I have to try to be really strict with myself when the 1st October comes around because if I had things my way, I'd start putting the Christmas decs up there and then! I absolutely love everything about Christmas and want to drag it out for as long as possible! However, I know it's not good to wish your life away and so I do my best to appreciate the Autumn months before getting too over excited about the Christmas ones. (I did allow myself to get a lil bit festive this morning because Leslie Odom Jr released a Christmas album and I just couldn't wait!).

When one season ends there are always things I miss about it, yet I also get excited about the next one! With winter almost upon us, I'm looking forward to: hearty winter meals like Cottage Pie, Toad in the Hole, and roast vegetables; putting the living room fire on and watching the flames dance, the chance of snow???? And of course Christmas, as I've already mentioned!

Look how happy I am with those leaves ahaha! There really is nothing else quite like crunching your way through fallen Autumn leaves.

Featuring the little robin key chain I made. The two shades of burgundy on this bag seem to be pretty much the only colours I wear in Autumn!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, I hope you like the pictures! Massive shoutout to Darcy Hall for getting up at the crack of dawn with me to take these, and for helping me go through them and edit them! You can find more of Darcy's work on Instagram: @darcy_amber

Scroll down for some 'outtakes' of the photoshoot... Enjoy!

Love,

Katie xxx 

Yes girl, work that tree...

"And then I was just like errmagosh like seriously"

Here's a tree I prepared earlier

I'm trying to smile but am scared for my life due to the 6ft drop into a river behind me lol. Internal monologue: 'DARCY HURRY UP AND TAKE THE PICTURES I AM GOING TO FALL AND DIE'