Last Minute Christmas Cake

I know the thought of making a Christmas cake fills most people with dread - probably anticipating a dry overcooked cake;  I have devised this easy  foolproof recipe that delivers a lovely rich & moist cake every time.  The ultimate secret is to use an Aga Cake Baker, I have a pretty ancient one - a new one will cost approx £90, but you can pick up a good second-hand on EBay.

To make the cake: line an 8”/21cm tin with greaseproof paper.
Ingredients:  1 cup dark brown soft muscovado sugar                           1 tspn bicarbonate soda
                     375g tin crushed pineapple                                              1 tspn mixed spices
                     8oz/225g raisins                                                              4oz/110g butter    3 eggs
                     4oz/110g sultanas                                                            1 cup plain wholemeal flour                                                                
                     40z/110g currants                                                            1 cup self raising flour

Method: Soak the fruit overnight in an alcohol of your choice.
Put into a saucepan the sugar, pineapple, dried fruit, bicarb, spices and butter, boil for a good five minuets, or until the colour goes a dark brown, keep stirring to avoid the mixture from sticking to the saucepan.  Allow the mixture to cool then stir in the eggs and fold in the flour.  Put in the prepared tin and bake for approx 1.5 hours at 180c/gas 4, reduce heat and leave for another 20 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.   When cool remove from tin and peel off the greaseproof paper.  Place on a cake board, brush the top with apricot jam, rollout the marzipan and place on top of the cake, and decorate with ready to roll fondant icing, or royal icing if you prefer to finish with a snowy effect.  Fix a decorative cake band to the side and add a few festive decorations to the icing.  Hey presto you should now have a delicious/moist cake that looks kitsch and festive.

London Vibe

Breakfast At The Wolseley

Although I count myself lucky that I live & work in Tetbury a beautiful town in the Cotswolds - I do occasionally crave the vibrant energy of London.  Sunday morning we left Tetbury at 7am and by 8.45 we were parked in Dover Street to meet a special friend photographic agent Jo Clark for a birthday breakfast at The Wolseley a favourite venue of ours.  If you consider going - do book in advance as it gets pretty busy - the fishcakes served with poached eggs is very good.  After a long lazy breakfast and catching-up on news & gossip we headed to Marylebone High Street for some retail therapy.



Marylebone has a village feel to it due to the eclectic mix of shops favourites are Daunts Books which has the most beautiful period premises the Conran Shop is hip, modern cool, Rococo Chocolates is chic but quaint - my list of desirable shops in this area is endless.  This clever retail mix is the work of The Howard de Walden Trust which owns 90 prime acres including over 300 listed buildings.  Their ethos ensures the area doesn’t look like every other UK High Street by their careful selection and leasing of properties to businesses that compliment each other.

We next walked over to Regent Street which has been pedestrianised - absolutely packed with people enjoying the free fairground attractions and street entertainment.  Hamleys toy shop was shoulder to shoulder with shoppers - what recession?  Just on from here is the ultimate shopping experience at Liberty’s department store, their Christmas window displays are very clever - a visual treat.  As you can imagine, the store was packed with festive shoppers and tourists, our mission was Christmas cards & gift wrap - but the shelves were depleted, should have bought them on our last visit.

It was now approaching a time to think about going home, we decided to walk back via Burlington Arcade, and at this time of year they roll-out the red carpet throughout the arcade making one feel very regal.  The arcade has gorgeous shops with beautiful window displays; one of my favourites is Penhaligon’s.  Having had a really enjoyable day it was time to head home.

Liberty Home

Burlington Arcade

Penhaligon's

Window To The World

Having traded in Tetbury for almost eight years I have decorated several Christmas windows.  The themes have been bold or understated, as we have a fairly small shop window the display has to have pavement power to draw people in to the shop.  I rarely use stock/products and rely more on decorative impact.  Two of my favourite windows have been a painted black backdrop, black painted twigs decorated with red glittering leaves and exotic red birds of paradise - at night the window was stunning.  The second was all white with white suspended twigs, crystal drops and white doves, a base of  fake snow and iridescent glitter - it looked magical.

Last year I went totally over the top with a burlesque theme to promote Wolford hosiery.  Weeks were spent creating a theatre themed backdrop which consisted of gold glittered columns overlaid with a black flocked baroque design.  Behind these were red silk drapes edged using antique gold/red bullion fringe - the finished effect was bold and dramatic.  Centre stage was a doe-eyed blonde haired mannequin wearing Wolford stockings and French lace basque.   In my naivity I didn’t realise how controversial the display would be.  Opinions fell in to two camps - those that understood the tongue-in-cheek humour and sadly those that found it too provocative!  We even had people coming in to the shop asking if we were a brothel  as it looked like an Amsterdam red light district window - please!  A lot of people did like it for it’s originality and a lot of men put the model on their Christmas wish list!

After last years mixed response we decided to play it safe and work with a product based display.  Over the summer we collected fir cones which I painted white, twigs which I covered with crystal encrusted garlands and using the trusty glue gun  fixed the cones to the branches.  The finished result is simple but effective - all prospective customers are now clear about what we are peddling!