Stir up Sunday is the last Sunday before Advent and the traditional time to bake Christmas puddings, although it's also the time to bake Christmas cakes.
My cake is based on one my mum has baked for us since I was little. I changed the recipe up with a darker sugar for a more caramelised flavour, more mixed spice and I used Urban Fruit. Cheeky Cherry, Blueberry and Blackcurrant and Smashing Strawberry instead of the raisins and sultanas my mum uses.
So how is it faff free?
It's all made in a pot.The butter is melted with the sugar, fruit and spices, then the flour and eggs are added, before it's poured into a loaf tin. Simple.
The cake sliced beautifully and was moist, spicy and delicious, especially spread with butter. I know, I know, bur I said it was simple, not low calorie.
And now a few more Stir up Sunday recipes:
- Boozy Bundt Cake with Urban Fruit and Ginger - Food Urchin
- Gluten-free Tropical Christmas Cake - Karen Burns-Booth
- Dark Chocolate, Almond and Cherry Christmas Cake - Danni Martin
- Tropical Urban Fruit Christmas Pudding - Deb Durrant
- Tropical Christmas Bundt Cake - Emily Leary
- Nan's Fruits of the Forest Christmas Cake - Helen Jessup
To celebrate Stir Up Sunday, there's a twitter party this Sunday 23rd November between 2pm – 4pm where you can pose any question you like to @UrbanFruit on Twitter using the hashtag #StirUpSunday. Throw in a question or two or just follow the chat.
Get stirring!
In the mood for more than Christmas cake? Why not spend some time this week making some homemade advent calendars. You can find some inspiration here.
I'm not making a Christmas cake today and my mother has already given me one of her Christmas puddings, but I think I will try and get my mincemeat done - good reminder Jac, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat's ok. Homemade mincemeat sounds good too and I bet yours has chocolate to make it extra special.
DeleteMIL always makes the Christmas cake and pudding with my daughter, so I always get left out of this tradition :-(. But in the event that I do get to take the reins one stir up Sunday {geddit?} you've curated some great links. And I love Urban Fruit. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh no that was a poor pun Kellie! Did you hear me groan? Yes Urban fruit is good I especially love the strawberries.
DeleteA fab selection of recipes, thank you Jac. GG
ReplyDeleteThanks GG :)
DeleteI love all these very different recipes. We have a little tradition making this with grandma. Sadly she hasn't been well this year so we'll wait a little longer in case she's out of hospital before xmas.
ReplyDeleteOh I hope she is OK Urvashi.
DeleteThanks for adding the link to my Urban Fruit recipe Jac - I did add a link to all of our posts in mine, but think it's nicer to add individual recipe links, so I may go back to change that now! LOVE your cake too, so fruity and rich, brilliant with butter too! Karen
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen :)
DeleteHow I LOVE the idea of "faff free!" That, for me, is this slow-cooker gingerbread cake! It's based on an old Betty Crocker recipe. I pretty well love anything you can bodge in a cooker and leave for an afternoon.
ReplyDelete1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses (or a good treacle syrup)
2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation:
Grease the ceramic interior of a 6 quart slow cooker well. Sprinkle with brown sugar (optional, but makes a crunchy crust).
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves and salt.
Stir in melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract until well incorporated.
Pour into prepared slow cooker and cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until set.
Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream. It also makes a great breakfast treat with a little smear of butter! Served with stewed cinnamon apples is also quite, quite good.
Mmmm that sounds lovely Tanita. I gave my slow cooker away as I wasn't using it, but I'll keep the recipes just in case.
DeleteMy puds a bit late this year. Loving the look of that cake.
ReplyDeleteAh well there's still time Sally and thanks :)
DeleteI bet this is so good! These flavors are perfection!
ReplyDeleteThanks, they did work well :)
DeleteI have lots of great ideas for some stir up sunday backing and then I thought well if I make a christmas cake I can make it a little later because it just wasn't a day I was inspired to bake. Your ideas are great - wish I had a nice cake like this in my kitchen
ReplyDelete