Having made Christmas cakes over the years since being at school, I thought it was time for a change from the fruity sort or Rocky Road Yule log. I still have fond memories of the very first festive cake I made in cookery lessons, with its snow peaks and holly placed in a quadrille design. Those were the days when display boxes of little plastic Christmas cake ornaments were on sale from autumn in the shops. The time when whispers of mixed spice and singed raisins, currants, and orange peel floats around kitchens. And when the confection is baked, drizzled with brandy, and left a few weeks, before being layered with marzipan and lovingly iced.

I decided, with the agreement of my family, since I was breaking tradition, on a rich moist ginger cake, a great favourite of ours. It has ties with gingerbread, linked with gift sharing, so perfect for the occasion.

As well as being a treacle and golden syrup sensation (I hope), it’s a lovely culinary centrepiece, and I was elated to find a Christmas ornament made of wood and fabric. It set me in motion to create a red, white, and grey Nordic style table and I even found a vintage baying reindeer in the loft. Another charity shop treasure that I couldn’t live without, I knew it would come in useful one day.

This will be the last blog post for a couple of weeks. It’s holiday time, so here’s wishing everyone good health, love and peace throughout the festive season.

Until next time,
Sue. X