C* Begins Here

Every year I intend to bake our Christmas cake in the October half term holiday - and every year I end up leaving it until the week before the big day (which doesn't allow nearly enough time for 'irrigation'!).

So today marks a remarkable achievement in our household.

I usually follow my trusty Good Housekeeping recipe for a traditional cake (not the 'economical' one - what a ridiculous proposition!) but this year I've opted for Nigel's version from his first volume of The Kitchen Diaries. And, rather than go straight out and buy all the ingredients without any reference to my larder, this year I rummaged around the back of my shelves and unearthed quite a few lurkers.  I also managed to buy quite a few items with Bristol pounds.

I leave you, not with a image of the finished cake (which is still in the oven!) but of my favourite step in the process, the chopping and mixing of the dried fruit, which always puts me in mind of strings of lights in the hallway, baubles on the tree ...  Enough!