Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

Christmas fruitcakes have been baked for centuries with the oldest known recipe dating back to Ancient Rome. Fruitcakes were a way to preserve fruits and nuts as well as a way to celebrate the harvest and seek good luck in the coming year. Jamaicans favorite Christmas cake is dark, spongy and heavy, with rum soaked fruit and rich flavor. Eaten only at Christmas the cake is a favored gift and family tradition.

Ingredients:

Cake

* 1 lb. Raisins

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

* 4 oz. Cherries

* ½ lb. Chopped prunes

* 2 oz. Cranberries

* 32 oz. Dark Jamaican rum

* 4 oz. Citrus peels

* grated rind of 1 lime

* 6 oz. or 1.5 cup flour

* 8 oz. butter

* 8 oz. sugar

* 4 eggs

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

* ½ tsp. allspice

* ½ tsp. Ground cloves

* ½ tsp. salt

* 1 cup wine/brandy

* 1 tsp. baking powder

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 2 tbsp. browning

Directions:

Soak fruits, peels and rind in rum for two weeks before baking. In a separate bowl whip butter, sugar and browning until creamy. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and mix well. In a third bowl beat eggs and brandy together until well blended.

Add egg mixture to creamed butter mixture and blend well. Strain and add fruits, keeping rum for fruity drinks. Gradually mix dry ingredients to batter and fold together.

Pour batter into a lightly buttered 9" cake pan and bake at 350F for 1-½ hours checking after 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Jamaican Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/jamaican-recipes.html]. Article submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the World Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com] website.

Find more recipes & cookbooks at the One Dollar bookstore.

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

Christmas fruitcakes have been baked for centuries with the oldest known recipe dating back to Ancient Rome. Fruitcakes were a way to preserve fruits and nuts as well as a way to celebrate the harvest and seek good luck in the coming year. Jamaicans favorite Christmas cake is dark, spongy and heavy, with rum soaked fruit and rich flavor. Eaten only at Christmas the cake is a favored gift and family tradition.

Ingredients:

Cake

* 1 lb. Raisins

* 4 oz. Cherries

* ½ lb. Chopped prunes

* 2 oz. Cranberries

* 32 oz. Dark Jamaican rum

* 4 oz. Citrus peels

* grated rind of 1 lime

* 6 oz. or 1.5 cup flour

* 8 oz. butter

* 8 oz. sugar

* 4 eggs

* 1 tsp. cinnamon

* ½ tsp. allspice

* ½ tsp. Ground cloves

* ½ tsp. salt

* 1 cup wine/brandy

* 1 tsp. baking powder

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 2 tbsp. browning

Directions:

Soak fruits, peels and rind in rum for two weeks before baking. In a separate bowl whip butter, sugar and browning until creamy. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and mix well. In a third bowl beat eggs and brandy together until well blended.

Add egg mixture to creamed butter mixture and blend well. Strain and add fruits, keeping rum for fruity drinks. Gradually mix dry ingredients to batter and fold together.

Pour batter into a lightly buttered 9" cake pan and bake at 350F for 1-½ hours checking after 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Traditional Jamaican Christmas Cake

For further tips and ideas for cooking great and traditional food from around the world, visit Jamaican Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/jamaican-recipes.html]. Article submitted by Jen Carter, owner of the World Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com] website.

Find more recipes & cookbooks at the One Dollar bookstore.

Christmas Cake

All over the world Christmas cakes are made in too many ways, in general cakes are variations on the fruitcake. Cakes can be spongy, light, moist, dry, heavy, dark, leavened, or unleavened.

WALNUT BANANA

\"Cake Recipes\"

Ideal teatime cake with the goodness of whole-wheat flour.

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 50 minutes

Servings : 6

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour 1 cup

Refined flour 1 cup

Ripe bananas, mashed 3 medium

Walnut kernels, chopped half cup

Baking powder 1 and half teaspoons

Salt a pinch

Cinnamon powder half teaspoon

Nutmeg powder a pinch

Butter 300 grams

Brown sugar 2 cup

Vanilla essence 2 teaspoon

Eggs, whisked 5

Milk 4 tablespoons

Method

- Preheat oven to 200 C.

- Grease and line a nine-inch by four-inch loaf tin.

- Sieve whole wheat flour, refined flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder.

- Cream butter and brown sugar together in a bowl till light. Add mashed bananas, vanilla essence and mix.

- Beat eggs with a hand blender till light and fluffy.

- Add one third of the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Add one third of the beaten eggs and mix with a light hand. Again add one third of the flour and one third of the eggs and mix. Add the remaining flour, walnuts and the remaining eggs and mix.

- Add milk to correct the consistency of the batter.

- Put the batter into the prepared tin and place it in the preheated oven. Bake at 200 C for 40 minutes.

- Check if it is done by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean it is done. If not, keep the tin back in the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

- Cool it before cutting into slice

Enjoy by serving this cake hot or cold.

Christmas Cake

Pritesh Das is an expert internet marketer. Pritesh also enjoys cooking and baking and preserving his family's recipes. He helps in maintaining a family owned bbq aprons online gift store.

Christmas Cake Boxes - Creative Gift Ideas

Different Christmas cake boxes can be used creatively to add variety to many of the festive holiday events. This requires a bit of creative thinking and a willingness to try something different. These bakery boxes, which include Christmas cupcake boxes, are considered popular accessories for many of the events surrounding the holiday period.

With Christmas boxes, it is simple to display a selection of cakes, cupcakes or pastries beautifully, for a very small financial outlay. Cake presentation boxes, cupcake boxes and other bakery boxes are an inexpensive way to present cakes by enhancing the visual effect and overall presentation thereby adding a higher perceived value that the actual cost of the box. This makes cakes, beautifully presented in Christmas cake boxes a very personal gift for someone special.

Bakery

They make a lovely gift for a special aunt or friend. Grandparents will be especially thrilled with a cupcake in a Christmas themed box that has been lovingly decorated by their grandchild. Another good idea is to provide Christmas party guests with specially packaged cupcakes in beautifully crafted Christmas cupcake boxes.

For people who pride themselves on their ability to bake exquisite and aesthetically appealing cakes, transparent cake boxes are a great option, gaily decorated with Christmas themed ribbons. These boxes show off the beauty of the cakes during formal presentations. Another party option to make the invited guests feel special is using these boxes to house other items. The guests can be pleasantly surprised when their host presents them with party favors in the form of little boxes that contain a selection of candy or other small gifts.

A handmade Christmas cake box kit is also a fun gift in itself. A creative spin on traditional gift ideas, it makes people feel special and children love craft kits.

You can get cake box making kits that come with the cardboard, stencils and decorations for making your own Christmas cake boxes. They are inexpensive and are a great item to purchase in advance. That way you have them on hand for some of those cold wet days leading up to Christmas. They will keep the children occupied for hours as they turn them into a handmade gift for one of their friends.

In summary Christmas cake boxes can be used in many, varied ways at Christmas. Use your creativity to think of some more. They can be bought at department stores, bakery stores or online. They stand out as special gifts that are not only fun to make, but also fun to receive.

Christmas Cake Boxes - Creative Gift Ideas

Lyn is a passionate snow skier and loves cooking. In her spare time she likes writing on a wide variety of subjects. Visit her latest website all about cupcake boxes at http://www.cupcakeboxessuppliers.com/cake-boxes/