Mango icecream

Förra helgen hade jag helt plötsligt fyra stora mogna mangofrukter (för det är väl så man säger i plural?) hemma. Jag älskar mango, men vet aldrig riktigt vad jag ska göra med dem. Oftast äter jag dem precis som de är, men att äta fyra mangofrukter känns inte helt ok. Så jag åt två (inte på samma gång) och bestämde mig för att göra glass av de andra två.
Eftersom jag är väldigt svag för glass funderar jag faktiskt på att skaffa en glassmaskin. Någon som har bra tips? Vilken är bäst?


Mangoglass
3 stora äggulor
1 1/2 dl / 120 gram socker
3,5 dl grädde
2 dl mjölk
1/2 tsk vaniljpulver
350 gram mangopuré (ungefär 2 färska mangofrukter)

Vispa äggulor och socker vitt och fluffigt. Häll grädde, mjölk och vanilj i en kastrull. Värm försiktigt tills blandningen når kokpunkten. Häll en skvätt över äggulorna och rör för att värma blandningen något. Häll över resterande gräddblandning. Rör om och häll tillbaka i kastrullen. Värm tills smeten tjocknat något. Ta bort kastrullen från värmen och låt svalna. Häll upp smeten i en ren skål, blanda i mangopuré, täck med plastfolie och ställ in i kylen tills smeten är kall.
Ta ut glassen ur kylen och rör ordentligt. Har du ingen glassmaskin, ställ in skålen i frysen och rör ungefär var 20:e minut tills glassen stelnar.
Ta ut glassen i rumstemperatur en stund före servering.




In English:
Last weekend I found myself having four large, ripe mangoes at home. I love mangoes, but I'm never really sure what to do with them. I usually end up eating them the way they are, which is fine, but eating four mangoes just like that is out of the question. So I ate two (not at once), and decided to use the other two to make icecream.

By the way, I'm seriously considering buying an icecream maker. Does anyone know which one to get?

Mongolian Beef

Hallelujah, it's Friday. 

It's about time you dine like a leader of the free world. 

This Mongolian Beef recipe comes from Executive White House chef, Ariel De Guzman who ran the White House kitchen when George Bush Sr. was in office.  

According to Guzman, Asian cuisine is a favorite of the Bush family and this Mongolian Beef was often requested for dinner parties that the President was hosting.  

Dear President and Mrs. Bush (Senior),

I bet you dream about eating Ariel's mongolian beef in the White House.  Seeing as we both live in Houston, I'd be happy to come over and prepare some for you.  I totally see why you like it so much.  It's pretty fantastic.  I am open most weekends over the summer so let me know what works for you.  My kitchen or yours... I'm easy. Yours is probably nicer though, so I can definitely bring my wok to your place.  

Oh and before I forget,  I played you, President Bush, in my second grade Parade of Presidents at my school.  I did my best to represent.  I'll catch you up on the details over dinner.

Sincerely,
Ashlea

Are any Chinese dishes in your repetoire? 

If not, you are probably going to dismiss this immediately because you need a couple of key sauces. 

Don't do it!

Use this as your opportunity to load up your arsenal for Chinese cooking.  You will need only a few things and the ingredients are pretty interchangeable for other stir frys, dumplings and rices.  Here's what you need that you might not have.

This Mongolian beef has such great flavor and you just won't believe how quickly it comes together. 

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy. 

Mongolian Beef
Recipe adapted from The Bush Family Cookbook by Ariel De Guzman

Recipe Notes
If you are not familiar with the term "cutting against the grain," check this out.  Cutting your meat correctly is key to making a good stir fry with tender meat.  This recipe makes 4 small portions, but the leftovers are fantastic so it's worth making the whole recipe just for two people.
Ingredients
For Marinade **needs to marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight 
1 teaspoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2/3 pound flank steak, sliced across grain on an angle into thin strips
For Seasoning Sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon hot bean sauce (or bean sauce)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Other Ingredients
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
8-10 scallions, cut into 1 inch lengths
Step by Step
In a large bowl, combine rice wine, soy sauce, vegetable oil, sesame oil, baking soda, cornstarch sugar. Add beef strips and toss to coat.  Marinate for at least two and hours and up to twenty four hours.

Make the seasoning sauce.  In a medium size bowl, combine hoisin sauce, hot bean sauce, cornstarch and water.  Mix to combine.  This seasoning sauce can be prepared up to twenty four hours before cooking.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.   Add marinated beef and stir-fry until very lightly browned, about 1 minute.  Remove beef with slotted spoon; set aside.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of oil.  Reheat oil in skillet or wok and add seasoning sauce.  Bring to a boil. Return beef to pan and add scallions.  Stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Makes 4 servings.

friday senses

real life.



Missing: nephew. niece.

Reading: What should I read right now? I want something gripping and hard to put down. I just finished Helen Keller's The Story of My Life, and while fascinating.......not really all that thrilling, 
you know?

Watching/Still thinking and dreaming about: The Hunger Games. Did you see it? SOOOOOOOO well done. I'm usually not the biggest lover of

eating in: Cozumel, Mexico

Oh, hi there.

To give you a visual, I am sitting on the couch, wearing a pair of Soffe shorts.  You know, those soft cotton way too small shorts that were just all the rage when we 20 somethings were in middle school?

I didn't even know I still owned a pair, but it is amazing what you can find when absolutely everything you own is in the dirty clothes pile.

So here I am... in my Soffee shorts, catching up on what Bethenny Frankel has been up to lately.  Oh, come on.  Admit it... she's hilarious and I'll be the first to admit that I'm hooked on Bethenny Ever After.  If you are not, start watching so we can be on the same page.

But no matter what I'm wearing or what I'm watching, it is all a bit of a blur.  My mind is still floating its way through that little beach up there.  Sitting underneath a hut and sipping a margarita.

My unbelievably kind and sweet parents sent Mr. Hungry and me on a cruise as a graduation present for the both of us.  Mr. Hungry graduated from law school in December and took the bar two weeks ago.

Gosh, did we need a little vacay.  I totally agreed with them when they said that I needed a graduation present too. Three and a half years of supporting your husband through law school is present worthy in my book.

We were in Cozumel for the day and this being our fourth trip to this place, I deemed it about time for me to give you my expert opinion on where to eat.

You are in Mexico... we will be eating Mexican!

Let's start with fajitas.  If you are looking for the best fajitas in all the land, check out La Choza.  

Oh man, everything about this place is legit.  But I still dream about the fajitas.

This is what you need...

Fajitas Mixtas (shrimp, beef & chicken) 

Guacamole 

Classic Margarita  

You will love the sauce that comes with the chips.  If you love it as much as my father did a few years ago, you can go home with a bottle of the stuff.  He swears it lasted him for years.

Next up, let's go with the freshest seafood around at La Mission. 

This is what you need...

Ceviche Mixtos with Fish & Shrimp

Side of Avocado

Sol Beer  

(recommendation from our waiter Miguel... perfect combo)

Optional Addition:  Queso Fundido

Great mariachi and if you're lucky, you just might get to don a sombrero for part of your meal.

Recap:  

La Choza!  The very top of my list in lovely Cozumel.

La Mission!  A close second, but skip the fajitas and go with the fresh fish and seafood.

all in good health

straight from the earth. spring 2011health·y [hel-thee] adjective1. possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body; a healthy mind.2. pertaining to or characteristic of good health, or a sound and vigorous mind: a healthy appearance; healthy attitudes.3. conducive to good health; healthful: healthy recreations.[source]
Last week I asked a question:what do

Barbie Doll Cake Pops♥

Barbie Doll Cake Pops♥

By: Amanda Cupcake

I received an invitation to play.... 

with cake pops, sprinkles, frosting and glitter.

and...Barbie!

I wish you could have been there with me when I had my Barbie Epiphany!

I didn't want to make cake pops that were shaped like Barbie's head.  Barbie is perfection. Who would want to take a bite out of her beautiful face?

My Barbie Epiphany:

  

Did you ever receive a Barbie Doll Cake when you were little?

You know, the skirt is the cake and a pretty Barbie doll is jumping out of your birthday cake? The only drama was deciding if you were going to eat..or play?

Or maybe that's what I asked myself when I created this cake pop.

Eat..or play?

I used this brownie pop mold from Wilton to turn my cake pop crumbles....

into Barbie skirts!

Barbie's accessories: Pearl sized sixlets, pink candy melt ruffles, sparkles.

And I figured.. if you can make *cupcake toppers* why can't you make *cake pop* toppers?

I printed Barbie paper doll cutouts on cardstock, hot glued them to sticks and inserted them into the cake pops immediately after dipping them in the pink candy melts.

And this is how Barbie turns into a cake pop.

No eating of Barbie's head necessary!

♥

My next inspiration...

to make cake pops of me and all my friends..wearing tu-tus!

(as pictured here in my pink tu-tu by Mir Tutu with a fabulous cupcake friend of mine)

♥

somewhere in wyoming.....

....and even a few miles of utah.
the road crosses back and forth across the state line approximately 37 times.

I took a quick little trip over the mountains this weekend to see my sissy
 and her (very) new (extremely) teeny little girl.

I love driving.
loooooooove.
long open roads.
tiny towns where everyone waves as you pass through.
(literally, everyone waves at you)
stopping for cows.

sprrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnng!

dear spring, I love you I love you I love you. I love you. You are pink and yellow and blossomy beautiful.You are flowers and birds and a fly in my house. You are sidewalk chalk for hours.......hopscotch and an ocean scene.THE SMELL OF GREEN GRASS!You are sunshine with breezes and breezes with sunshine.You are bike riding and longboarding while the sun drops from the sky.You are staying up too

You are the Cookie On My Cupcake. ♥

I am Amanda Cupcake, and I've been hiding the cookie monster within me for far too long.

I love cookies.

I can probably eat more cookie dough than you can imagine. ♥ It's all gone before I even realize.

So I am in big trouble.

And you might be too.

For one, the word cookie is so cute.
Cookie.

Say it.

It draws you in.

Now say "Snickerdoodle Cookie". (so cute, right)?

Add some edible sparkles and call it a "Sparkledoodle".

Awwww. ♥

Now add your Sparkledoodles to a creamy dreamy white swirl of heavenly frosting fluffed like a dream on top of a vanilla cinnamon cupcake.

A Sparkledoodle Cupcake!

♥

A cookie to add to my cupcake.

Cherry Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cherry Red Velvet Cupcakes too ♥

My cupcake darlings, it is up to you to decide how you will eat these cupcakes!

Cookie First, then Cupcake?
Use the cookie as a scoop to eat the frosting?

Or pretend it's your first birthday and eat the whole thing at once?!

♥

Recipe for Cherry Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies:

(Adapted from Forme-Foryou chocolate chip cookie recipe!)

Dry Ingredients:

2 Cups Minus 2 Tablespoons of Cake Flour

1 2/3 Cups Bread Flour

1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt

Creaming Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Unsalted Butter

1 1/4 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

2 Eggs (large)

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

My little magical addition:

1 Bag of Mini Chocolate Chips

1 Bag of Cherry Chips

A *hint* of almond extract.

This is how magical it is:

1.  Combine your Cake Flour, Bread Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt in one bowl. Whisk together.

2.  In your stand mixer, Cream Room Temperature Butter with Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar.

3.  Gradually add eggs and vanilla.

4.  Now gradually add your dry ingredients to the blend, and you have cookie dough.

4.  When you add your chips to the cookie dough use, a spatula to mix in-you don't need to use a mixer attachment.

5.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

6.  Using a small cookie scoop, scoop little mounds of cookie dough onto your cookie sheet. Make sure they are spaced out enough so they have room to puff ♥. 

5.  Bake for appx 10-15 minutes at a preheated 350 degrees (ovens vary so just watch to see if the tops of the cookies turn slightly golden. I like my cookies somewhat underbaked so they stay really soft as they cool).

Tip: There are rumors that this cookie tastes *BEST* when cooled for 24-36 hours and then baked. I think they are wonderful either way.

Perfect espresso chocolate cupcakes

Häromdagen insåg jag till min stora förfäran att min blogg saknar något grundläggande för en bakblogg. Nämligen det perfekta chokladcupcakereceptet. Jag menar, hur tusan ska jag kunna leva upp till mitt bloggnamn utan perfekta chokladcupcakes?! Det går ju inte.
Men nu, nu kan jag leva upp till mitt namn.
Vet ni vad mer jag insåg? Jag har inte visat en bild på mig själv på bloggen på 1 1/2 år, så då är det nog dags igen. Inte för att den här bloggen handlar om mig (fast kanske lite ändå, det är ju trots allt oundvikligt). Jag håller åtminstone i cupcakes på bilden. Då är det väl ok, eller?

Glöm inte att ta fram cupcakesen i rumstemperatur en bra stund före servering!
Recept på svenska följer efter bilderna!



In English:
The other day, to my horror, I suddenly realized my blog lacked something fundamental. The perfect chocolate cupcake. I mean seriously, how can I live up to my blog name when after 2 1/2 years of blogging I haven't posted the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe?! Not ok!
At last I can live up to my name.
These are truly perfect and chocolatey.

And you know what I just realized? I haven't posted a picture of myself on the blog in a year and a half, so I think it is about time. Not that this blog is about me (well, maybe a little). I needed something to send to magazines and such. At least I'm holding cupcakes in my hand. That makes it ok, right?

To me, espresso and chocolate is complete and utter perfection.











Choklad- och espressocupcakes
12 st
75 gram smör
1/2 tsk vaniljpulver
3 dl mjöl
1 dl kakao
1 tsk bikarbonat
1 tsk bakpulver
2 1/2 dl socker
1 stort ägg
1 dl starkt nybryggt kaffe
1 1/2 dl filmjölk (kan ersättas med mjölk)


Värm ugnen till 175 C. Sätt 12 st muffinsformar i en muffinsplåt.
Smält smöret, tillsätt vaniljpulver och låt det svalna. Sikta ned mjöl, kakao, bikarbonat, bakpulver och socker i en stor skål. Vispa ägget lätt tillsammans med filmjölken i en liten skål. Blanda kaffet med smöret. Häll i alla flytande ingredienser i skålen med de torra och vispa till en slät smet. Fördela jämnt mellan muffinsformarna, men fyll dem inte mer än 2/3 fulla. Grädda 17-20 minuter eller tills en provsticka är torr. Låt svalna på galler.


Espresso & chokladfrosting
200 gram mörk choklad (70%)
300 gram rumsvarmt smör
3 1/2 dl florsocker
1 1/2 dl kakao
2 msk stark espresso (kaffe går också bra)
1/2 tsk vaniljpulver

Smält chokladen i vattenbad och låt sedan svalna. Vispa smöret vitt och fluffigt. Blanda i florsocker och kakao och vispa tills frostingen är klumpfri. Häll i den smälta avsvalnade chokladen och vispa till en slät kräm. Tillsätt vaniljpulver och espresso och vispa ordentligt till frostingen är jämn och fluffig.

Don't Mince With Me

I'm so tired of mince. We have tons of it. All beautiful, local, grass-fed valley beef. The freezer is packed with many cuts, but it's what to do with the mince that drives me nuts.  Sausage rolls, bolognese sauce, meatballs, savoury mince, meat pie, stuffed capsicums and an awful attempt at a meatloaf which almost turned me into loathing the stuff!

I realise I should be counting my blessings to have a freezer full of this beef. Sometimes it just gets on top of me; I open the door and I see literally hundreds of bags -  it can be truly daunting. So what did I do yesterday when it all became too daunting? I shut the freezer door, went to the shops and bought a chook.  Roast chicken last night and it was delicious.

Tonight, it's back to the grind and another bag of mince. All my creativity and imagination is out the door. Pass the tomato sauce guys and make room for the meatballs.

Any ideas? I'm listening.

sweet and salty bars

I want to say thank you all so much for your sweet comments and your awesome feedback from Monday's post! It was very helpful--I have all kinds of ideas now, so thank you!! There were a few topics brought up that I have posted about before about so I want to send some quick links out. And for those wanting everything in baby steps--that is PERFECT! That's the only way to make changes......it is a

bloggity blah blah blah

black raspberries. summer 2011.I think if there were a book of rules for blogging, the number one rule might have to be something along the lines of "never talk about your blog, on your blog". I mean, it's narcissistic enough that we sit down each day and talk about ourselves......let's not talk about ourselves, talking about ourselves. me me, mememe......it starts to sound like that.
right? 
But

Guinness chocolate cake

Glad St. Patrick's day, eller vad man nu säger på svenska! Jag brukar egentligen inte fira den här dagen speciellt mycket, men jag tar självklart varje tillfälle jag får att baka något speciellt.
Den här tårtan är helt underbar. Perfekt konsistens.

Hursomhelst så är det här inlägget lite ihopstressat så ni får ursäkta att jag inte lägger upp det svenska receptet. Det kommer snart!
Först gjorde jag en whipped cream cheesefrosting men den blev helt flytande, så i all hast slängde jag alltihop i vasken.. ja, jag brukar göra så ibland. Så jag vispade lite grädde istället och det fungerade alldeles utmärkt det med.

Inspirationen kommer från underbara What Katie Ate!


In English:
Happy St. Patrick's day!
This is not a day I usually celebrate, but hey, I don't discriminate- I take every chance I get to bake something.
This cake is divine. Perfect texture.

This post was made in quite a hurry, but I felt like I had to get this up today before going to work. Although I strongly advice you to make this cake any other day of the year too. I made a whipped cream cheese frosting but it kind of turned into liquid, so I threw it all out and whipped some cream instead.

What inspired me to make this cake was of course the lovely Katie from What Katie Ate.

Lemon Cup Cakes

Nikka asked me did I have any plans for the day. On quizzing her why she asks, she tells me she'd like to cook something. The 'something' actually turns out to be cupcakes. I give her some cake cookbooks and told her to browse through them till she came upon a "doable' recipe. It was probably a good idea to skip the wedding and the christening sections.

Nick loves lemons, she always has been a lover of citrus flavours. I recall as a little tike she'd pick whole cumquats from the tree and pop them straight into her mouth. So it was a little hard to go past the lemon cakes with lemon glace icing. I admit to having reservations about white chocolate on top and tasting okay with the lemon theme; even so it did look pretty.

And so here I am on this rainy morning foregoing all other intentions I had for the day; a cooking class was in order with a keen daughter.

Lemon Butter Cakes
(adapted from the AWW's Classic Cupcakes Cookbook)

90gm butter, softened
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
110gm caster sugar
2 eggs, preferably free-range at room temperature
150gm SR flour
2 tablespoons milk

Lemon Glace Icing
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon softened butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice, approx

Decorations
90gm melted white choc
small silver cachous

• Preheat oven to 160deg C. Line 8 holes of a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases
• Beat butter, rind, & sugar for about 8 to 10 mins till light, pale and fluffy. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Fold in well sifted flour with milk, mixing to combine.  Take beaters and whisk for about 30secs to remove any remaining lumps. Drop in 1/4 cup amounts of mixture into paper cases.
• Bake about 20 mins.  Stand cakes in pan 5 mins before turning, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.
• Make lemon glace icing. Spread cold cakes with icing; stand until set.
• Fill a small piping bag (preferably a handmade paper one), with the warm melted chocolate. Snip the end; quickly drizzle chocolate backwards and forwards over the cake tops. Quickly sprinkle cakes with silver cachous before chocolate sets. 

Lemon Glace Icing:

• Sift icing sugar into a bowl; add butter & 1tbspoon of lemon juice.  Mix well; mixture should be stiff. Add more lemon juice and keep mixing till you reach a nice pliable consistency; be careful though - we don't want a runny consistency. 

Recipe makes 8 cupcakes. 

Verdict:

• Well the photography is generally of a high standard, so no surprise there. I'm happy to report the cupcakes were delicious and they looked so pretty.  The lemon flavour really came through and it was a lovely contrast with the rind in the cake and the lemon juice in the icing.  The only thing I would change is to add another 20gm of butter or another two tablespoons of milk. The cake was a little dense and I do like a soft textured crumb in the cake itself. Otherwise - A big thumbs up from me daughter. It's comforting to know that when I'm old and grey in the nursing home, I will be able to look forward to the occasional cup cake. Yummo and well done! Hmm, I wonder what you're going to surprise me with next - keep cooking! 

how to eat......cabbage

Cabbage?Cabbage!To be honest, up until about a year ago when I thought about cabbage, I thought of it mostly as a garnish. I had never bought cabbage and cooked with it, and wasn't really sure how to.........and then I started exploring, and I am now a true cabbage believer.
Cabbage is good source of vitamin K, C, A, and fiber.It's rich in antioxidants, helps boosts immunity, and contains sulphur

A Good Sultana Cake

I explored, baked, experimented and swore my way through eleven years of trying to perfect a chocolate cake. Happily, I can report I achieved what is for me the perfect chocolate cake. I could say I went through the same with my search for the perfect sultana cake. But I'd be lying. To be fair, I've had at least a dozen attempts making sultana cakes (unlike about one hundred chocolate cakes) in my quest to find THE one.

When I purchased Merle's Kitchen last week, I didn't get past her very first recipe: Sultana Cake. I watched Merle in the MasterChef episode that showed her to be the CWA baking champ she has well and truly earned.  I remember at the time frantically writing down every word she said about her beautiful Peach Blossom Cake. I recall at the time thinking, this lady knows what she's on about. I didn't hesitate buying her book for a minute when I spotted it on the shelf. 

In fact I think I'll go back and buy several more books. I couldn't think of a nicer gift to give than this book together with one of my preserves or even one of the actual baked cakes inside.  Her book is beautiful. I'm impressed and very envious. My kids took a glance and immediately glanced back at me. Well Ma, hope you manage to put together a book like this before you're 78 - or words similar to that is what they tell me.  Gee, hope your right kids. 

I've been so tired and negligent in my domestic home duties with all the campaigning lately; I decided to relax a little and make a cake. I grabbed Merle's book, checked my cupboard to find enough sultanas and the deal was sealed.  Let's have another crack at the sultana cake.

Sultana Cake

(recipe taken from Merle's Kitchen)

400gm sultanas

1/2 cup brandy

1 cup water

2 tsp cornflour

250gm butter, at room temperature, chopped

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow (140deg C). Grease a 22cm round cake tin, and line the base with baking paper.
2. Combine the sultanas, brandy and half the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium-ow heat and simmer until the liquid has absorbed into the fruit. 
3. Stir the cornflour and remaining water together until smooth and add to the pan. Stir for 2-3 minutes, until it comes to the boil and thickens. Remove from the heat, cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool until just lukewarm.
4. Use electric beaters to cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder,then the sultana mixture. Spoon into the tin, and smooth the surface. Bake for 2 hours, on the second bottom shelf of your oven, until firm to a gentle touch in the centre. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

My Suggestions: 

• Due to the longer baking time, line the sides of the tin with baking paper too. 
• I only mixed a little water with the cornflour -just enough to be able to pour into the boiled sultanas.
• I placed the boiled sultanas on a plate & evenly levelled them to cool faster.  Sit on a rack. I refuse to place cling film directly over any hot food.  
• I added 1/4 cup of milk when the flour needed to be folded through. 
• I used castor sugar
• I beat the butter first before adding sugar; also added a tsp of vanilla.
• I preheated my oven to 120deg C. Baked it for 2 hours 20 mins. 

Verdict:

My search is over. I'm delighted with this cake. I'm looking forward to entering this cake into our local show this year. I'm confident this recipe will bag me a ribbon. Thumbs up from me.

My dear son saw me taking a photo of the cake this morning and I gave him a piece. He said it looks very unspectacular and that was a shame because it tasted far better than it looked. Not sure I agree with him. I understand where he's coming from, but I'm really getting over the schmancy fancy look of things, and humble simplicity is what I find more appealing these days.  It's true country fare, the old-fashioned way, buttery, rich and sustaining. I love it; thanks Merle. I'm in a quandary. I have no idea which recipe to try next. That'll be a while though, because a little piece of good sultana cake will keep me going for the better part of two weeks. And yes, I think it will definitely keep well for that time.  It's official - I can now tick another box - recipe for a good sultana cake. Thank goodness. 

Whisper:

Come in closer because I don't want Merle to hear. The sultana cake in her book looks grand; but I think mine looks better. Shhhhh.