Christmas Spiced Clementine Drizzle Cake

I love this time of year in the kitchen.

I love using spices in my baking so this time of year is a perfect excuse to use them.

Like I really need an excuse!!!

When I was thinking about flavours that are seen as "Christmassy" I came up with a few and have mixed my favourites to create this festive cake!

This is what I got...

 

Christmas Spiced Clementine Drizzle Cake topped with dried Cranberries

 

Ingredients

 

Cake

 

150g baking spread

150g golden caster sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

165g self raising flour

10g ground almonds

1/4 tspn ground ginger

1/2 tspn nutmeg

1 tspn cinnamon

Zest of 4 clementines

Juice of 2 clementines

 

Drizzle and topping

 

Juice of 1 clementine

60g golden caster sugar

50g dried cranberries

 

Method

 

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

 

1 - Cream the baking spread until smooth

 

2 - Add the golden caster sugar and mix until creamed together

 

3 - Mix the flour, ground almonds, ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl

 

4 - Gradually add the eggs along with a spoon of the flour mixture to prevent curdling

 

5 - Mix in the clementine zest and juice

 

6 - Sift in the flour adding any of the almonds and spices that remain in the sift

 

7 - Mix until all of the ingredients are combined and you have a smooth cake mixture

 

8 - Put the mixture in a prepared cake tin, place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes

 

9 - Once the cake is baked remove from the oven, keep in the tin and prick the cake in various places with a knife

 

10 - To prepare the drizzle topping mix the golden caster sugar into the clementine juice and spoon over the cake making sure it is evenly covered then sprinkle over the dried cranberries

 

11 - Leave the cake to cool in the tin before serving

 

The clementine juice and the ground almonds make this a deliciously moist cake. I love the combination of the sweet cranberries with the citrus and spice!

I will definitely be making this cake again, however, I will bake it any time of the year!

Enjoy x

 

 

 

The Christmas Great Bloggers Bake Off is hosted by the lovely Jenny at Mummy Mishaps and Helen at The Crazy Kitchen

 

http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-great-bloggers-bake-off-berry-white-chocolate-panettone.html

http://www.thecrazykitchen.co.uk/p/the-great-bloggers-bake-off.html

 



 

 

Silent Sunday

Visiting Santa

Today we are going to take Joseph to see Santa.
Joseph is now 9 so we think that this year will probably be the last year that he will want to go.
But the big question is do we take the twins?
I really want to, hubby is not so sure.
The twins are quite shy, Isabella more than Taylor. Hubby thinks that they will just scream at him!
I am not too sure.
I think Taylor will be ok but Isabella will probably just snuggle into her daddy.
This year the twins have started to recognise who Father Christmas is and whenever they see our ornament or a picture on television they shout
"Tanta, Tanta"
We are taking Joseph to a local garden centre where they create a winter wonderland with a train ride. It will be the train ride that will be the highlight for the twins.
Another reason why I want to take the twins is that this may be the only year where all 3 children will be visiting.
I could be wrong about Joseph not believing next year but he'll be 10 and kids talk in the playground. We were expecting questions this year but we haven't had them. Which I am happy about.
It is another year for him to enjoy the magic that Christmas creates.
The excitement of leaving out a drink, mince pie, carrot and the magic key. Listening out for footsteps on the roof. Waking up and wondering if he's been!
It is a wonderful time of year for children and I want all 3 of the children to enjoy it for as long as they can.

Planning Christmas

This year I feel a huge responsibility for the success of Christmas day.

This year is the first year that we will be staying at home and I will be cooking Christmas dinner.

Of course I have cooked plenty of roast dinners and Christmas dinner is just a glammed up Sunday roast, but it is an important day for us as a family.

This is not just any Sunday roast.

This is a day when we really do spoil ourselves and enjoy food that little bit more special. I find that at Christmas time we really do indulge in treats that we often go without during the rest of the year, so I hope to make this years Christmas meals truly special for my family!

So, as always, my cooking mind is on the go and I have plans flying around.

I am terrible for scribbling on scraps of paper ideas and notes. But then when it comes to needing those ideas I can not find the piece of paper.

This is where my blog will come in this year!

This is going to be where I keep my plan up to the big day and will hopefully be able to record the final, successful result!

So far I have got our Christmas cakes baked. I have made 2 small sherry Christmas cakes which are being given to mums in their Christmas hampers, 12 mini, cupcake sized sherry Christmas cakes, a large whisky Christmas cake and a small whisky cake for my dad. Next week I will be busy getting them all decorated!

I have our Wee Dram Christmas pudding on a shelf maturing.

Turkey and vegetables have been ordered.

First half of the Christmas treats and drinks are arriving today then the second lot on the Monday before Christmas.

Everything that needs to be ordered has been ordered.

Now it is just down to precise timing on the day so everything goes to plan!!!

This makes me feel both excited and nervous. I love being in my kitchen, I love preparing food for the people that I love so I am confident that I will love cooking Christmas dinner. I may need a glass of wine while I do it to stop me stressing but I am sure that it will be as perfect as I hope.

So, what is on the menu?

So far, this is what I have got...

Christmas Breakfast

Toasted bagels with a layer or cream cheese and topped with smoked in whisky salmon (plain smoked salmon for the kiddies!) served with either fresh orange or bucks fizz!

Christmas Lunch

Starter

Venison & Red wine Pate or Farmhouse Pate with Mulled Cider and bruschetta

Main Course

Roast Turkey stuffed with cranberry, orange and chestnut stuffing, wrapped with streaky bacon
Roast potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Honey roasted carrot and parsnips
Brussel sprouts and peas with smoked bacon lardons
Red cabbage with red onions
Pigs in blankets
Gravy and cranberry sauce

Dessert

Wee Dram Christmas Pudding for the adults
Chocolate Yule Log for the kiddies

Later in the day, if we have any room for any more food there will be fresh bread, left over turkey and treats!

We have 12 more sleeps to go!

I have 12 more sleeps to get all my timings exact so that everything is ready and perfect at the same time!

It will all start once the turkey is in at 10am!

However I am going to prepare a lot of the vegetables on Christmas eve so that I can not only spend time in the kitchen but also spend time with my hubby, playing with the children and enjoying quality time as a family.

The Christmas excitement has begun!!!

Compare4Kids Website Review

I often find looking for toys for Joseph hard online as there are so many different shops that stock different toys and at different prices.

So when I heard about Compare4Kids I was curious to see what it had to offer.

I sat Joseph down, went to the website and told him that he could make a "wish list" using Compare4Kids children's gift finder.

His face lit up when I told him he could look for toys up to the value of £100.

This is how he got on...

 

Joseph's Gift Wish List Using Compare4Kids

 

When we went onto Compare4Kids children's gift finder Joseph was easily able to select which toys are relevant for his gender, age and price range. We loved that he is able to look for toys that have have a budget starting from £5 and under. It will be a great way for Joseph to look for toys when he has saved some pocket money and will save us valuable time trawling through the internet and looking a various sites! After spending a while looking through the different gift ideas this is what Joseph has put on his wish list!

1 - The first item that Joseph picked was The Cube board game. When I asked him why he had chosen this game he told me that he thought it would be a fun game for us all to play as the television programme is "cool!"

 

2 - He then went on to find Airhogs in red. He has seen these on television before and would love to play in the garden with one!

 



 

 

3 - Then he found the Slap Watches! These were an immediate hit with him and he sat and checked that he had enough money left to add an orange one to his list!

 

 

4 - We have just finished rearranging Joseph's bedroom so when he saw these letters for the wall he said that they would be perfect for his newly done room!

 

 

 

The next two items on Joseph's wish list are toys that he has picked for his brother and sister. He loved being able to change the age range and gender to look for specific toys.

This is what he has picked for them...

 

"Isabella would love a Pink Pop n Pick Up Elefun because she loves rolling and throwing ball and she loves pink!"

 

 

"Taylor would love this car carrier (Car Transporter) because he loves driving his cars about and with this he will have something to put them on!"



 

After Joseph had finished, I asked him what he thought. This is what he said...

 

"Great website!"

"Easy to use!"

 

 

"Like picking the age and amount of money that I can spend"

"I saw toys that I hadn't thought of and it gave me ideas!"

 

 

"Like having lots of shops in one place!"

"I give it 5 out of 5, no I meant 10 out of 5!"

 





 

 

This is a website that I will definitely be using again it makes looking for gifts so much easier!

Check their gift finder out http://www.compare4kids.co.uk/gifts.php

 

Disclaimer: This post is my entry for Compare4Kids bloggers competition

 

Update

 

WE WON!!!!!!

Yay thank you so much Compare4Kids!

Our win is still a secret from Joseph. What I am planning to do is wrap them up and place them in a separate bag that we will give to him on Christmas morning.

I cannot wait to see his face when he realises that we won his wish list!

Thank you again Compare4Kids you will be making one little boy feel extremely lucky as he always says that he is unlucky as we never win anything for him!

Well this time we did!

Thank you x

 

Wednesday Words - Poorly Twins

The cold bug has hit the house!
The victims this time are the twins, luckily Joseph and hubby are both ok.
I'm not feeling 100% but on I plod!
When the twins are not very well it can be more tiring than when they are well.
They don't sleep as well as they normally do during nap time and I usually end up with one if not the pair of them snuggled up asleep on my knee.
So at the moment my days revolve around wiping snotty noses and giving lots of cuddles.
My Wednesday Words quote today is one of my favourite twin quotes, it is so true and a good one to remember when I am worn out at the end of the day.

Two Faces to wash, and four dirty hands,

Two insistent voices, making demands,

Twice as much crying, when things go wrong,

The four eyes closing, with slumber song,

Twice as many garments, blowing on the line,

Two cherubs in the waggon, soaking up sunshine,

Work I do for twins, naturally comes double,

But four arms to hug me, repay all my trouble

 

Author - Unknown

 



 

On the plus side, they should have got rid of their cold by the time Christmas comes and hopefully nobody else will get it!

 

Wednesday Words is hosted by the lovely Emma at Crazy With Twins. Please go and read her heart moving Wednesday Words post for this week.
My thoughts and prayers go to her and her family during this hard time x

http://www.crazywithtwins.com/2013/12/11/wednesday-words-bravery-survival/