AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

GUGELHUPH


I have no idea how to pronounce the name of this cake but I can vouch for its deliciousness,it is a great cake for those who dislike the traditional heavy English Christmas cake and is vastly cheaper and much less complicated to make. I make several each year at the request of friends and seasonally dressed it looks every bit as good as the usual sort of Christmas cake.

50g sugar

1 orange

50g raisins

65ml milk

1 teaspoon of dried yeast

225g strong plain flour

50g melted butter

50g raisins these should be soaked in the rum over night.

1 tablespoon of rum

semolina

This cake should be baked in a fluted tin ring but a plain one looks just as good. Warm the milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Add 50g of the flour and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Beat in the melted butter,sugar,eggs,grated orange rind and juice. Add the raisins and beat in the remaining flour to make a very soft dough.

Grease the tin well and dust thoroughly with semolina. Pour the mixture in to the tin which should come about half way up the tin. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour until the dough reaches the top of the tin. Bake at 200oCfor 40 minute on a wire rack then dust with icing sugar.

You can, of course decorate the ring in other ways, perhaps filling the centre hole with glacé fruits,or try pouring glacé icing over the cake instead of dusting with icing sugar then decorate the with a sprig or two of holly.

Some years ago I made this cake for a Christmas party,I made some glacé icing but before I poured in over the cake I placed a fat church candle in the middle,then after pouring the icing over the cake I decorated the edge of the serving plate with real holly sprigs and red ribbon bows and set it in the centre of the table. Everyone thought it was a table centre until I blew out the candle and began to serve slices of the cake to my astonished guests.