Christmas Blog Hop and Christmas Cake

As Christmas is fast approaching (only 2 months to go!) I thought it might be fun to host a blog hop about Christmas food. For me this is one of the most difficult times of the year to manage Oscar’s food because there are usually so many people involved and I can’t always influence the menu.

This is particularly the case with my husband’s family who insist on having Christmas lunch at a restaurant every year, and won’t consider having it at our home. His parent’s have to host Christmas, but they are not up to doing the cooking, so it is always at a restaurant. We’ve been pretty successful in eating out with Oscar now and finding OK meals or getting meals modified for him, but can you imagine asking for a special meal to be made for one child at one of those Christmas buffet things? Plus, I don’t think its fair that Oscar should have to eat something different when he’s with his family. Last year we tried to have Christmas lunch with hubby’s family and offered to cook lunch at his parent’s home. We arranged this about 5 months before and it was the plan until his sister booked a restaurant and effectively uninvited us. We ended up having Christmas lunch on our own, which was one of the best Christmas lunches I’ve had. All the food was Oscar friendly and it didn’t feel like we were compromising or missing out at all. Unfortunately we can’t be so anti social every year. (Or maybe we could? The thought has crossed my mind!)

This year we are having Christmas lunch with my family at our place. Our house is (hopefully) going to be demolished in January, so this will be our last Christmas (and celebration) in this house. It will be a lot of work, but at least I can control the menu and make sure that there is something for Oscar to eat that everyone else will also be eating. There will also be food that’s not suitable for him, but he won’t be eating something completely different.

Oscar has never had Christmas Cake, so this year my goal is to make an Oscar-friendly Christmas cake. I’ve been looking through my Nana’s recipes book (she has about a dozen Christmas/fruit cake recipes) wondering if I can modify any of them to use Oscar’s dried fruit and other ingredients. Last weekend I had a go, and here is the recipe I came up with, which turned out pretty good. There’s not much of my Nana’s recipe left (just the flour and salt unchanged), but the quantities and method of combining the ingredients are true to the original. Now, I just have to decorate it.

So to join the blog hop all you have to do is write a post about Christmas and food – it can be a story about your experiences, advice, a recipe or something else – and submit it through through the link below. The blog hop will be open until Christmas.

Oscar’s Christmas Cake

Print recipe

Serves	20
Prep time	10 hours, 30 minutes
Cook time	3 hours
Total time	13 hours, 30 minutes
Allergy / Intolerance	Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates
Suitable for	RPAH Elimination Diet - Amines Allowed, RPAH Elimination Diet – Very High Chemical
Meal type	Sweet Things
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Christmas
By author	My Nana

A christmas cake made with fruit and nuts containing amines and moderate levels of salicylates. No artificial preservatives, colours or flavours.

Ingredients

225g Butter (softened and chopped)
225g Brown sugar
285g Plain flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
pinch Salt
4 Eggs
1 tablespoon Pear jam
1/2 cup Whisky (use a good quality whisky)
45g Almonds (chopped)
45g Raw Cashews (chopped)
400g Dried banana (chopped)
200g Dried Pawpaw (chopped)
100g Dried Pear (chopped)
80g Dried Red or Golden Delicious Apple (chopped)
Extra butter or oil (for greasing)

Directions

1.	Prepare the fruit the night before, the longer it can be left, the better. Combine the nuts and dried fruit in a large bowl and pour the whisky over the top. Mix through, then cover and leave over night, stirring occasionally
2.	Preheat the oven to 140 C, positioning the oven rack so that the cake will be in the centre of the oven. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line with 3 layers of baking paper.
3.	Cream the butter and sugar. Add the jam and mix well.
4.	Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each one.
5.	Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.
6.	Add a bit of the flour and fruit and mix into the batter. Continue to add the fruit and flour in small amounts until all mixed in.
7.	Pour into the cake tin. Place in the oven and bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The cake is cooked when a skewer placed in the centre comes out clean. Cover the top with foil after 1 1/2 hours to prevent the top from going too dark.
8.	Allow the cake to completely cool in the tin, covered with a tea towel. To store, wrap in baking paper and foil. Store in a cool place in an airtight container.