Boiled fruit cake

Ever since reading Alison's - of Dragons and Fairy Dust fame - post about a boiled fruit cake, I fancied trying the recipe myself. Her cake is a delightful tea treat.
I have also liked the sound of a tea soaked fruit cake found on National Trust site. My cake is an interpretation and amalgamation of two recipes.
Recently I have being playing with Clipper Extra Strong tea, making both hot and iced tea, and I wanted to bake a cake with fruit soaked in strong tea.

Boiled fruit cake
Ingredients:
2 strong black tea teabags
200ml water
360g mixed fruit (sultanas, raisins and dried apricots)
3 medium eggs
160g demerara sugar
200g margarine (e.g. Flora)
1tbsp mixed spice
360g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsbp spiced rum

Pour hot boiling water over 2 teabags in a big mug, cover and let it steep for 10 minutes. Remove the teabags and discard them. Put the raisins, sultanas and finely chopped apricots in a medium sized pan and pour the tea over the fruit. Bring to boil, then lower the heat, keep cooking for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave the fruit to infuse for two hours, or more if you have time.
This plumps up the dried fruit.

In a big mixing bowl beat the eggs with the sugar, one at a time. Add the margarine and mix well. Sift in the flour, spice mix and baking powder, and mix well together. Finally add the soaked fruit and a spoon of rum (optional) to the cake mix, combine all the ingredients together.
Line the cake spring tin with a foil or parchment paper and lightly oil it.

Pour the cake batter into the tin. Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C. Cook for 50-60 minutes.
Check readiness with a wooden toothpick. You might want to cover the cake with more foil, half-way through cooking, if it gets too browned.

It is a crumbly moist cake, lovely with a cup of tea.

In this recipe I used Clipper Extra Strong tea, but any good quality black tea, plain or flavoured, would work.

Mixed spice that I used is Waitrose Signature Spice which I bought around Christmas time. It is a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, star anise, black pepper, tangerine oil and cloves. You can use any similar mixed spice or make your own from spices you have.

Since I have finished the bag of sultanas, bought for making mincemeat last year as well as the remains of the demerara sugar, I'm adding this recipe to #KitchenClearout linky run by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews.

Heroes and Villains: Witney carnival parade 2017

Witney carnival takes place in July, and every year a new theme is announced.
I remember watching the parade for the first time seven years ago, when I was heavily pregnant with Eddie who was due in a few days. My Mum came to stay with us for six weeks to help with Sasha and the new baby. We were shopping in town, when the parade started. It was a very cheerful and jolly affair, and I wiggled my big belly to the rhythm of the catchy music to the amusement and concern of my Mum, who had this vision of me going in labour in the middle of the parade.
Since then we always try to catch the big show in town, which starts on the Leys and moves through the town centre. The crowds are friendly, people come with young children, put the rugs along the streets and cheer the procession.
All the profits raised from the carnival go to the community and help local charities and organisations.
We love seeing all the floats - schools, marching bands, steam engines. This year's theme was Heroes and Villains.
Oxford Caledonian Pipes and Drums Band is usually leading the procession, just after the local beauty queen makes her entry and disperses kisses (see video above).

The popularity of Star Wars was reflected in several floats.

It's pretty cool to see Darth Vader walking through the centre of Witney.

The stormtroopers

Eddie's school picked 101 Dalmations as their theme, with the Head playing the part of Cruella de Vil.



I believe the next group was The Rotary Club of Witney who chair the Carnival Committee and organise the procession.

The Incredibles looked, well, incredible.

We were impressed by the young cheerleaders.

The Marvel Superheroes

The prize for the coolest float goes to the Batmobile without doubt.

And the prize for the best dance routine goes to Pirate Fitness. They always make us smile. Last year they were dressed up as prehistoric women in skins, carrying clubs. They are a real hoot.



It was not just superheroes, but community heroes as well - firefighters and police officers.

The majorettes in matching outfits

The colourful procession is only one part of the carnival. There were lots of food tents, trade and crafts stalls set up on The Leys, as well as activities planned including a gigantic bouncy castle, slides, donkey and mini train rides, music events, static displays, circus and much more.

Eddie begged me to let him have a go on the Flight simulator. The queue was enormous, and I nearly fainted there, in the middle of the field, as it was very hot.
Eddie was ecstatic though, and kept shouting "I'm flying! I'm flying", so it was all worth it.

We also spotted the Batmobile, but by the time we had a chance to come closer, Batman went on a loo break, so we couldn't have a photo taken together with the Batman. Eddie now wants us to have a Batmobile.
Who wouldn't want a Batmobile?!

June Degustabox - BBQ Box

 We are always looking forward to our Degustabox delivery, which arrives every month and is full of foodie surprises. This monthly food and drink subscription box is an excellent way to discover products which have only just appeared in the shops or those which might have been around for while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the box arrives, it's a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet and would like to have a go, I have a whopping £7 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time) - just use a code 8EVI8 when you place an order.

What did we receive in June Degustabox? Let's have a peek.

My family is rather predictable, when it comes to food. Of course, the sweets were the major attraction for kids.
New Haribo Summer Frenzy - Starmix Berry and Tangfastics Ice Cream & Sorbet flavours - were greeted with hoorays.

They feature familiar shapes but come in new summer flavours (pomegranate & cranberry, raspberry, blackberry, cherry, mixed berries and blueberry). Great for sharing, these sweets - though with a high sugar content - contain no artificial colours.

Walkers shortbread is a much loved classic product. My family loves it, and we buy it quite often, especially the choc chip shortbread cookies.
Walkers Scottie Dogs shortbread is a treat which would appeal to both children and grown ups. It is made with the finest quality ingredients, and the shapes are very cute.

For those who count calories Light Bites - Mango with Vanilla Yoghurt Fruit Chips - might be a more attractive treat, at only 46kcal per pouch. This snack is high in fibre and is made with 100% fruit and yoghurt. This product is part of the Lighter Life Fast 5:2 plan range and is suitable for a calorie controlled diet.
Light Bites Quinoa, Honey and pumpkin seeds bar counts 99kcal, it is high in fibre and is a good source of protein. It contains no artificial colours, preservatives or falvours.
Quinoa is very trendy these days, though personally I'm not a big fan. I ate it, but it felt "too healthy".

Spoon Apple + Peanut Granola is a wholegrain oat granola with chewy baked apple, whole peanuts, crispy coconut chips and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon. Sounds like an apple crumble in a cereal form. Healthy stats: no refined sugar; high in fibre, no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Original O's Savoury Cumin and Sesame Nibbles are crunchy treats. These snacks were created, following a family recipe. These are lovely for munchies.

If you enjoy BBQs in summer, these three recipe mixes will come handy. There are two Schwartz Authentic American Flavours - in Spicy Buffalo Wings and BBQ Pulled Chicken.
Spicy Buffalo Wings flavour is made with dried red bell peppers, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and more.

For the tasty chicken sandwich I used a sachet of Schwartz BBQ Pulled Chicken mix, which promises an authentic American flavour. It adds a rich smokey flavour to meat. Ingredients include caster sugar, salt, onion powder, smoked paprika, molasses powder, garlic powder, flavourings such as barley and mustard, malt extract and more. You just need to add 2tbsp of tomato ketchup and water to mix a paste, which you then rub into chicken before roasting. I have added juice of 1/2 lime to the paste.

We have already tried Capsicana Chilli & Coconut Brazilian Cook Sauce last summer, when it was included in the August Degustabox,
It is made with tomato paste, coconut milk, white wine vinegar, ginger puree, onion puree, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, spices - more pepper like black pepper and frutescens chilli etc. It says "hot" and it certainly delivers.

Moving onto the drinks: there are two tins of Westons Cider (included in the alcohol version of Degustabox only).
Rosie's Pig Handbrake is a cloudy sparkling cider with damson with a unique fruity taste.

Rosie's Pig Flat Tyre is an award winning cloudy sparkling cider with rhubarb. It is definitely a winner, a lovely zesty and tangy drink, a perfect refresher for summer.
"Made with fresh pressed Herefordshire apples, this sweet and well balanced cider is slowly matured and left unfiltered to create an uncompromising flavour".

Eisberg Sauvignon Blanc Alcohol Free Wine is a fresh, fruity drink, which is made in exactly the same way as wine, but with alcohol gently removed at the end. At only 28kcal per 125ml serving, this non-alcoholic drink is perfect for anyone who doesn't want to consume wine for whatever reason (diet, pregnancy, being a designated driver or teetotal),

Berrywhite organic drinks come in four delicious flavours of fruit juice blended with mineral water.

They are one of your five a day, and give 10% profit to the Berrywhite Foundation. They have no added sugar, preservatives or anything artificial.

We got a Lemon & Lime flavour, which was citrussy, zingy and refreshing.

The non-alcohol Degustabox will have two bottles of ENRJ energy juice - Mango Passion and Apple & Berries. This is a freshly pressed fruit juice naturally caffeinated with green (unroasted) arabica coffee beans for a longer-lasting energising lift.

Made with real ingredients, with nothing artificial, no added sugar, less than 100kcal per bottle and one of your five a day.

Disclosure: We receive Degustabox every month for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Strawberry, avocado and tomato salsa

"It's just another manic Monday, I wish it were Sunday"... or even better summer holidays. I am sooo tired of school. School mornings are a grim affair. Eddie gets up with an "I hate school" motto, though by the time he actually arrives to school, he is usually cheerful and eager to meet his friends.
I have just had another espresso to keep me going. After the weekend there is usually so much to do. The house looks like Genghis Khan and his army went through and stayed overnight, horses and all.
Instead of clearing the mess I am procrastinating, catching up on yesterday's episode of Poldark.
On Saturday Eddie and I went to see Despicable Me 3. Eddie liked it a lot, I wasn't so enthusiastic.

Our latest Degustabox delivery was over a week ago, and I still haven't used any of the recipe mixes in sachets. On Sunday I bought a whole chicken, partly for making soup, partly for roasting with a Pulled Chicken spice mix for pulled chicken sandwiches.
To complement the meal, I made a quick and easy salsa, with whatever ingredients I found in the kitchen. I had fresh tomatoes and a piece of cucumber, tinned sweetcorn, an avocado and a handful of strawberries.

1 medium avocado
2 medium tomatoes
3 big strawberries
1/3 cucumber
4 heaped tbsp sweetcorn
1/2tsp onion granules
1tbsp chilli-flavoured oil
1tbsp lime juice
1tbsp chopped fresh mint

The recipe couldn't be easier. Just chop all the ingredients, season with sea salt, chilli oil, lime juice, add onion granules (or fresh thinly sliced onion) and mix well. Make it just before you are going to eat.

For the roast chicken I used a sachet of Schwartz BBQ Pulled Chicken mix, which promises an authentic American flavour. It adds a rich smokey flavour to meat. Ingredients include caster sugar, salt, onion powder, smoked paprika, molasses powder, garlic powder, flavourings such as barley and mustard, malt extract and more. You just need to add 2tbsp of tomato ketchup and water to mix a paste, which you then rub into chicken before roasting. I have added juice of 1/2 lime to the paste.

Pistachio orange cake

Last week my husband's book Mafia Life was officially out. I have already spotted it in the local Waterstone's. To mark the occasion, Eddie drew a card for his Daddy with the words "Best book ever!" (if you are going to flatter, slather it liberally!) and I baked a cake.
I wanted to do something with pistachios and a punnet of blackberries from the market.

I couldn't find any chopped pistachios, so I blitzed a bag of pistachios with a hand blender. I put the nuts in a mixing bowl inside a plastic bag, which I tied around the hand blender, then blitzed the nuts, so they all stayed inside rather than flied around the kitchen (lesson learnt from the previous experience when the nuts ended up everywhere around, including my hair).

Pistachio Orange Cake
Ingredients:
150g pistachios, unsalted and shelled
150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
zest of 2 oranges
juice of 1 orange
150g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
icing sugar, for dusting over
for the compote:
a punnet of blackberries (150g)
50g caster sugar
50ml damson gin
juice of 1/2 orange

First blitz the pistachios in a deep bowl (see the method above).
In a big mixing bowl beat the softened butter with caster sugar until creamy pale, add the eggs one at a time, then mix in the zest and juice of orange. Sift in the flour and baking powder, mix well.

Cut out a circle out of the parchment paper or foil to fit inside the spring cake tin and place inside. Oil the tin. Pour in the cake batter.

Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C. Bake for 40+ minutes. Check readiness with a wooden toothpick, if it comes clean, the cake is ready.
Take the tin out of the oven, and let the cake cool on the cooling rack.
Sift a bit of icing sugar on top.

The cake is lovely just as it is, but if you want it to be more special, make a fresh berry compote.
I used a punnet of blackberries. Raspberries would be a good idea as well.
Heat up the mix of orange juice, gin and caster sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the berries, and cook on low for a couple of minutes.
This compote could be eaten warm or cold.