Gondor's Grumblings

[zenrat]

Cake is more important than plastic models.

<ducks and runs for cover>

[scooter]

Cake is more important than plastic models.

<ducks and runs for cover>

As long as the cake isn't a lie

[Gondor]

For those who have not seen the cake





And yes, I do realise that some people will not like cherries, or even the currants and sultanas, the basic recipe is there to be adapted to personal taste.

[zenrat]

Now that's a cake.

 

[Pellson]

This forum turning into a location for sharing and admiring cakes and associated paraphernalia serves only to emphasise its fundamental British origins. And I find this quite entertaining indeed. 

As I have now, finally, left most forms of musts and needs for an extended summer holiday, I will try to ease my way back in the hobby, and hoping to find some inspiration also for modelling among these pages was why I went here, as your work, Alastair, most often is not only inspiring, but also bold and unexpected. It does shift the borders of what I'm considering doable, and for that, I am much grateful. I shall endeavour further on describing these efforts at another page of this forum in due course.
In the meantime, however, the concept of Alastairs fruit cake making the rounds in Herefordshire (was it, right?) will continue to lift my spirits for the foreseeable future, and that indeed is a good thing!

[zenrat]

Surely there is cake in Sweden.  Or are you as a nation just not as enthusiastic about it as those of The Commonwealth are?

[Pellson]

Surely there is cake in Sweden.  Or are you as a nation just not as enthusiastic about it as those of The Commonwealth are?

We're more into buns in different forms and sizes, as well as smaller biscuit-like treats, called " small-cakes". These latter contraptions, however, are found in innumerable variations, tastes, shapes and consistencies, and back in the old days, no coffee break would be deemed complete without at least seven different variations of that theme on the table, in addition, preferably, to at least one bun variant.
Given my semi-diabetic status, however, all of this is a thing of the past. As my cancer medication causes slow insulin production, I try to stay off sweets as much as possible, and tbh, it's easier than I first thought when I was introduced to the drug. So these days, I enjoy finding the optimal variant of hard, crisp rye bread. That's another local specialty, driven by the short agricultural season and hence the need to store edibles for long times. Dry, crisp rye bread works well, as it can be stored for months and months without going bad, and a well made "knäckebröd" is a culinary experience quite far beyond what you would expect when you first see it, and many a good restaurant over here features more or less specially fashioned rye bread as starters or snacks to their main courses.

[Rheged]

Surely there is cake in Sweden.  Or are you as a nation just not as enthusiastic about it as those of The Commonwealth are?

We're more into buns in different forms and sizes, as well as smaller biscuit-like treats, called " small-cakes". These latter contraptions, however, are found in innumerable variations, tastes, shapes and consistencies, and back in the old days, no coffee break would be deemed complete without at least seven different variations of that theme on the table, in addition, preferably, to at least one bun variant.
Given my semi-diabetic status, however, all of this is a thing of the past.

Bridget's brother is type 1 diabetic, so she has developed "safe" recipes for our family gatherings.  The offering below tastes good and is one he can enjoy without upsetting his insulin balance. The diabetic clinic people  say it's perfectly OK unless you gorge on vast quantities
Yes, I know that this is the What If site, but on the basis that she invented this herself as an alternative  comestible,  "What if I replaced the sugar?"  in the same way as one of us might say "What if we painted it lilac and added Ruritanian roundels" she thinks it might just qualify .

Apple and cinnamon cake
100g wholemeal flour
1 heaped tbsp artificial granulated sweetener
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
6g baking powder
3 eggs
3 level tbsp skimmed milk
75g vegetable oil based spread, melted
1kg apples
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.Sift the flour into a bowl, add the artificial sweetener, baking powder and cinnamon into the flour and mix. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and the milk. Whisk and add in the melted butter. Peel and core the apples and remove the seeds. Cut them into large slices. Add the apple slices to the mixture and fold in gently. Grease a cake tin (around 23cm in diameter) with some vegetable oil. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool and serve.    You can replace the apples with pears, and the cinnamon with ground ginger or mixed spice.

Sorry Alastair, I'm not trying to hi-jack your thread but it's the nearest to a Whiffed item the domestic management can offer

[Gondor]

Not a problem Rheged. It may be helpful to Pellson as well. Perhaps I should try my own recipe with a sugar replacement instead?

Thread drift is a hazard on this forum, and the subject of the cake was merely resurrecting one of my own posts.

[Pellson]

I've said it before, and I'll happily say it again - thread drift is not a hazard, it's a bonus! 

[Gondor]

Perhaps I should have said that Thread Drift is a Natural Occurrence in the forum. 

[PR19_Kit]

It's a permanent fixture!