Decorate your home beautifully this Christmas
Have you seen the beautiful Christmas decorations up on all the high streets but not had the time to go shopping for those special Christmas gifts yet, with just over one month until Christmas are you feeling a bit panicked by the idea of trawling the shops for the perfect gift?
The Travelling Souk is a fabulous site I have come across recently where you can do all your unique Christmas gifts shopping ‘under one roof’. The best part is that they have hundreds of amazing unusual Christmas gifts that you will not find on the high street.
Shop from the comfort of your home, office or on the go, The Travelling Souk is one of this year’s most popular Christmas gift websites.
The products range from clothing, toys, furnishings, gifts for him, gifts for her, home décor and more.
For other great products visit - www.thetravellingsouk.com and enjoy the freedom of shopping online for exclusive gift ideas
Best Christmas fruit cake recipe
Make this Christmas Cake which is quick and easy - start early to avoid the Christmas rush, make your cake whilst hanging Christmas decorations, adding some brandy or whiskey to keep it flavoursome.
Prepare this fruit cake in advance and feed it regularly with rum, brandy or whisky to build the flavour and keep it moist.
INGREDIENTS
- 1kg mixed dried fruits (use a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes or figs)
- zest and juice 1 orange
- zest and juice 1 lemon
- 150ml brandy, Sherry, whisky or rum, plus extra for feeding
- 250g pack butter, softened
- 200g light soft brown sugar
- 175g plain flour
- 100g ground almonds
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 100g flaked almonds
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Put the dried fruit, zests and juice, alcohol, butter and sugar in a large pan set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 mins. Tip the fruit mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 mins.
- Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep 20cm cake tin with a double layer of baking parchment, then wrap a double layer of newspaper around the outside – tie with string to secure.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Tip into your prepared tin, level the top with a spatula and bake in the centre of the oven for 2 hrs.
- Remove the cake from the oven, poke holes in it with a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of your chosen alcohol. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
- To store, peel off the baking parchment, then wrap well in cling film. Feed the cake with 1-2 tbsp alcohol every fortnight, until you ice it. Don’t feed the cake for the final week to give the surface a chance to dry before icing.
