Everyday Inspirations

“Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you”. ~ Author unknown.

Is it just me, or are the weeks disappearing faster than ever these days? The more I spend my time enjoying my days and the busier I become, the faster the weeks are over.

It’s official ~ time really does fly when you’re having fun!

When the weekend arrives and my family have the opportunity to spend more time relaxing at home, without the pressure of work or school, I like to bake a treat for them to enjoy.

Last Sunday afternoon I baked the most delicious carrot cake ever! My family devoured it in no time at all, firstly whilst still warm from the oven, taking slices to work and school, as a snack when arriving home and it has even been enjoyed as a ‘dessert’ after dinner!

You’d be hard pushed to find a cake more popular than that!

So, here is the recipe for my most popular cake of all time, as voted by my family…

Carrot Cake

3 cups of flour

2 cups of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 cup of undrained, canned crushed pineapple

2 cups of grated carrot

4 eggs

1 ½ cups of salad oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Sift the flour, sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl, add the crushed pineapple, grated carrot eggs, oil and vanilla essence. Beat all ingredients together until well combined.

Stir in the chopped walnuts. Spoon the mixture into either one large square cake tin, or two loaf tins (it is quite a large cake, so can be divided into two).

Bake in a pre-heated 180 degrees C oven. One large cake will take around 2 hours to cook, and the two loaf tins will cook in about 1¼ hours. Check the cake with a cake tester to make sure it is cooked through.

Although the recipe calls for walnuts, I used pecan nuts, from my own garden. We still have a bucket full to use of this year’s bumper crop.

Treat your family, and enjoy!

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Whilst rummaging through my cupboard the other day, as I often do, the one full of old recipes, mostly hand written on yellowing, scrap pieces of paper, I came across a pretty card with a teddy bear on the front. Inside the card was yet another hand written recipe, sent to my youngest daughter when she was still a little girl.

My auntie, a northern England born and raised lady, had lived for a brief time in Wales. On hearing that my daughter liked cooking she sent her a recipe,  which we had never before heard of here in Australia; Welsh Bara Brith.

The note she added with the recipe was very sweet and I will share it with you here ~ “To the little cook of the house, would you like to make a Welsh Bara Brith loaf? I’m sure Mummy would be pleased and it is so easy to make. I’ll write you out the recipe. You would need a 2lb. loaf tin or two 1lb. loaf tins. Use the same cup or beaker all the time”.

After the recipe, she has written, “Slice, eat buttered. Now isn’t that easy? I’m sure you will like it. Let me know. Love, Auntie”.

Well, my daughter did make it and yes, it is easy to make.

My daughter and myself have been quite remiss for some time, neither of us baking Welsh Bara Brith for years, so today I have rectified that oversight!

Welsh Bara Brith

Pre-heat oven to 120-140 degrees C.

Place 2 cups of mixed dried fruit into a large mixing bowl with 1 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup of freshly made, strong black tea. Leave to stand overnight. (Note : I simmer the fruit, tea and sugar gently for about ten minutes, with the lid on the saucepan. It plumps up the fruit beautifully!).

The next morning, (or if you boil the fruit, after the mixture has cooled), add 1 whisked egg, 1 tablespoon of marmalade and 2 cups of self raising flour.

Mix together well with a wooden spoon.

Place the mixture into a baking paper lined loaf tin and cook for approximately 2 hours.

You can see by the photo how anxious my twelve year old son, who arrived home from school just as I took this out of the oven, and I were to have a slice of Welsh Bara Brith ~ the butter melted on it, as the loaf was still warm!

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