The Christmas Cake - Aven Ellis
Aven Ellis lives across the pond in Dallas and has recently had her first novel Connectivity published. She has already got another TWO novels ready to go and is working on her fourth (!) called Surviving The Rachel.
When Aven isn't writing or working you are likely to find her drinking a pumpkin spiced latte, eating a slice of pumpkin cake and googling Benedict Cumberbatch. Or, she'll be taking style tips from Kate Middleton and watching Gordon Ramsey on TV. You can find out what Aven is up to via her fantastic website, Aven Ellis. She'd also love to chat on Twitter.
Aven has written a brilliant piece about an American discovering the English tradition of a Christmas cake. Enjoy!
When Aven isn't writing or working you are likely to find her drinking a pumpkin spiced latte, eating a slice of pumpkin cake and googling Benedict Cumberbatch. Or, she'll be taking style tips from Kate Middleton and watching Gordon Ramsey on TV. You can find out what Aven is up to via her fantastic website, Aven Ellis. She'd also love to chat on Twitter.
Aven has written a brilliant piece about an American discovering the English tradition of a Christmas cake. Enjoy!
Last year--thanks to leaping into Twitter--I made many new friends from across the pond. As we inched closer to the holiday season, I noticed my friends in the UK were talking about their “Christmas Cakes.” I looked it up on line and it sounded suspiciously like a dreaded fruitcake. Now, in America, this has a completely different meaning--a fruitcake here is super dense and filled with candied pineapple, candied cherries, nuts, raisins, etc. The ingredients vary by the source, but those are some of the standard ingredients. There is no icing on the top. To be honest, it has never been a favorite of mine. I preferred pumpkin pie to the fruitcake.
So knowing this was a dreaded fruitcake, I wondered why I kept seeing Christmas Cakes pop up on my friends messages from the UK. Finally I asked my dear faux daughter Alexandra what was in a British fruitcake and why on earth were they so beloved? Because in America we dreaded getting them from some random neighbor or old auntie. Truth: whenever my mother got one, it ended up in the trash. (Sorry for airing the family laundry in public, mom, but I’m making a point here!) Anyway, Alexandra indulged my American curiosity and sent me a picture of the one she was decorating.
And I stopped down right there--IT HAD ICING? As an icing slut, this was already WAY better than the American version! Alexandra explained that yes, it is iced, and the inside had spices and sultans (and thank you Google for clarifying this is what we call raisins). So I started doing some reading and found out the cakes had to be made months in advance and FED. Fed? Seriously? Sometimes I forget to feed my cats, let alone feed a cake! But cakes are fed some kind of booze (like brandy) during this time. OKAY I AM SO IN. A moist cake flecked with spice, raisins and brandy? THEN ICED? Oh, but wait, there was more--Alexandra told me it is covered in MARZIPAN before it was iced.
COVERED IN MARZIPAN. Repeat: COVERED IN MARZIPAN. I LOVE LOVE LOVE marzipan! So now we are talking a cake that is fed brandy, filled with spices, covered in marzipan and then iced?
CHRISTMAS CAKE O CHRISTMAS CAKE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
Now I had to have it.
Of course, I discovered this too late to bake my own cake and feed it properly for months, (not that I would ever remember to give it brandy but I digress) so I did the next best thing. I found a British import store here in Texas and went on a quest to find a “proper” Christmas Cake.
Luckily for me, they were well stocked. I wanted to buy one of everything but settled on a small iced fruitcake.
So knowing this was a dreaded fruitcake, I wondered why I kept seeing Christmas Cakes pop up on my friends messages from the UK. Finally I asked my dear faux daughter Alexandra what was in a British fruitcake and why on earth were they so beloved? Because in America we dreaded getting them from some random neighbor or old auntie. Truth: whenever my mother got one, it ended up in the trash. (Sorry for airing the family laundry in public, mom, but I’m making a point here!) Anyway, Alexandra indulged my American curiosity and sent me a picture of the one she was decorating.
And I stopped down right there--IT HAD ICING? As an icing slut, this was already WAY better than the American version! Alexandra explained that yes, it is iced, and the inside had spices and sultans (and thank you Google for clarifying this is what we call raisins). So I started doing some reading and found out the cakes had to be made months in advance and FED. Fed? Seriously? Sometimes I forget to feed my cats, let alone feed a cake! But cakes are fed some kind of booze (like brandy) during this time. OKAY I AM SO IN. A moist cake flecked with spice, raisins and brandy? THEN ICED? Oh, but wait, there was more--Alexandra told me it is covered in MARZIPAN before it was iced.
COVERED IN MARZIPAN. Repeat: COVERED IN MARZIPAN. I LOVE LOVE LOVE marzipan! So now we are talking a cake that is fed brandy, filled with spices, covered in marzipan and then iced?
CHRISTMAS CAKE O CHRISTMAS CAKE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
Now I had to have it.
Of course, I discovered this too late to bake my own cake and feed it properly for months, (not that I would ever remember to give it brandy but I digress) so I did the next best thing. I found a British import store here in Texas and went on a quest to find a “proper” Christmas Cake.
Luckily for me, they were well stocked. I wanted to buy one of everything but settled on a small iced fruitcake.
So that night, long after dinner and I had waited about all I could stand, it was time. I eagerly unwrapped the cake and cut myself a small slice (another UK friend, Amanda, warned it me it was very rich.) I offered slices to everyone else, but they all looked at me like I was indeed crazy (okay they normally look at me like that, but EXTRA CRAZY for wanting to eat fruitcake.) I put it on my Spode plate and took a seat at my pine kitchen table. This was the moment of truth. Was this the Holy Grail of fruitcake? I picked up my fork. Anticipation filled me. I slowly cut through the icing, to the cake, and lifted it to my lips. I took a bite.
OH MOTHER OF GOD. NOW I KNOW WHY YOU LOVELY PEOPLE ACROSS THE POND HAVE THIS EVERY CHRISTMAS SEASON.
It was DIVINE.
I was hooked.
Needless to say, I will be signing up in advance for my very own imported Christmas Cake this year from the import store. And I cannot wait to partake in a new tradition that brings my friends in the UK a little closer to me in Texas, even if only by a slice in December.
Cheers to all of you lovely people across the pond and around the globe. I wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, whether you like Christmas Cake… or not.
XO Aven
OH MOTHER OF GOD. NOW I KNOW WHY YOU LOVELY PEOPLE ACROSS THE POND HAVE THIS EVERY CHRISTMAS SEASON.
It was DIVINE.
I was hooked.
Needless to say, I will be signing up in advance for my very own imported Christmas Cake this year from the import store. And I cannot wait to partake in a new tradition that brings my friends in the UK a little closer to me in Texas, even if only by a slice in December.
Cheers to all of you lovely people across the pond and around the globe. I wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons, whether you like Christmas Cake… or not.
XO Aven