MAKING A MINCEMEAT CAKE ON SILLY SATURDAY

Hello Lovely Blippers,

When we heard Mrs. HCB say that she was going to make a cake, we decided to leave JH Ted sleeping and hurry out into the kitchen to see what she was up to.  We like to do something special on a Saturday, because it helps us to remember Admirer, who started it all off.

We could see that Mrs. HCB had got out all the ingredients for one of her Mincemeat Cakes, so we told her we were keen to help.  She said that would be fine, but we had to do what she said and not get up to any mischief.  Mr. HCB said that he would keep well out of the way so he stayed in the lounge and read the newspaper.

Mrs. HCB weighed out all the ingredients and put Goldie in charge of the jar of mincemeat.  Mrs. HCB told him that he had to make sure that he got it all out of the jar and into the mixing bowl, without licking the spoon!  He was a bit upset about not being able to do that, but hoped that when the cake was all mixed up, he might just get a little taste.

Snowy was in charge of the rum.  Now you might think that it is a waste to put rum into a cake, but Mrs. HCB has a lovely Jamaican friend called Lillieth, who soaks her fruit for a year in rum, before she puts it into her Christmas cakes and as she very kindly gave half a bottle of rum to Mrs. HCB, it seemed a good idea to use it today. Sadly, Tiny thought it was lemonade and had quite a large glug out of the bottle and before we knew it, he was flat out on his back - so he won’t be much use for a while!

Meanwhile, Penny Penguin wanted to make sure that the ingredients were all mixed well together, so hung on the side of the bowl, making sure that when the blades of the mixer were going round, she didn’t get too close, otherwise her nose might have ended up in the cake and that would never do!

When Mrs. HCB was ready to put the mixture into her new silicon cake container we all decided to have a good look and a big sniff.  You cannot believe how good it smells and we can’t wait until it’s cooked in Mrs. HCB’s Remoska oven, which you can see on the hob behind us.  

You won’t believe that Mrs. HCB scraped the bowl and then licked the spoon after she had transferred the mixture to the container ready to cook.  We think she leaves a lot in the bowl deliberately, so we will be watching her carefully next time she makes a cake.  Mind you, we also noticed that she licked the spoon after she had measure out the rum - what is she like?

All that’s left is the washing up so we have disappeared quickly from the kitchen and we can hear Mr. HCB out there now, so hope that he is doing what he does so well!  He’s a super trouper (cue for a song there!) and you can always rely on him to do the mucky jobs so we will just pop back out there when the cake is cooked, cooled and ready to eat.

So, we now have to wait - but if the smell is anything to go by, it will taste wonderful.  We have asked Mrs. HCB to put the recipe at the bottom, so if you have a spare jar of mincemeat left over from Christmas, you could try making one too.  If you need any help from the Fabulous Four, just drop Mrs. HCB a line - and if you want Mr. HCB to come and do the washing up, his charges are quite reasonable!

With love 

Snowy, Goldie, Penny and Tiny xxxx

RECIPE FOR MRS. HCB’S MINCEMEAT CAKE

150g Butter or margarine
150g Caster or light brown sugar 
2 eggs
225g Self Raising Flour or 
175g SR Flour and 50g Ground Almonds
1lb Jar Mincemeat
Tablespoon Rum or Whisky - 
and a small glass for yourself if you so desire!

Heat oven to 160 C/140 Fan/Gas 3
Grease and line an 8" round cake tin or a loaf tin
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat well for 1 minute
until well blended
Turn into prepared tin, smooth top and if desired
Sprinkle flaked almonds on top (I don't bother!)
Bake for about 1 hour 45 minutes until golden brown 
and shrinking away from sides of tin.
Leave to cool in tin, remove paper and store in an airtight tin.
Might last for a week - but it tastes so good, it doesn't last that long in our house!