Friday, December 22, 2006

Happy Holidays To All



Peer pressure finally got me. Every Blog I was visiting for the last couple of days was filled with the rich aroma of baking and though I am a bekaar Baker I finally gave in.

We do not celebrate Christmas as per se. That means we do not put up a Christmas tree, do not frantically buy last moment Christmas presents or bake for Christmas. However I enjoy the Christmas season because of the joyful spirit that you feel in the air, the long long weekends, the heavy discounts at the stores, the Christmas carols on the radio.

When I was small I loved the “Enid Blyton” Christmas. What intrigued me most was the ritual of hanging up of stockings and the stockings being filled with toys by Santa. I could never fathom how so many toys could go into a measly stocking and I always felt maybe stockings those “English” kids had were way better than mine.

But I guess that was the real essence of Christmas, of giving and being happy with small gifts and not asking for an Xbox or a PlayStation which would really really need a XXL stocking.

My little daughter who is usually scared of Santa at the mall has only asked for a small YoYo which would easily fit into her stockings :).

Back to baking I wanted to try out the scores of the cake recipes at all your wonderful blogs but decided to stick with something simple. So went for a Christmas Cranberry Cake. I followed the recipe from here . I am not reiterating the entire recipe here but just jotting down the notes.





What I learnt

Melt the Butter and mix the butter and sugar first
Then add the eggs and mix
Next the sour cream
Now go for the flour
The recipe I followed said a small sour cream and I really got the smallest one. This resulted in the mix being pretty thick at this point. So I added 1 more egg and half quarter of melted butter (in all I used 3eggs and 1 and ½ quarter of butter) to the mix to make it the right consistency, maybe I should have added some more sour cream.
I used a can of cranberry sauce (whole berries)

What I shall not do next time

I added Almond Extract as the recipe said but the flavor was not liked by the family much so I am going to give that a miss next time
Make a topping

The result was pretty ok, considering this is the second time I baked a non-boxed cake :)
The cranberrys in the cake gave it a slight tartness not making the cake very sweet.

Why Cranberries are good for You
Cranberries exhibit a level of tannins, in addition to antioxidants. Tannins have anti-clotting properties, and may help reduce infections in the urinary tract and reduce the amount of plaque-causing bacteria in the mouth, thus being a prophylaxis for gingivitis.

Enjoy the cake and the joy this season brings. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Christmas Icons are from IconDrawer

20 comments:

  1. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you and your family

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  2. Sandeepa,
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful cake for this holiday, it's a very festive and delicious cake, when I make it sure follow the tips you provided.
    I'm from HK originally the people still do all the Christmas things (exchange gifts, hanging socks) but which has not much religious meaning in general, more like a party though.

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  3. Merry Christmas. And that's a beautifully presented cranberry cake. Will remember the do's and dont's.

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  4. Sandeepa, Happy Holidays!. Cranberry Cake looks lovely.

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  5. Dear Sandeepa, Merry xmas and happy new year to you and your family...have a good one...~smile~

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  6. Sandeepa: that looks really moist, Would love to have a piece of that with some coffee..I am not much of a baker either,I let others do it,and I just eat and enjoy it.
    Have a great long weekend with the family! - Trupti

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  7. Happy Holidays! Enjoy the super delicious cake!:)

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  8. Sra
    Happy Holidays and thank you.

    Gattina
    Your baking is soooo much better that you don't have to follow tips. Everyone knows them already I guess LOL:)

    Sri
    Thanks

    Indo
    Have a great holiday

    DilipJi
    Thank you and will be back before the New Year :)

    Trupti
    Yeah long weekend is a bliss and I have Tuesday off too :)

    Asha
    You must be having fun at Florida, enjoy :)

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  9. I did put up a Christmas tree but try to stay away from the gift craze. Hope you have a great time and that's a great presentation!!

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  10. hai sandeepa

    first of all from the picture of the cake..it is looking that u are a good baker...don't ever think that ..u can't do ..it..

    the cake is looking great..
    happy holidays to u..:-)

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  11. Good effort for a bekaar baker! :) I'm a terrible baker and don't usually attempt baking unless it involves store bought doughs and ready-to-bake stuff. So I must say, I'm really impressed, Sandeepa! It looks really good! :)
    Happy Holidays to you and your family!

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  12. Sandeepa:
    Happu holidays gal!!! and your cake looks delicious. I am gonna keep in my mind all the donts and must do list.
    Thanx a bunch
    Seema

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  13. Hi Sandeepa,Merry Christmas to you all,dear.nice cake..good write up about the dos and don'ts too!:))

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  14. Happy holidays to you and your family.

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  15. Happy holidays to you too Sandeepa :) Lovely cake :)

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  16. Dear sandeepa,
    thanks for sharing the recipe for yum cake ,
    Enjoy Christmas and new year with friends and family ..
    Season's Greeating and best wishes
    Hugs and smiles
    Jaya

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  17. Ur cake is making me bekarar!! love ur don't dos.We too don't celebrate christmas but enjoy the looong relaxed weekend.Wish u and your family happy holidays and a very Happy New Year.

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  18. I discovered your blog only recently and it's a treasure trove of information for a foodie like me. BTW, you do a great job with the photos too! Happy Holidays!

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  19. Gini, Swapna, Vani, Seema
    Thanks and wish you all the best in the coming year

    Vini, Archana, Rooma, Shaheen, Jaya
    Thanks and wish you guys all the best too

    Shantanu
    Thanks and hope to see you around

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  20. May I request you share an easy quick recipe for holiday spiced fruit cake. That would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.

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