Category: Dessert

In goes a quarter cup of brandy — or in this case, Cointreau. I guess I’m just feeling orange-ish this year. Sometimes we do sherry. It’s all good. Now it’s all mixed together, covered, and left to soak overnight.

Will bake after work tomorrow…

Just one more ingredient for tonight’s prep — want to guess what it is?

There are so many options in our pantry…

Marmalade, I think, and strawberry jam. Christmas should always have oranges, and strawberries make me think of the hill country in Sri Lanka…

Next step, cashews. I suppose you could use other nuts in your fruitcake, but why would you, when you can use cashews?

Some people have very precise recipes for what dried fruit they’re going to put in their rich cake. Me, it’s just 2 1/2 lbs. of whatever dried fruit I have around. This year, we have: papaya, fig, sultanas, cranberries, goji berries, pear. Fun.

When all the fruit is chopped (thanks, Kevin), it is very satisfying. Also, very happy with this photo, it came out so pretty.

Stir-Up Sunday isn’t ’til next weekend, but I’m out of town then, and I wanted to try to sneak a vegan fruitcake into the cookbook, so here we go…

Kavi, who’s been a little sick for a few days: Do we have any chocolate?
Me, dubiously: We have chocolate chips.
Kavi, pathetically: Anything more dessert-y?
Me, thinking: How does chocolate pudding sound?
Kavi, cheerfully: I haven’t had chocolate pudding in forever. That sounds great.
Me, a gleam in my eye: Give me a few minutes.

….ten minutes later, drumroll….

Presenting very dessert-y chocolate pudding!

(Instant vanilla pudding we happened to have on hand, cooked on the stovetop with chocolate chips melted in, chilled in our fanciest gold-flecked dessert bowl, with gold candies scattered over, graced with graham crackers…)

*****

I am happy to inform you that milady was pleased with the offering; there will be no chastisement in the kitchens tonight.