The Cake

I should really have started baking for Christmas some days ago. Stir Up Sunday, the last before Advent, was traditionally the day for making the Christmas pudding and cake,. The name comes from the collect for that day which begins "Stir up, we beseech Thee O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people" All our family took a turn at stirring the mixture!

My mother-in-law, a staunch Presbyterian, was renowned at her church for her baking skills. Her Christmas cake and mince pies were altogether out of this world. On the day of the church fete she really came into her own. Her fruit cake was legendary and won first prize so often that she wondered whether she should keep competing. Her cherry buns were a joy to behold (and to eat). In fact, I still use her bun recipe and it is a black mark for this Grandma if there are no buns when the grandchildren come to call.

On one famous occasion the domestic science teacher from the local Grammar school produced a large, beautifully iced cake. I must say it was much more professionally decorated than any of the other offerings. However it was not for sale, it was to be first prize in the raffle. It was a splendid affair in peach coloured icing decorated with green leaves and red roses. Shells edged the top and bottom and it was altogether a work of art.

Imagine my surprise when I found I had the winning ticket. Mother-in-law said "You won't have to make a cake this year". So I didn't. At teatime on Christmas Day. although everyone was stuffed to the gills with turkey and Christmas pudding, not to speak of dates, nuts and chocolates, nevertheless I thought I would produce my wonderful prize. What a disappointment!! The icing was so hard it nearly broke the knife and when we finally got to the cake it was as dry as desert sand and fell into crumbs as I tried to cut it. Never judge a sausage by its skin. From that day on I have made my own Christmas cakes.