Christmas
at the Cupcake Café
Cupcake
Café # 2
By: Jenny Colgan
Releasing October 14th, 2014
William Morrow
Blurb
Issy Randall, proud owner of The
Cupcake Cafe, is in love and couldn’t be happier. Her new business is thriving
and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl
and Caroline don’t seem quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and
merriment. But when her boyfriend Austin is scouted for a possible move to New
York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And
when the Christmas rush at the cafe - with its increased demand for her
delectable creations - begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she
holds most dear.
This December, Issy will have to
rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature and cinnamon, to make sure
everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another. . .
Indulge yourself and your
sweet-toothed friends with Jenny Colgan’s new novel, simply bursting with
Christmas cupcake recipes and seasonal sugar-fuelled fun.
Link to
Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2014/09/christmas-at-cupcake-cafe-cupcake-cafe.html
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13596423-christmas-at-the-cupcake-caf?ac=1
Buy Links
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-at-the-cupcake-cafe-1/zhaR2ygNd0ie4dITpEBkPA
The
Classic Christmas Cake
By Delia
Smith
This, with no apologies, is a
Christmas cake thathas been in print since 1978, has been made and
loved by thousands and is, along with
theTraditional Christmas Pudding, one of the mostpopular recipes I’ve produced.
It is rich, dark andquite moist, so will not suit those
who like acrumblier texture. Recently we took some of thesecakes along to
book-signing sessions up and downthe country and were quite amazed to see so
manypeople take a mouthful and then buy a book!
1lb (450g) currants
6oz (175g) sultanas
6oz (175g) raisins
2oz (50g) glacé cherries, rinsed,
dried and finely
chopped
2oz (50g) mixed candied peel, finely
chopped
53
3 tablespoons brandy, plus extra for
‘feeding’
8oz (225g) plain flour
1/2 level teaspoon salt
1/4 level teaspoon freshly grated
nutmeg
1/2 level teaspoon ground mixed spice
8oz (225g) unsalted butter
8oz (225g) soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
2oz (50g) almonds, chopped (the skins
can be left
on)
1 level dessertspoon black treacle
grated zest 1 lemon
grated zest 1 orange
4oz (110g) whole blanched almonds
(only if you
don’t intend to ice the cake
You will also need an 8 inch (20cm)
round caketin or a 7 inch (18cm) square tin, greased and lined
with silicone paper (baking
parchment). Tie aband of brown paper round the outside of the tin
for extra protection.You need to begin
this cake the night beforeyou want to bake it. All you do is weigh out thedried
fruit and mixed peel, place it in a mixingbowl and mix in the brandy as evenly
and
thoroughly as possible. Cover the bowl
with a cleantea cloth and leave the fruit aside to absorb the
brandy for 12 hours.
Next day pre-heat the oven to gas mark
1,275°F (140°C). Then measure out all the rest of the
ingredients, ticking them off to make
quite surethey’re all there. The treacle will be easier to
measure if you remove the lid and
place the tin in asmall pan of barely simmering water. Now begin
the cake by sifting the flour, salt
and spices into alarge mixing bowl, lifting the sieve up high to give
the flour a good airing. Next, in a
separate largemixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together
until it’s light, pale and fluffy. Now
beat the eggsin a separate bowl and add them to the creamed
mixture a tablespoonful at a time;
keep the whiskrunning until all the egg is incorporated. If you
add the eggs slowly by degrees like
this the mixturewon’t curdle. If it does, don’t worry, any cake full
of such beautiful things can’t fail to
taste good!When all the egg has been added, fold in the
flour and spices, using gentle,
folding movementsand not beating at all (this is to keep all that
precious air in). Now fold in the
fruit, peel,chopped nuts and treacle and finally the grated
lemon and orange zests. Next, using a
largekitchen spoon, transfer the cake mixture into the
prepared tin, spread it out evenly
with the back ofa spoon and, if you don’t intend to ice the cake,
lightly drop the whole blanched
almonds in circlesor squares all over the surface. Finally cover the
top of the cake with a double square
of siliconepaper with a 50p-size hole in the centre (this gives
extra protection during the long slow
cooking).Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven
for 41/2–43/4 hours. Sometimes it can
take up to1/2–3/4 hour longer than this, but in any case don’t
look till at least 4 hours have
passed. Cool the cakefor 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it to a wire
rack to finish cooling. When it’s
cold, ‘feed’ it –make small holes in the top and base of the cake
with a cocktail stick or small skewer,
then spoonover a few teaspoons of brandy, wrap it in double
silicone paper secured with an elastic
band andeither wrap again in foil or store in an airtight
container. You can now feed it at odd
intervalsuntil you need to ice or eat it.
Author Info
Jenny
Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including Christmas at the
Cupcake Café and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, which are also
published by Sphere. Meet Me at the Cupcake Café won the 2012 Melissa Nathan
Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was
Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams, which won the RNA Romantic Novel
of the Year Award 2013. Jenny is married with three children and lives in
London and France.
Author Links
Website: http://www.jennycolgan.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennycolganbooks
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JennyColgan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/39272.Jenny_Colgan
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennycolganbooks
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JennyColgan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/39272.Jenny_Colgan
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