Noodle Accident, Stolen Paintings, Scrooge,

Once in a while I enjoy spicy Noodle soups for lunch - the oriental ones are the best. So Friday was one of the days I decided on the noodles for lunch. Having made the noodles with hot water I sat down to eat them and somehow, not sure how, I knocked the whole lot over me and mostly on the floor. It was pretty hot too. What a mess. Picking up the noodles wasn't too bad, but cleaning up all the liquid was a pain in the butt. I worked on it a lot that afternoon, but decided to let it all dry and see what I had achieved. Not too bad, it will have to be done again, but I think I can leave it til after Christmas.

I also made my rum butter for the Christmas Pudding - I figured I hadn't got enough butter so had to defrost some which meant I had to wait a while before I could finish making it. I did though and it is now frozen.

Just seen an FB post from my sinlaw (the artist) about valuable paintings worth ­£160,000 having been stolen from a zoo. He wants to spread it around to make the pictures "too hot to handle". Good idea. This is a picture of one of the paintings, which I think is fabulous.

There are pictures on the BBC site of some of the other paintings, do have a look, they are wonderful.

Sunday night I watched the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney. Hadn't seen it before, I enjoyed it. Pretty well done. Nice to see familiar English actors too.

Denise from My Life in Retirement enquired about the Reindeer Cake shown in my Saturday blog. Here is the recipe. Hmm, they said it was easy!

Chocolate Peppermint Reindeer Cake

CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tso baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
6 candy canes, crushed in a food processor
FROSTING
2 cups unsalted butter
1 tsp peppermint extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp clear vanilla
2 Tbs heavy whipping cream
1 tsp salt
ANTLERS
2 large candy canes
12 small candy canes
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
white pearl food spray to cover cake
wooden cake dowel rods to hold up the cake
white chocolate candy melts
red edible glitter

1. For the reindeer, make this cake recipe twice back to back.

2. FOR THE CAKE:.

3. Heat oven to 350. Place 3 cups of water in a saucepan and set on the stove with a high heat.

4. In a stand mixer, blend sugar, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Slowly mix into wet and when just incorporated pour in one cup of boiling water. Pulse until thoroughly mixed and pour into two parchment lined Loaf tins. Bake 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Wrap and chill well before cutting and assembling cake.

5. TO ASSEMBLE:.

6. Slice your loaves into two layers. Mix buttercream frosting and spread generously between each layer. Sprinkle with chopped candy cane before stacking each new layer. Chill continuously to ensure cake keeps a firm shape. Once stacked, using a serrated blade, carve out general reindeer shape. Once desired form is taken do a smooth crumb coat using additional frosting. Do final coat using clean fresh frosting. Chill when it looks how you want it and use a fork to create added grooves and dimension.

7. FOR THE ANTLERS:.

8. Slightly melt candy canes in a 300 degree oven and bend into desire shapes (Watch your fingers, it's hot!). Adhere to one another by placing an end under a flame for a moment and sticking to a larger piece (They burn very quickly so be stealthy and don't be devastated if any are ruined). Once done pierce the top of you cake with a pointed end and coast delicately with white candy melts.

9. FINISHING TOUCHES:.

10. Finish by spraying with edible pearl spray and placing a bed of coconut around your reindeer. (If you're a terrible person and don't like coconut, you can also use powdered sugar or crushed candy canes instead. Paint on a glittery red nose for an extra festive touch!

Servings: 10

Author: ChristineMcConnell


Have a great day