12/12 & The Queen's Christmas Cake

Today is the 12th day of the 12th month - only 12 more days til Christmas Eve!

Have had some mulled wine and Christmas music and getting very excited about a snowy white winter wonderland and family in the Great White North. I also made (well steamed) a Christmas pudding for the first time. It was a gift from the Queen, yes Liz and I are mates. I did attend a lunch with her once but that was a few years ago and I was one of another 100 people but let's just pretend it was her and I chatting about life over a cuppa tea and some biscuits.

Anyhow, before I digress any further, Queen Lizzie gave these puds out to each of her staff as a Christmas gift in 2007.  And one of her lovely employees gave it to me!

I steamed it for 1.5 hrs yesterday and served it up on a plate with lots of spoons, which to everyone's dismay is not how you serve it.  It is supposed to be served with custard or ice cream but there was none of that at our place, just mulled wine and minced pies. I had a spoonful of the Queen's pudding and one was not amused as there are so many raisins and fruity bits!!   Dried fruit and brandy is not a good combo for me, our Christmas dessert is usually Tiramisu.

Well the pudding has been saved for the Brits to eat 'properly' with their custard and ice cream. Let the countdown begin to Momma Dolce's tiramisu xx

Bara BrithBara brith, also known as 'speckled bread' (the literal meaning of the original Welsh-language name), or Welsh cake, is a yeasty doughy type bread stuffed with dried fruit. It is traditionally made with raisins, currants and candied peel.

We bought a loaf in the town of Cardigan in Wales, but it traveled back to London with us. I still haven't tried it as I think there are too many raisins and dried fruits in it for me. Will wait 'til it hardens to a brick-like state and throw it at the neighbours when their TV is too loud! (which is almost every night, but when it gets warmer and they keep their windows open it sounds like open air cinema at the NFT - that speckled bread might scare them into turning it down, only if they hear the wallop when it hits their window?!)

I keep wanting to call it B'nai B'rith which is the oldest operating Jewish organisation in the world. Back home in Toronto, I used to drive by a B'nai B'rith sign every day around the very Jewish neighbourhood, Bathrust and Lawrence, which I lived on the border of.

The others enjoyed the bread/cake and the bakery, Y Popty, was busy selling many loaves of it, I love that bakery's name! You have to visit Wales once in your life or if you live in the UK, once a year to gaze at the signs and listen to the language.