Fresh Fruit Cake … Adieu 2008!
Like all good things in life come to an end, 2008 has come to an end too. It’s been a good year in blogland, filled with loads of new friends, food & a whole lot of fun. It’s had its low moments too, where we sadly lost some good blogger friends like Bri to cancer, & Sherry who suffered a fatal heart attack. Low again because world peace got shattered often, & the same old helpless feeling crept into our lives again. High because we now know that we can make a difference, however small, & we are willing to unite to fight for a cause! Because we can say, ‘YES WE CAN’!!!
For me, it’s a moment to think back & look at all the good that has come into my life with a year of blogging. Thank you all of you for being part of my life. I’ve discovered a bunch of great new friends, most virtual yet quite a few within arms reach, I’ve discovered cuisines I never thought I’d ever encounter, I’ve really enjoyed being a Daring Baker, I’ve wept over weeping meringues on shoulders generously offered, I’ve lent my shoulder to be cried upon, I’ve shared joys & sorrows with people I’ve never met…& above all I’m glad I became a foodie blogger. I have no resolutions for the new year, but I know there are people far braver than me, who make resolutions & try & meet them too! Good for you guys!!!
I have a few thank yous lined up to end my year…
The first one goes out for Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases who sent me this wonderful book because the RIG finally chose me. Thank you for this most wonderful cupcake book which I just received. It’s absolutely delightful & has the most novel ideas for cupcakes, each one cuter than the next!!!
To my sis in Houston who sent me a package of baking delights, amongst other things, some pumpkin spice, a very precious roll of parchment paper (it’s unheard of here), & a set of Wilton offset spatulas. O boy … they work like magic, thank you!! Well, all these years I’ve only frosted & leveled my cakes with butter knives & regular spatulas, & life was fine. Then along comes a thing called ‘offset spatula’, & suddenly, I’m living a baking luxury! The ease & fun of frosting with this new instrument had me dancing with joy. Earlier my dear sis had sent me the microplane zester which is an indispensable part of my daily existence…& now it’s this. Thank you …
FRESH FRUIT CREAM CAKE…with kiwis, oranges & almondsFlour – 125 gms (half the weight of the eggs)
Baking powder – 1tsp
Salt – 1 pinch
Powdered sugar – 100gms ( less than half the weight of the eggs)
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp
Zest of 1 orange
Cream – 400ml (whipping/35% fat)
Icing Sugar – 3-4 Tbsp
Almond Essence – 1 tsp
Kiwi-fruit – 2-3/depending on size
Marmalade – 4 tbsp/heated well with 3 tbsp of water
Almonds – 2 tbsp/ground with skin
White and dark chocolate for drizzling
Method:
For the sponge
Preheat oven to 190deg C , reduce to 180deg C after 10 mins of putting the cake in.
Grease and line a 9″ring tin; A springform cake tin is always better.
Sift the flour + baking powder + salt 3 times.
Beat the eggs and sugar well with beater till very thick ribbon falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins)
Add vanilla essence + orange extract & beat for 1 min.
Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn’t escape.
Turn gently into tin and bake for 30-35mins till done.
Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely. Cut horizontally into 3-4 layers.
Filling:
Peel and chop 2 kiwi-fruit into tiny pieces,and slice 1 for the top.
Whip 400ml whipping cream with 4tbs pwdrd sugar +1 tsp almond essence until thick and holds peaks.
Reserve 1/2 for frosting the top. Place the bottom most layer of the sponge on your serving platter, spread half the marmalade across it. Spread it fast, or else it’ll seep into just one area. Add a dollop of cream, top with fienly chopped kiwi fruit & sprinkled with ground almonds. Repeat & use the remaining cream, chooped fruit & almonds.
Spread the remaining almond cream over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle with flaked almonds on the edges.
At this point, I sometimes cut the cake into 12 equal portions, to make serving simpler.
Now place a slice of kiwi fruit at equal intervals, drizzle with dark chocolate, sprinkle with ground almonds if you like, and chill well before serving.
Thanks to all you wonderful folk out there…hope 2009 makes all your dreams come true!
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Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
23 Comments
Gretchen Noelle
This does look delicious! Hope you have a Happy New Year!
Bren
This cake looks so good! And your thank yous are so kind! Enjoy your New Year!!!
AK Mom
This cake looks absolutely yummy!!
I hope you and your family have a very Happy New Year!!
anudivya
Happy New year Deeba! The cake looks gorgeous!
noble pig
Deeba this was a beautiful post! Happy New Year to you and it sounds like 2008 was sweet to you.
Kalai
Lovely write-up, Deeba! The cake looks amazing! Wish you and your family a very happy new year! 🙂
Bellini Valli
It has been a pleasure to read your blog over the past year and to get to know you better Deeba. I wish for you and your family a HEALTHY, happy and tasty New year…of which there is no doubt!!! See you in ’09!!
arundati
Deeba….its been a fabulous ride along….you and the blog…have been just so wonderful….happy new year to you and may it bring you and the family much happiness…hugs…
Curry Leaf
Great Retrospection with a Gorgeous Cake.HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU & FAMILY.HAPPY TO KNOW THAT YOUR DAUGHTER IS NOW HEALTHY & ITS GREAT THAT SHE GAVE YOU A GIFT-ITS A TREASURE TO BE CHERISHED.
chriesi
Happy New Year!
Snooky doodle
this looks so nice and its ideal after all that chocolate I ate 🙂 Happy new year !!!
Uma
Wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year 2009!
Mike of Mike's Table
Lots of great gifts and I love that cake–it looks fantastic! I hope you and your family have a Happy New Year!
lisa (dandysugar)
Your cake looks and sounds scrumptious! A fresh fruit cake is perfect for the New Year. Looking forward to more wonderful treats on your blog!
Peace and best wishes for 2009!
Purnima
Graceful Deeba, Glamorous PAB, wonderful 2008 which saw PAB reaching out to corners of blog world, more frnds n much strong posts! WOW..what wd 2009 b like? Much n much n much better …thats my wish for you n PAB!
HAPPY 2009 to u n ur family! With love n regards.(can u help me wt idea for the boy’s bday cake ?? 😀 😉 just kidding..!) HUGS!
Gloria Chadwick
Happy New Year, Deeba! I love your blog and it’s been wonderful to *meet* you and make friends with you. Hope you can make it back to San Antonio one of these days. Hugs. 🙂
Helene
Happy New Year!
Sanghi
Deeba..!! Lovely lovely lovely cake! Wishing you a very happy new year!
Nachiketa
Happy New Year……
You’ve made my past year so happy…. need to find better words than “Thank You”…..
You are one of the most wonderful people life has shared with me…..
May god bless you and everyone arround you…. 🙂
Ivy
Happy New Year Deeba, to you and you family. The cake looks gorgeous.
nicisme
I forgot to say Happy New Year to you and your family Deeba!!!
I have really enjoyed reading your blog this year and am so glad we found each other.
Best wishes for 2009, hope it’s the best ever.
Jeanne
May your new year be as beautiful and filled with good things as your cake, Deeba!
giniann
Good looking cake. I was thinking of baking this for my son’t birthday. Will do a trial run before the actual day.