The farm is always busy, with loads of things to do.
There is the feeding of the animals and mending of fences too, With Mark and me amending, Jane is attending the cattle!
It is a small farm, where the animals come to you,
Not a large farm where the animals are afraid of you because they are not handled.
That is the difference between commercial farming and small holdings farming.
Princess the Highland cow is enjoying her daily brush from Jane.
What I`m about to do is provide an unusual blog and introduce you to farm life whilst the walking is on hold.
I will introduce you to the people and animals and a true story will unfold!
I hope you will enjoy the difference and now that the introductions are over, it is time again to enjoy some culinary delights!
Cherry Almond Cake
I currently cook for around 20 - 40 people.
Country life is different to city life and even the cooking is different, something I have yet to master, but with Jane`s help, it is coming - slowly!
But this recipe is one that has been handed down through generations, so I hope you enjoy it!
The texture should be light and "bouncy" to the touch
Although the cherries have shrunk to
the bottom on this photo, there is a trick which will keep them "afloat"
Ingredients:
8oz butter, softened
8oz caster sugar *
You can use normal sugar. With caster sugar, the cake mixture is more dense, but with normal sugar it will help raise your cake and make it lighter and your cherries will "rise!"
4 medium eggs (preferably a week old as this helps with texture of cake)
8oz plain flour
Several drops of Almond Essence ( I put in about 8!)
1 tsp baking powder
200g carton glace cherries, halved
4oz ground almonds
4 tbsp milk
2oz flaked almonds
Method:
Beat sugar/butter together until light and fluffy, followed by the eggs, 1 at a time with a spoonful of flour and almond extract.
Sift remaining flour and baking powder over mixture and fold in cherries, ground almonds and milk.
Put mixture in tin (approx 20inch lined tin) add flaked almonds and put in oven gas mark 3 for an hour 15 mins - an hour and 30 mins and enjoy!
I've always wanted a decent photo of a highland cow, fantastic animals. I always see them from a moving train or the other side of a field.....one day perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI'm still with you on your temporary direction change. As I said to you once before, I like variety. regards in this project, J