Author Archives: mlwilkie

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About mlwilkie

Software Developer, Mother, Wife with keen interest in art, design and crafts of all kinds.

My Christmas pineapple fruit cake

I am not a big fan of fruit cake however, I love this pineapple fruit cake.IMG_0674 I make it every Christmas – and I get a lot of folks wanting the recipe. This recipe is all made in one large pot so clean-up is also really easy. So, here it is – it is one of my Mum’s recipes.

Ingredients

1 can of pineapple – crushed or chunks (~450g) including the juice
12 oz mixed fruit
125 g butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

1. In a large sauce pan, place the first seven ingredients.
NOTE: I use pineapple chucks as I prefer the bigger pieces of pineapple – I do cut them in half though.
NOTE: For the mixed fruit I use 1/2 a container of mixed peel/glazed cherries, 1/2 – 3/4 cup of raisins (golden raisins + raisins). You can include currents if you want.
NOTE: For the mixed spice, if you do not have this I use 1/4 tsp ginger, a pinch of nutmeg, pinch of cloves and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

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2. Heat, and boil for 10 minutes. As the mixture rises, stir and to ensure no boiling over occurs.
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3. Take off heat, allow mixture to cool. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F (106 degrees C).

4. Grease and line a cake tin.
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5. Add the two cups of flour, baking powder and 2 eggs to the fruit mixture, mix with a metal spoon until just blended.

6. Place into the mixture into the cake tin. Put into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

7. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, remove from tin and place on a cooling rack.

WiP Wednesday: Children’s Pillow

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

One of the Christmas gifts on my list is a child’s pillow. I am excited as I am using one of my bundle’s for this one – ” The Simple Life” Bundle by Tasha Noel for Riley Blake + the pink polka dot fabric from Moda’s “Oh Deer” by MoMo.

The pillow will be a 16″x 32″.IMG_0665

The fabric is all cut – 2 1/2 ” squares. Now, on to piecing it all together.IMG_0666

I plan on adding the name of the recipient down the middle of the pillow, to make it a one of a kind pillow.

Photo Journal: Elf on the shelf Week 3

So our elf, Mr. Underpants has moved around a lot this week ;-). Our son has got use to him completely now, and he actively searches for him in the morning. No more avoiding him – it only took 3 weeks. Here are the positions we found him this week.

Day 15: Master Bathroom – Towel RackIMG_0637

Day 16: Bonus Room – Lego London BridgeIMG_0644

Day 17: Bonus Room – Amongst my fabric stackIMG_0654

Day 18: Living Room – Between the vases (where’s the flowers??)
Stayed here for 2 days as Mr. Underpants did not have good things to report today.
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Day 20: Kitchen Room Divider – Amongst the flowersIMG_0663

Day 21: Kitchen Sill – Camouflage (is it working??)IMG_0664

One more full week before Christmas and then Mr. Underpants job is done for the year.