Day 207: merry christmas and happy holidays

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. Day 207, and probably my final cookalong-specific post until after the jolly day(s): Nigella’s Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake. Homemade quince and rhubarb compote - made with fresh quince, rhubarb frozen from summer, quince vodka/liquor, a splash of dry cider and sugar - on the side. Thank you all for your support, kind words, generosity and love over the past year - it’s been a true pleasure! Re the photo (below): if you can’t camp it up a little at Christmas, when can you?!

This time of year is not so joyous for everyone though, especially in the current circs, and although I know it doesn’t help solve the problem, I am sending love and hugs of support to anyone who needs them.

I didn’t quite hit the £3,000 fundraiser target, yet, but we're close with £2,650 raised so far for FareShareUk - thanks to your support and generosity. There are about 9 months left on the cookalong, and although life will be so, so different for us from January, I might be ambitious and raise the overall target to £5,000!

None of us have any money in December, I know, but if you would like to donate, and are in a position to donate, the button below will take you directly to the donation page.

Nigella’s Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake

I’m not ready to talk about the dramas I had with my bundt tin, and I certainly don’t think it would be appropriate to repeat the language and cursing that left my lips as I baked this cake not one, not two, but three times to get a decent unmoulding. I hold nothing against the recipe here, by the way - I know it’s fully tested and I’ve seen hundreds of successful attempts across social media. My failed attempts have been bagged and frozen, and will be base to a few trifles in the coming months.

Anyway, I love the simple comfort - and taste - of its soft, vanilla dampness, and it went very well with my quince and rhubarb compote and a few spoons of cold vanilla sauce (vaniljesaus), dolloped on top.

You can find the recipe for this one on p198 of Nigella Christmas and on nigella.com (link below).