Monday, June 6, 2011

Queen Elizabeth Date Cake

Queen Elizabeth Date Cake

This is my first Monthly Mingle and I'm really excited to see what everyone else will make!  Nina at My Easy Cooking has decided the theme this month will be:


Since apples aren't in season here, I thought I would make something that just has apples in a supporting role, which was perfect because I wanted to make Queen Elizabeth Date Cake for the upcoming Trooping the Colour, this Saturday, June 11th. Even though Queen Elizabeth's birthday is in April, it's officially celebrated in June (less chance of rain!). Since I don't get the BBC, I won't get to see the parade on Saturday, but here is a clip from last year's ceremony:



There's more information and a couple of videos at the royal family's official website.

Now, back to the cake--
I'm really rather turned off by all the celebrity name-dropping on Little Venice Cake Company's website, but I thought the recipe for Queen Elizabeth Date Cake sounded promising. The adaptations I made were mostly to make it simpler for those of us who use imperial units and to use what I had (regular raisins instead of golden raisins, crystallized ginger instead of fresh). However, I also lowered the baking temperature, because I find it really helps to keep fruitcakes moist.

The cake turned out to be really lovely with a bright, lemony flavor and a very moist texture. It's fabulous for breakfast or tea.


Queen Elizabeth Date Cake

This recipe is also available at http://www.food.com/recipe/queen-elizabeth-date-cake-458114.

Very Good RecipesVery Good Recipes tags: cake, dates, raisins, ginger, apple, lemon

12 comments:

  1. It looks lovely. Great tip for not over baking.

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  2. Oh, boy, this sounds fabulous! A moist date cake is my cup of tea :)

    PS...I'm your newest follower. Thanks for stopping by my blog~

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  3. What a truly wonderful cake - and thanks for the tip about Trooping of the Colour this weekend. I saw it live once in 2002 when I lived in London for a short time - so weird to see the Royals in reality. As a strange coincidence, I made a date cake tonight for TWD two weeks hence - it is the season for it!

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  4. I'll invite myself over for tea for two! Your amber snack tray is so cute...

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  5. that looks so scrumptious! i had no idea it was the queen's birthday (i live in america), but happy birthday to her majesty! =)

    http://pinkchampagnefashion.blogspot.com/

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  6. Mmm this sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing this - I'll have to give it a try!

    -j
    sorelle in style

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  7. I was giggling a little about high falutin' website too ("couture wedding cakes"-- obviously the kind I will have at my wedding, and, wait, you made a cake for Madonna? THE Madonna?), but this cake does look delicious. Also, smart gal on lowering the baking temperature to keep it moist, I'll have to try that next time I'm making a fruicake.

    I love the idea of the monthly mingle! It's like a potluck across the blogosphere!

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  8. This sounds really, really good and a little unusual.

    I love Mich Turner's work as a cake decorator.

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  9. This looks lovely. Yea for the crystallized ginger substitution.Perfect.

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  10. Looks lovely and crumbly. I'd love a slice.

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