Better Late---

Sorry for the so-late post. I had to be at work at 6:30 this morning and didn’t have anything ready to go. Then I thought I’d just let it go, but then I decided I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. So, here I am.

Yesterday, Kristi blogged about her “traditional” pickle ornament.  And I thought about what my traditions are. And it comes down to baking. This year, my sister, Wendy, and I decided we weren’t going to bake a whole bunch—maybe a batch of cookies.

>>cue maniacal laughter<<

And then my good friend, Sheri, asked if I wanted to have a baking day because she wanted to learn my recipe for the best sugar cookies ever. So, on my day off, Tuesday, I went to Sheri’s and we baked snickerdoodles and sugar cookies with icing.

Then Jordan reminded me that I couldn’t forget to make fudge and Mike said he had to take some cookies to his co-worker. So, I came home today and whipped up a double batch of Icelandic Christmas cakes, Peanut-Butter blossoms, and will soon be making fantasy fudge.  Wendy said, “Can you imagine how much baking we’d done if we’d planned to bake?”

But, when it comes down to it, I’m a good baker and I enjoy it. As the scent of my cardamom-infused Icelandic Christmas cake fills my home, I’m glad I changed my my mind.

Last year, I told you about my years in Iceland and what great Christmas’s we had there. Well, this cake is a traditional treat in the land of fire and ice. And when I was younger, my mom still prepared it every year, but once she started working, she dropped the tradition.

Well, last year when I was surfing around Allrecipes.com, I discovered this recipe and decided to surprise my family with it. And without further ado, I’m going to share it with you.

Icelandic Christmas Cake recipe:

1 cup sugar                                                       ¾ cup milk

¾ cup butter                                                      ½ cup raisins

2 eggs                                                               ½ tsp lemon extract

2 ½ cups flour                                                   1/2 tsp cardamom extract or tsp of cardamom powder

2 tsp of baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11 inch loaf pan---or if you’re giving them away like I am, it makes 4 small disposable pans

Cream the butter or margarine and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Stir in the milk, lemon, and cardamom flavorings. Stir in the flour and the baking powder.

Add raisins—or craisins. This year I added cherry-infused craisins. We’ll see how that turns out.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.

ENJOY. And from me to you, Happy Holidays!