The Yule Journey Begins

It’s lovely to begin the journey to Yule with a bang don’t you think.  The nights may still be drawing in and the weather is getting colder, but in just a few weeks on December 21st the wheel will turn once again.  We will reach the winter solstice and the days will grow ever longer once more.

So in celebration of the beginning of December me and three baby Trolls made a very festive tray bake.

Mincemeat Marmalade Tray Bake Cake

So this needs three separate layers.  The first of which is a basic shortbread mixture.  The second is a layer of mincemeat and the final layer is marmalade sponge cake.


To make the shortbread -

4oz butter
2oz caster sugar
6oz plain flour

1. Rub the flour into the butter to form fine breadcrumbs - add the sugar and mix.  
2. Press down into a well greased tray ( we used a circular pyrex dish that was 10 inches wide). 
3. Make a few pricks in the mixture with a fork.
4. Then spread a whole jar of mincemeat onto the shortbread - ours was ready made, but homemade would be even better.

To make the Marmalade cake layer -

• 225g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 115g margarine
• 85g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange essence
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 good tablespoons thick cut orange marmalade
• 2 tablespoons milk

1. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl, rub in the margarine until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the sugar and orange essence, then add the eggs, marmalade and milk.
3. Mix well to achieve the consistency of a thick batter.  Pour over the mincemeat mixture.
4. Bake in the center of the preheated oven until golden brown and a knife comes out clean, about 1 hour. 

Then enjoy.