Dundee Cake and Tea
Several weeks ago on a traditional family shopping trip to World Market (Cost Plus), I purchased an Iced Fruit Cake for my husband (he is one of the few people I know who loves fruit cake); there were many other types of cakes one of which was a Dundee Cake--I was intrigued by it but did not buy it as I was not sure my Fruit Cake Lover would like it--Several days later I read somewhere that it was a tradition to have a slice of Dundee Cake with a cup of tea on December 6th--I thought it was interesting that I had just seen the cake at World Market and wished that I had bought it--A week or so later I was talking to a friend and told her about our family tradition of shopping at World Market, she commented, "oh I love that place"! I suggested we go there as well as the Barnes and Noble that was next door to World Market in the shopping center (she was thinking of buying a book for her son--in-law)--I had planned to buy some more Christmas presents at World Market, so it made sense that I bought a Dundee Cake while I was there! An idea began to form in mind to plan a Tea featuring Dundee Cake--December 6th was fast approaching so I e-mailed a friend who loves to entertain at her house and asked if she would like to host a tea for several friends and fellow Book Club members; she graciously consented but asked that I arrange the details by contacting our friends--everyone said they could attend even though it was rather short notice--I just planned on Dundee Cake and tea, but some others brought cookies, mints and the host made fudge and what we think of as traditional fruit cake, and added a plate of "Little Cuties" (Clementines)
Our host decorated her house elegantly for the holidays and had a fire burning in her fireplace when we arrived--It was warm and cozy and we all enjoyed sitting in front of the fire chatting for a time--We then adjourned to the adjoining dining room where the table was filled with tea mugs, plates of sweets and a white and also red polka-dot teapots--One friend commented that she wanted to watch while another made the loose leaf tea,so a lesson in tea making was given after which we sat down to enjoy the sweet repast--There was much talk and laughter all around the table; pictures were taken to commemorate the occasion and as we all started to leave we thanked our host for sharing her home and all agreed that it was a fun way to start off our holiday season--and so hopefully a new tradition for our group was born!
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| Making tea |
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| Tea is Ready |
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| Sweets |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Fruit cake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Scotland |
| Creator | Keiller's marmalade |
| Main ingredients | Currants, sultanas and almonds |
The cake is often made with currants, sultanas and almonds; sometimes, fruit peel may be added to it. The cake originated in nineteenth-century Scotland, and was originally made as a mass-produced cake by the marmalade company called Keiller's. Keiller's marmalade company first produced the cake commercially and have been claimed to be the originators of the term "Dundee cake".[citation needed] However, similar fruit cakes were produced across Scotland. A popular story is that Mary Queen of Scots did not like glace cherries in her cakes, so the cake was first made for her, as a fruit cake that used blanched almonds and not cherries.[3] The top of the cake is typically decorated with concentric circles of almonds. Today, the cakes are often sold in supermarkets throughout the United Kingdom.
The cake was also made and marketed in British India, and in independent India after 1947, by Britannia Industries and its predecessor firms. However, after 1980 the cake was withdrawn from the market though it continued to be supplied privately as a corporate Christmas gift by the maker.
**The cake I purchased was not the traditional round cake, but a small l loaf--see :
I am so glad you are blogging again. It was a great idea and I like the plan of having it be a yearly event! I also looked in the Internet and could find nothing about Dec 6 so maybe it will be our date to celebrate on the 6th!
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