This Christmas I was given a special gift by my wife. It was my very own whiskey cake.  In this particular instance, it was made with 15 year old Glenfiddich whiskey.  Let me assure you this fine single malt scotch made an exceptional whiskey cake.  I don’t know that I would want to make whiskey cake from such an expensive whiskey all the time, but I am tempted.

It was a reminder to me, though, that I want to spend more time making traditional Scottish foods. I have a good recipe for whiskey cake, given to me by a friend from Glasgow. I wanted to share it with those of you who might want to take a crack a making one yourself. Slainte!

Ingredients:

6 oz self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour with baking powder)

6 oz butter

6 oz soft brown sugar (light brown sugar)

3 beaten eggs

4 tablespoons whisky

Rind of a small orange, grated

Ingredients for butter Icing:

6 oz icing (frosting) sugar

2 oz butter

2 tablespoons clear honey

Juice from a small orange

Toasted flaked almonds as decoration

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar together, add the orange rind and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Sift in half the self-raising flour (or all-purpose flour and baking powder) and pour in the whisky. Fold in to the mixture and sift in the remaining flour and again fold in. Grease two seven inch sandwich tins and divide the mixture between the two, smoothing the tops. Bake for 20/25 minutes in an oven at 375F/190C/Gas Mark 5 until the cake is a light golden color. Turn onto a wire rack to allow it to cool.

Yes, I do plan on using a good single malt Scotch for the first batch. Perhaps, though, I could use something only 10 years old.  Here’s to your health and happiness this cold, January day in the Ozarks.

Ray Province

The Celtic Ozarkian.com

Put the butter, honey and one tablespoon of orange juice in a mixing bowl. Slowly sift in the icing (frosting) sugar and work the mixture till they are all combined. Use half the butter cream as a sandwich between the two halves of the cake and spread the rest smoothly on the top. Add the toasted almonds as decoration.

Hops can take a couple of years to fully develop, so  be ready for that.  In the first year, you will be planting, and letting your hop plant get a good home. You may get some hops the first year, but plan on a better crop the second and third year.

 Hops are grown from a rhizome. A  rhizome is a horizontal underground stem, with leaves and buds, that serves as a storage organ and a means of vegetative propagation.  You will need to acquire some rhizomes from an established hop plant.  The best place to do this is from a home brewery supply company.  Mine come from The Home Brewery in Ozark, Missouri.  The folks there can ship to you, and the quality of their products is good.

You will want to plant at least two rhizomes of the same variety, as you will increase the odds of your plants surviving. Give your plants 3 ft in all directions for growth.  If you have seen my hop plants on The Celtic Ozark Garden, you will be able to see how big they can get.  My square foot method only allows for one plant in the 4 ft square.  After a bit of growth, I weeded out one of the two I planted, and saved the stronger.

Hops grow best in the latitudes of 34-50 degrees.  They like a sandy, well drained soil, with a PH of 6-7.5. Fertilize your hop in the spring, and again in July, with a fertilizer rich in phosphate, nitrogen, and potassium. This general type of fertilizer seems to really work well.  A little well aged horse poop will also be a treat for your first year plant.  Let your plants develop for a couple of  months, prior to adding.

The rhizome you get will have a bud on it, that will be the basis of the new growth. You will want to plant the rhizome vertically in the ground, with the bud pointing up.  Cover the whole top with 1" of good soil. Don't pack the soil. If you have a problem figuring out where the bud is, then plant the rhizome horizontally.  Keep the rhizome watered well, but don't over soak.  The rule of thumb is to stick your finger in the loose soil. If it is moist, you are watering well. If it is dry, you need to add water. If it is just soaked, you've added too much, and need to let the water level subside.

You can plant your rhizome any time after the end of frost, to no later than May.  This will give your plant plenty of time to grow through the first year.  In the next installment, we'll talk about caring for your hop plant after the first year.

Ray Province

The Celtic Ozarkian

If you want to do something very different this holiday season, try making some steaming bishop.  It is the drink that most of us would know from Dicken's "A Christmas Carol."  Bob and Ebenezer end up sharing a bowl together, after Scrooge's reformation.  Unfortunately, this wonderful old drink has almost been lost to antiquity.  Give her a go, though, mate!

Ingredients for the Traditional Recipe:

·    6 Seville Oranges (or 5 regular oranges and 1 grapefruit)

·    4 oz. sugar

·    6 cloves in each orange

·    1 bottle strong cheap red wine

·    1 bottle port

Don't spend too much money on the porth, though.  It will only spoil the experience.  The average Englishman would not have been able to afford too expensive a bottle.

How to Prepare:

Stick cloves into the oranges lemons and bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Rotate them once after 20 minutes. Put the warmed fruit into a large pot. Pour the wine over them and add the sugar. Cover and heat to a low temperature. Turn off the stove and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. Slice the fruit in half and squeeze the juice into with the wine. You may filter the pulp and cloves out of the mixture if you wish. Add the port and heat the pot again on warm or low heat. Do not boil! Fruit will bitter up. Serve it hot .

Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Ray Province

The Celtic Ozarkian