I tried making a cake again using self-raising flour and slightly less baking powder, and it sunk less, as I predicted. SCIENCE. Really I should now make a cake with no extra raising ingredients but I'm a bit bored of victoria sponge now and it's time to think about Christmas baking.
My local grocery store does have a few jars of mincemeat, as well as something that appears to be freeze-dried mincemeat *shudder* but as a point of pride I have been making my own for the past few years and I'd like to continue. Not as easy as it is at home though, mince pies are not an American thing and so the ingredients are not that easy to find. Raisins and candied peel - no problem. I had to go to a second grocery store for currants. I could only find sultanas by going to the Middle Eastern store, but that was a worthwhile trip because I also found halloumi for half what it cost me in the deli the other week. Cooking apples would probably have been OK but I like Nigella's recipe with quinces, which I knew I could find at a particular deli, although maybe the Middle Eastern store had those too. I had to make a trip to the British grocery store to buy black treacle and vegetable suet. Sure, I could buy everything online (and Waitrose branded at that) but I resent paying the shipping costs. The British store also had a guy on the till who appeared to be affecting a British accent, which was slightly hilarious. Of course I didn't laugh - I'm far too polite for that :)
So now I should be all set to make mincemeat and Christmas cake (we acquired cheap brandy at the liquor store yesterday) and maybe a Christmas pudding as well. I don't think Americans in general like any of those so we will have to eat them all ourselves :) perhaps Patrick can force some of them on his colleagues and watch them try and be nice about them.
Attaching a photo of the baking shelf in my cupboard. I mean business!
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