Kiwi Champion

It was 18 March 2018 and only a week until the clocks changed to take us into British Summertime, yet there were masses of snow on the ground. The night before it had created blizzards and plenty of compacted ice on the trip to and from the house of two very close friends in the company of another of my oldest and best friends and his vibrant young son.

That morning I had slept in a little before the Dogg and I adventured out in the powdery snow. In the afternoon I had a nap again for an hour. The Dogg curled up next to me as if providing some kind of protection. She must have sensed I had a heavy heart.

When I awoke I knew it was time to create something new in the kitchen. I had two spare Kiwi Fruit from the local greengrocer and stepped into new territory by for the first time making a Kiwi Fruit Cake. The recipe was inspired by a similar one I had seen in a cook book bought me as a birthday present by two of the close friends I had seen the night before.

On the player was the final and, perhaps, finest album by the Doors; LA Woman. There are no duff tracks on this record, yes I even adore the jangly and unjustly maligned "Hyacinth House". Some of the very plum cuts include "The Changeling" where singer Jim Morrison urges the listener to 'get loose' while the paranoid "Cars Hiss by my Window" builds a hypnotic atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia that was very fitting considering the thick snow outside. The well-known "Riders on the Storm" is still the best cut on the record and was apt for my mood when considering the storms I had ridden from the start of February.

The ingredients for this cake are:

Cake Mix:

Six Ounces Unsalted Butter.
Six Ounces of Self-Raising Flour.
Nine Ounces of Brown Sugar.
Three beaten Eggs.
A tablespoon of Almond Essence.
One Kiwi Fruit- peeled and cubed.

Topping:

Nine Ounces of Icing Sugar.
Four Tablespoons of warm water.
The rind of one Lemon.
One Kiwi Fruit- peeled and sliced.

The method was as follows:

1. Beat the Eggs in a measuring jug and leave to one side.

2. Stir the Butter, Flour, Sugar, Almond Essence and Kiwi Fruit together in a mixing bowl.

3. Add the Eggs and stir thoroughly until you get a thick paste.

4. Bake in the oven for an hour on Gas Mark Three.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a good hour.

6. Make the topping by stirring the water, Icing Sugar and Lemon Rind together. Then spread it evenly over the top of the cake.

7. Lay the slices of the remaining Kiwi Fruit out in a decorative pattern on top of the cake.

The Lemon taste coupled with the freshness of the Kiwi Fruit made this cake evoke feelings of sunny summer days walking in the countryside, attending barbecues with good friends and special picnics with loved ones. Perhaps sunnier days are on the way after all.

Glazed over- the icing has run down the side of the cake and created a frozen pattern that mirrored the ice outdoors.