Tag Archives: California Fruitcake

Halfway, the cactus bloomed.

Christmas, family, food and cooking, grandchildren, my garden, , , ,

My Christmas cactus opened its first bloom on Christmas Eve. We were already halfway through our family celebrations at that point, and I had moved most of the houseplants into the Morning Room upstairs, in anticipation of needing all possible space for human bodies.

Several days before actual Christmas Day the family started to arrive, from five locales in four states. Three days later, the first departures happened, and by the afternoon of the Fourth Day of Christmas, I was alone in the house again.

Once Pathfinder and I were the only ones left, I brought the cactus with its stand downstairs again, so I can admire it throughout the day.

Before I continue with the Christmas theme, I want to show other current floral happenings in house and garden. Blooming orchids, my first picking of Chinese Broccoli, and a last Japanese anemone. The pomegranate bushes are decorating the garden with their changing color.

It was a lovely, lovely Christmastime. Soldier’s and Kate’s families couldn’t come this year, but Pearl and Nate and two of their children’s families were able to make it. The youngest child was my great-granddaughter Lori, who is 6 1/2 now. She is a lot of fun!

Lori met several family members for the first time. I wonder if in 2026 I will manage to meet my two great-grandsons who will soon be a year old. They live in two different states, but were brought together for an early Christmas, from which meet-up I received a picture to share:

It rained a lot the whole week of our festivities, but not constantly. There were enough breaks that a few short walks were taken, and one outing to the coast. While most of our group was gone on that latter trip Pearl and I both took naps. She did much of the cooking for several days, but I made one large dinner and breakfast for the crowd. Pippin and the Professor served in the kitchen one night as well. The food was abundant and appreciated!

This year I didn’t make any cookies myself. Lori’s cookies were from a King Arthur gluten-free recipe, and the spice profile was really nice. I did make some goodies to eat and give away: This  Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread was the most popular recipe in all of 2025 on the New York Times Cooking site. I’ve unlocked it as Christmas present from me to you ❤

I forgot to take a picture of mine. I followed the advice of several cooks who added ginger, more cranberries, and less sugar. It was enjoyed very much by everyone, with a dollop of whipped cream on top. I want to make it again soon.

I made Candied Espresso Walnuts, and our longstanding traditional California Fruitcake/Jesus Birthday Cake/Nativity Cake, which I hadn’t done for some years. People sliced from one big loaf for breakfast and snacks here, and I gifted the others. This time I made it with a gluten-free flour blend, which worked pretty well.

Lori took the initiative to find this felted hummingbird ornament among the things her family had brought, and gave it to me early. She had seen other hummingbirds on the tree and didn’t want to delay.

When she was ready to go out and explore my garden and greenhouse, her shoes were in the bedroom where her mom was sleeping, so her father let her use his boots.

I love my Christmas tree this year! It is a Nordmann fir from Home Depot — amazingly symmetrical and well filled out. Last year the big LED lights I had on my tree were so bright it pained me to look in that direction, so I bought tiny incandescent lights this year and they are perfect.

I had laid in bright materials for making paper chains, in case Lori would like to do such a craft with me. She wasn’t interested, so I made three long chains after everyone had arrived and were doing all the work around me. We hung them on the black railings that had recently been painted; after that, I somehow had the energy also to hang up the ribbons pinned with the prettiest old Christmas cards.

Because of the comings and goings all week, I didn’t wait for Christmas Day or Epiphany, but put the Baby Jesus and the Wise Men in their places at the outset. I’d like to wait until the Presentation of Christ on February 2nd to take down the tree, and to put away the Nativity scene. I’ll need to gather some fresh greenery from the bike path before then!

I know that by today, most people are thinking ahead to the new year coming in, so I wanted to post these images of the end of 2025 while it is still December. Happy New Year! I wish you courage and Hope in the coming year, and may the good desires of your heart be fulfilled in 2026 ❤

Nativity Cake

Christmas, family, food and cooking,

When our first two children were very little, I wanted to establish some God-honoring traditions for Christmastime. I didn’t think that the traditions of our parents were focused enough on the Nativity of Christ.

As an example, no one in our Protestant circles, even we who believed in the reality of the Christmas story, went to church on Christmas Day, and we missed a big opportunity to teach our children, and to know God, by praxis. It’s too bad, however it happened, that the tradition of not worshiping and communing on Christmas got started.

In any case, lacking a Christmas Day church tradition, we were on our own. I wanted the children to have more than a Christmas tree and presents, and one thing I contrived was a birthday cake for Jesus. It should be some special kind of cake that we would never eat any other time of year.

I found a recipe in Sunset Magazine for Dried Fruit Loaves, and as I scanned the ingredients list I reasoned, from my young-marrieds-on-a-shoestring perspective, that only Christmas extravagance would make me willing to invest in that amount of dried fruit and nuts.

So I’ve been adapting it and baking it without fail for about 38 years. Most years I made four times the original recipe and gave away various sizes of loaves. There is very little to it besides the fruit and nuts, and everyone still loves to slice a thin piece or two for a wholesome snack, all through the Twelve Days of Christmas or however long the bread lasts.

We don’t usually sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus anymore. All those children grew up and are teaching their own children about Christ’s Incarnation, and I’m not often with them to light a candle on the cake. But some of us now have the joyous tradition of going to church on Christmas Day.

I was just remarking to my husband that I could even stop including the bread in my baking projects…but it’s not difficult to make, so I don’t know why I even consider that. I guess because it’s more fun to try new things.

When I searched online for this recipe, I found something a bit different from Sunset under the name Western Dried Fruits Cake. It contains raisins, which I think too common for the occasion, and judging from the only picture I saw, and the recipe ingredients, mine is much better all around.

One of my friends makes this and calls it California Fruitcake. When I search with that term I come up with something much more like our favorite, also with credit given to Sunset: California Fruitcake.

The last two years I have decreased the amount of my recipe, for some reason to one-third of the quadruple-batch, but for your convenience I will post here something close to the original version. And how about a Christmasy name as well:

CALIFORNIA NATIVITY CAKE

2 cups flour (I’ve used part whole-wheat)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups lightly packed dried fruit. I like to use half dried apples, and the remainder dried apricots and dates, sometimes with some pears or figs in the mix. Cut the larger pieces of fruit into 1″ pieces.
3 cups whole nuts. Usually our cake is heavy on the almonds, lately with some pecans as well.
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup water

Prepare six mini loaf pans or fewer larger pans by greasing and lining at least the bottoms with parchment paper. Stir the dry ingredients together and mix about 1/2 cup of this mixture with the fruit and nuts. While mixing I often stuff an almond into each date. Stir the eggs, vanilla, and water together and blend with the flour mixture, then add the fruit and nuts.

Spoon into the prepared pans, and if you want to minimize the rockiness of the terrain of the finished loaves’ tops, use your spoon to push pointy edges of apple down into the sticky dough. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 75 minutes depending on the size of pan, or until well browned. I usually have to put some foil over the top of large loaves after an hour.

Let cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before turning out on to racks. Pull off the paper and let cool thoroughly. Wrap loaves airtight and refrigerate or freeze for at least a few days before serving. Aged loaves can be cut in thin slices.