Merry Christmas 2009!
.
To dearest blog readers, Merry Happy Christmas to you!!!! How are you spending your day? (or if you are reading this after-Christmas, how was your day?)
.
For me it’s going to be the same-old really:
First thing in the morning, our children will see that “Santa’s” presents had “magically” arrived, & that the milk & biscuits that they left for him had been neatly finished. (… aka by me as I write this!) Then later on I’ll drag myself to the kitchen to cook up our Christmas dinner which we’d probably start from around 5pm. I’ll be roasting duck this year (much tastier than turkey in my opinion!) There’ll be lots of Christmas crackers & more presents to be opened before dessert.
.
You’re probably wondering what the dessert is?? Well, it is ‘upside-down pineapple cake’! I was asked by my friend Rainbow to make one for her West Indian Christmas do, & I made two so that I could serve it at mine too! ;)
.
.
It is ultra simple to make: arrange pineapples on top of caramel, then pour pound-cake batter above that! And when baked, turn over! Design-wise I stayed away from the cliché retro look of pineapple rings with glacé cherry centres. Instead I cut the rings in half & made a wave pattern, then arranged some almond slices like heart shapes on top. Later on I realized that, hey!, the pineapple halves could look like rainbows!? Just like my friends name!
.
Anyway, I leave you with a Christmas quote, just like how I do every year. This year, it is a scan from the most fabulous Christmas Card we received this year sent & designed by our friend A. – So clever with the nectarine peel! Soon as I saw the card, I fell in love.
Finally, may I once again wish you a very Merry Christmas to you. I was telling a friend just the other day that if it weren’t for this blog, I probably wouldn’t have carried on with the stall as long as I have. And that is the truth. So thank you for all your support.
.
Best wishes to you all with love from Tamami xx
Have a wonderful christmas – we are just enjoying a quiet Christmas eve here on Vancouver Island. I just took the mincemeat pie out of the oven and we are watching A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim. We are fortunate to be sharing the holiday with my 86 year old Mother and her 90 year old gentleman friend. We are blessed with wonderful family and friends. We so enjoy your blog – thanks for all the great posts.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Comment by shelley H - December 25, 2009 5:36 am
DELICIOUS CAKE. HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.
Comment by Natalie - December 25, 2009 8:28 am
Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
Thank YOU for your wonderful blog. I’m looking forward to reading it next year too. Love Akiko
Comment by Akiko - December 25, 2009 8:59 am
Merry Xmas to you and your whole family!
Minnesota is extremely snowy! Looks like a snow glode outside! Really white and wonderful but cold!!!
Our family of 40 + are coming if they can navigate the snow piles! Lots of good food and many little babies!
Keep warm and am thinking of you all!
Thanks for all your wonderful stories!!
Lyn
Comment by Lyn - December 25, 2009 6:21 pm
Thank YOU for all of your lovely posts this year. I can almost taste your goodies through the pages, and actually feel your love for what you do. What an inspiration you give to all of us.
May you get the rest you more than deserve in January. You can still update your blog, though :)
Comment by cocopuff1212 - December 25, 2009 10:27 pm
I also appreciate your blog and your posts and your lovely ideas and recipes…Thank you for posting! All the best to you and your family.
Comment by heidy - December 25, 2009 11:28 pm
what a wonderful card! a merry christmas, full of brightness, warmth, & joy, to you & yours. ours was a quiet day-christmas eve with inlaws, christmas morning opening the tree, & then munching through the day.
Comment by jonquil - December 26, 2009 2:41 pm
Dear Shelley H, Natalie, Akiko, Lyn, Cocopuff1212, Heidy & Jonquil,
Thank you all for your lovely lovely comments! Enjoy the rest of 2009 & lets blast in to 2010 to make it our best ever year yet!! ;)
Comment by tamami - December 27, 2009 10:07 am
I’m glad you had a nice Christmas… Ours was just another day: coming home late from work, I just picked up some ‘yakitori’ at the supermarket, being too tired to cook… Everyone’s crazy about having chicken on Christmas (Eve) here so maybe that’s not so far off. Oh well.
Wishing you a super holiday and some good rest!
Comment by Rita - December 27, 2009 11:39 pm
Oh Rita, wow, you were working?? I guess in Tokyo it’s a normal working day… But well done you! I hope you had a bit of a rest over the 25th to 27th. – I heard that KFC does good business over there?! – Anyway, have a good hols! xx
Comment by tamami - December 28, 2009 3:18 am
Merry christmas to you and your whole family.Here in south of France the weather is cold but nice.I love your blog!!Please keep on on writing for us.I’m looking forward to visit you on your stall at broadway market.
best wishes
Comment by anne t - December 28, 2009 1:06 pm
beautiful site..love it!! merry christmas to u to!! :)
Comment by BNDQ8 - December 28, 2009 2:49 pm
THANKS Anne T! … how I’d wish to be in the South of France right now though, cold or not! (I haven’t been on a proper holiday in years…) Hope to see you at the market one day then!! Take care!
.
And happy merry holidays to you too BNDQ8!!!
Comment by tamami - December 28, 2009 3:03 pm
Hi Tamami, I wanted to join in and wish you a very Happy New Year too! Thank you for your blog , and for the recipes. I have to tell you that I made your luxury brownies for a Christmas Eve party in Paris and they were fantastic! It’s so nice to bring something special to a party. You can read my post about it below if you’re interested:
http://myyearinparis.typepad.com/my_year_in_paris/2009/12/luxury-brownies.html
Comment by Jennifer K - December 28, 2009 6:55 pm
Hi Jennifer K! Wow! Making my brownies on such a special occasion!! Thanks for trusting the recipe!! Hope to hear from you next year too! ;)
Comment by tamami - December 28, 2009 9:05 pm
Support from Hong Kong~~~
Happy New Year!
Comment by Maggie - December 29, 2009 1:27 am
yayyy! a message from HK! Happy New Year to you too!!!!!
Comment by tamami - December 29, 2009 1:30 am
It was nice to finally meet you on your last Saturday at the market Tamami. I got a nice smiley pic of you and the stall which I would like to send you, send me an email?
Best wishes for a great 2010.
Giselle
Comment by Giselle - December 29, 2009 11:19 am
hi Tamami! I love the new design for the pineapple cake, will cooy it for sure next time I do it (I am a big fan of that cake, but it does look so eighties!) just as I love your blog, and I really hope I can visit your stall sooner or later. I am spending my Christmas break with my family in Italy, it is so much warmer and sunnier than Germany, where I live.. I am not cooking much, just enjoying loads and loads of simple and fantastic daylight.
Have a great new Year!
Comment by Caffettiera - December 29, 2009 12:08 pm
Oh wow! thanks Giselle!!! I’ll send you an email in a sec! xx
.
Caffettiera, Christmas in Italy sounds divine… I absolutely lurve Italian food…! A bit Jealous…!! – Have a fantastic 2010!! xx
Comment by tamami - December 29, 2009 12:28 pm
A (belated) Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2010!
One of my culinary resolutions for the coming year is to finally make your luxury brownies – I’ve become the official baker in my department! (I think I’ll wait til everyone’s gotten over the holiday sugar overdose first. ;) ) Did you ever dream your brownies would make an appearance in LA??
xx
Comment by Rachel - December 30, 2009 5:54 am
Hi Rachel! Belated Merry Christmas to you too!!
Good luck with the brownies – my tip is to very slightly ‘under-baked’ it, & to make it a whole day before to ‘mature’ it. Well, I hope it goes well with your department folk!
– Anyway, I hope you are having a ball in LA, & that 2010 (how crazy is that year number?! Sooo futuristic…) is gonna be better than a ball, rather, like a ball with all tinsels & sparkles!! (if that makes any sense… LOL!) xx
Comment by tamami - December 30, 2009 3:22 pm
wow looks great. Can you please teach me hot to do it so that I can serve it for Chinese year to my guests?
Thanks
Your long time fan :)
Comment by Ange - January 8, 2010 7:46 pm
Hi Ange! Wow, thank you for reading this blog for so long!
.
The Upside Down Pineapple Cake recipe:
.
1. First make caramel by following the instructions on this page
https://www.cocoandme.com/2008/01/17/the-ultimate-creme-caramel-recipe-with-photographs-of-the-process/
.
2. Pour the caramel in the bottom of the buttered/ greased cake pan (Make sure you DON’T use a loose-bottomed pan!)
.
3. Arrange your pineapple in a lovely pattern on top the caramel.
.
4. Get a classic pound cake recipe (sorry, I haven’t perfected my version yet so I can’t tell you…!)
5. Pour the batter on top of the pineapple & bake according to your pound cake recipe.
.
6. When you think it’s baked, do the cake-skewer test to make sure it’s cooked through before taking it out.
.
7. De-mold it upside-down while piping hot! (Be careful not to scold yourself!)
– – – – – – – – –
.
I’m sorry it’s not a depth-y recipe… Hope it helps atall…
Comment by tamami - January 9, 2010 1:09 am
Hi coco and me.
After trawling the internet for hours to search for a carved wooden hare, I came across exactly what I’m looking for on your site on google images. I think you were selling them on the stall around Easter time 2010 and wondered whether you still had any available for sale? I urgently have to have one for a gift to My Mum for Mother’s day which is approaching rappidly!
Please can you help?
Comment by sally - February 17, 2012 11:34 pm
Sally, I am so sorry I have sold out on them at the time…
Comment by Tamami - February 17, 2012 11:38 pm
Hello Coco and me! I am hoping to start to sell my cakes at a market in Bristol and have loved reading your blog. I was wondering if you could tell me where you got your plastic covers at the front of your stall from? Thank you so much x
Comment by Angharad Allsop - August 30, 2014 8:31 am
Hello Angharad, I got it from some sort of online display shop… but I can’t remember the name because it was so long ago…, sorry, but try googling “Acrylic display panel/ stand”…?? Sorry I was not much of help! T x
Comment by Tamami - August 30, 2014 8:37 pm