No cakes but dried fruit Christmas decorations.

I've been so busy this week that it has totally passed me by that I haven't made any cakes! I'd usually be itching to get into the kitchen but this week I haven't even had the time to think about it. I've been busy Decorating the house for Christmas, Shopping for presents, advising new friends about cupcake baking, looking for outfits for work Christmas nights out and going to cheer on my friend and her little girl complete the Liverpool 5k Santa dash and little 4 year old Alicia walked the whole way! So extra congratulations to her.

This week I have baked something though  - although it wasn't edible. I decided after seeing some at the continental market that I was going to make my own dried fruit Christmas decorations. They're pretty, natural, cheap and they smell nice. And most importantly they're really easy to make. And here is my first attempt.

And here's how it's made:
You will need
Small oranges / satsumas
Apples
Lemons
Cinnamon sticks
Cloves

Its best to pick Fruit with vibrant colours as this will look better and all you need to do to dry fruit out is slice some oranges/ Apples and Lemons horizontally or take an orange and make slices vertically all around the orange (you can also insert cloves all around the sliced orange if desired) and bake these in the oven on the lowest temperature for about 2 -3 hours turning half way until the skin is slightly hardened and you have a thick leathery texture, as the fruit cools it will harden more! Ok so 2-3 hours is a long time right? well you can also dry the fruit out much quicker in the microwave.

Simply put slices in the microwave for 2-4 minutes turning half way and wiping away any excess liquid on the plate (Whole satsumas will take about 5-6 minutes) WARNING: if drying the fruit in the microwave you need to pretty much watch it constantly as it will suddenly burn. At the point the fruit is just slightly burnt i think i like it best as you get nice browns to as well as a spicy fruity burnt smell.

Take the fruit out to cool before threading onto some thick picture wire along with Cinnamon sticks (This but can need patience and strength to push the wire through)

Make a loop at each end and twist the wire to secure, then thread some Christmassy ribbon through the wire to enable you to hang it up.

And that's it! I've also been making jewelery for friend's Christmas presents and for my sister this week so that's another thing that's halted my baking endeavors. Here's a ring a made for my sister.

So sorry no cakes yet this week but hopefully in the next few day's there will be something Christmassy.

Till next time

Cupcake Kris xx