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Of fairy cakes, scabby gooseberries and rhubarb crumble

Why are fairy cakes so called? Littlest thinks it may have something to do with their pinkness and typical fairy-dust-like sprinkling of coloured sugar which is a fine theory when the cakes are pink and sprinkled, but fails when they are brown and decorated with chocolate shavings -




So are fairy-cakes cakes for fairies or inspired by fairies; cakes that may at any moment turn into frogs or sprout butterfly wings and fly (butterfly-cakes!); cakes that are tiny enough to be eaten by fairies, or ones that taste of fairy having been made from dessicated, ground-up fairies? Which reminds me - there's a dessicated mouse on a step down to the cellar. The light down there is dim and he is long-enough dead not to smell, so he has long gone unnoticed and is much trodden-on and flattened. I'm squeamish when it comes to the removal of deceased vermin. Four-legged-friend is not squeamish, but has never ventured down the steep, winding steps into the cellar. Something tempted him to try earlier today and his paw hovered over the top step, as he weighed up the wisdom of entering previously forbidden and damp-smelling territory, down stone steps that smelt of mouse and were more precipitous and narrow than any he had attempted before. Wisdom prevailed or was it my "NOOO!" Maybe, I could blame him for my forgetfulness - I retreated from the mouse, bottle of something cold and white in my hand, shut the door and didn't return later as I had intended, be-gloved, to remove the crushed creature. I'm certainly not about to do it now!


Vermin and other household nuisances aside, the garden is filling up with bunnies again - all the big rabbits have gone. Does this mean that the little ones are immune to myxematosis? Early morning, I watch the dogs watch the bunnies. Clearly bunnies are boring. Definitely not worthy of canine attention. Probably too fast to catch anyway and therefore rendered less interesting than grass, rabbit droppings and scabby gooseberries. I have a lot of scabbed or mildewed gooseberries - one entire bush is covered in floury white fruit, while at least two of the others have fruit caked in a brown crust that will rub off, but to do so requires a lot of effort and time; each berry has to be scrubbed with a nail brush. I love gooseberry jam and crumble, but there is a limit! The dogs however have discovered the perfect solution - eat them!





Gooseberry-scab and dog-slobber crumble anyone?

Thankfully the inclement weather appears to have been perfectly clement for rhubarb. Once the boys - son and his guest - had enjoyed throwing and slicing the rhubarb leaves off the stalks in mid air (try it - you need a very sharp knife and others to stand well back: surprisingly satisfying, good simple fun), the crumble was created -

From this



At the interim to this




And finally ... oops! Forgot a finally photo - basically golden brown, oozing with sticky bubbliness at the edges, served with vanilla custard or ice cream and ... gone!


Gluten-free Topping - GF plain flour, GF porridge oats, ground almonds, sugars - caster and demerara, cinnamon and butter - all tossed together and scattered on top of the fruit. Drizzle the dry uncooked fruit with orange juice before adding the crumble topping.

Perfect way to end a busy weekend.




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