Mary Poppins makes Dundee Cake with Pineapple

Mary Poppins in the Kitchen: A Cookery Book with a Story, P. L. Travers and Maurice Moore-Betty (culinary consultant), illustrated by Mary Shepard 1975 London

Dundee Cake

125g butter, softened; 125g granulated sugar; 3 eggs; 100g plain flour; 100g raisins; 100g currants; 3 tblspn mixed glazed fruits (I used glacé pineapple and ginger, and crystallised mango); 2 tblsp flour to be mixed with the fruits; loaf tin, approx. 18cm x 8cm

Heat the oven to 150°C, 300°F, gas mark 2.

Line the bottom and sides of tin with greaseproof paper. If it is not the non-sticking kind, coat it lightly with butter.

Beat the butter and sugar together – this is called creaming – till lemon coloured and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat strenuously after each one. Stir in the flour little by little and beat again. There is a lot of beating, and you may need help. Take turns.

In a separate bowl mix all the fruits together. Sprinkle with the flour and mix thoroughly so that each individual piece of fruit is well coated. This will prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the pan as the cake bakes. Stir the fruit into the batter and spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 2 ¼ hours in the middle of the oven. Look at it after half an hour, and if it becomes too dark on top, cover it with brown paper – a paper bag will do – or foil. Test it with a toothpick. It is cooked when the toothpick, stuck into the middle of the cake, comes out dry. Cool and turn out on a wire tray.

Pino - Tourism Ein

Tropical Scotland spotted by Pineapple Princess Ann R on a trip to Edinburgh

during the year.

I love that family and friends are now on the lookout for pineapples and pinapalia on their travels home and abroad - it gives new depth and purpose to their holidays - besides wining and dining in local trattorias, and visiting spectacular natural and manmade tourist attractions, they can enjoy the subtle differences between ceramic pineapple ornaments and handbags from cultures around the world!

Thanks to Colleen for the treasures she spotted in the United Kingdom and Germany! Anne

The Lost Gardens of Heligan discovered in Cornwell, and restored over the past twenty five years, have a productive garden which includes glasshouse pineapples!

Window shopping in London.

My brother Richard noticed this great accessory in a shop window in Potsdam, Germany

and Colleen noticed this ? ornament ????

For sale in Potsdam

and at the Galeries Lafayette, Berlin

Sanssouci was the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia,

in Potsdam near Berlin. 

Chinese Tea Pavilion, Sanssouci

Sanssouci is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site possibly because of the

magnificent pineapples included in the ornamentation !

King's Bedroom, Sanssouci

The main tropical greenhouse at the Berlin Botanical Garden (Botanischer Garten) where pineapples (ananas) are grown

On the homeward journey pineapple products also popped up in Singapore !

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jamesahaigh has given us permission to use his atmospheric photograph of the amazing Dunsmore Pineapple in Scotland. He says “It is a very unusual building, and apparently was built during the Victorian times as the area was actually a pineapple grove (not sure if that’s the correct term) but they used to grow them there. It’s a shame it wasn’t a nicer day but it was in January and very very cold.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesahaigh/

Thanks Jurrassosaurus!

What wonderful names people have in cyberspace!

Jurrassosaurus has sent us a link to more information on the wonderful Scottish Pineapple.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/airth/thepineapple/index.html

A pineapple in Scotland!

Photographer Louise Bellin has given us permission to include her fabulous images of ‘The Pineapple' at Dunmore Park, near Airth in Scotland. I couldn’t decide which I liked more, so I’ve included both! She says that it was built as a garden retreat in 1761 by the Earl of Dunmore.

For more stunning views of Scotland taken by Louise have a look at http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/bellin/interesting/  A celebration of light! She made me want to head straight to the nearest international airport! And I’d love to stay in the Dunmore Pineapple as apparently it is available as holiday accommodation.

To join in the city’s Olympic Welcome, organisers of this year’s recent London Festival of Architecture looked at the symbolism of the pineapple for their “competitions and treasure hunts to see who can find and photograph the most pineapples” around the city. Have a look at http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Pineapples.html for some great examples of decoration.