Looking for a healthy cake? Then look no further than this beetroot cake with a cream cheese frosting.
I think that sometime in the past ten years I became old fashioned. I am not sure if this has anything to do with getting married and settling down – or in my case, settling down and getting married, or if it has to do with getting older. I like the idea of traditional wedding invitations, ones that come in the post, no matter how fancy they are. I want to receive them well in advance to make plans to be at the wedding and given that our diary is usually booked solid months in advance, one week’s notice does not cut it. This year so far, we have celebrated two weddings. The first one was my niece’s wedding. Two months before the wedding, I received a phone call to ask if Dave and I would be there. I am not sure when they set the date, but the call gave us time to organize flights and a dog sitter. Thankfully accommodation and car hire are included in a visit to Johannesburg as we stay with my parents and use my mom’s car. At the same time as the phone call I received a ‘save the date’ email from a close friend for her wedding. This was 5 months notice, and really necessary as flights to Durban are booked months in advance. We had time to organize car hire, accommodation, the flights and the dog sitter before we left for Scotland in April. My niece sent us the most beautifully designed wedding card and I included this in her wedding gift – a memory box for her and her husband to keep special treasures in. This idea was based on a gift we received for our wedding and at the time I was not sure if I would ever use it. But, it has all our special mementos in it. It has the letter asking me to be a godmother in it, cards and photos from special occasions, our wedding photos that did not make it into the albums as well as the memorial notices of family members and friends who have passed away. If we were to have a fire, it would be the only thing I need to grab and run with!
My friend’s wedding invitation was simple and understated and to complement it, there was a whole website dedicated to the ins and outs of the wedding to assist those people who were travelling from around the country and the world, for the wedding. This covered the majority of the guests as the bride is from the Western Cape and the groom is from Germany and they live in England. I took their wedding invitation and stuck it into a book for them to use for their travels as a ‘visitor’s book’. I know they will go through many of them in years to come.
So, this is where the old fashioned me gets confused – what ever happened to thank you notes. I posted my friend’s wedding gift to her from Edinburgh, and she called me the minute it arrived but I have not heard a word from my niece. I find it strange, but then I wonder, is this just me? Is it now acceptable to get gifts and not thank people for them? I could understand this happening if the gift had no card (which has happened to me recently) but the gift to them is clearly from us as I wrote a note in the lid of the box.
Do you send thank you cards when you receive a gift?
Another old fashioned love of mine is carrot cake. Dave has recently come to like eating beetroots, and so I took this old fashioned recipe and made this delicious beetroot cake.
Beetroot Cake With A Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake
- 190 g flour
- 5 mls baking powder
- 5 mls bicarbonate of soda
- 2.5 mls ground cinnamon
- 1.25 mls fine salt
- 190 g fructose
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 190 mls canola oil
- 2.5 mls vanilla extract
- 200 g beetroot grated
- 30 mls chopped almonds
- 30 mls chopped dates pitted
- 30 mls dark chocolate grated
- 30 mls desiccated coconut
For the frosting
- 125 g cream cheese
- 100 g honey
- 2.5 mls vanilla extract
Method
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- Butter and flour a loaf pan
- Sieve together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, salt and sugar
- Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, oil and vanilla
- Mix in thoroughly and then add the balance of the ingredients
- Gently mix together and then pour into the loaf pan
- Bake for 45 minutes
For the frosting
- Beat together the cream cheese, honey and vanilla extract
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
What I blogged:
- one year ago – Tomato and Anchovy Pasta
- two years ago – Challenge Round Up
The last few weddings I’ve been to sent out an email ‘save the date’ a proper invitation followed. Out of the 3 weddings I have received 2 thank you notes, so 2 outta 3 ain’t bad! 🙂
that is not a bad ‘rate of return’ at all 😉
I too enjoy the old fashioned way of wedding invitations, which is odd because I can’t abide buying and receiving cards in general.
When my husuband’s son married they did all the invites on the web, similar to what you experienced. I didn’t like it at all, found it way to impersonal, and pretty tacky with sections for posting your song requests – which they didn’t use – and general well wish comments.
In general I do make a point of sending a thank you when I’ve been to somebody’s house for dinner, or if I’ve been sent a gift, but I tend to fall down if somebody has been to me and brought something as I feel I’ve thanked them on the spot. Same applies to other celebratory gifts, thank you on the spot doesn’t always generate a follow up thanks.
I also don’t like buying cards as people just throw them away! We have also been invited to a wedding where everything was done on the Web! I also do thanks ‘on the spot’ and then follow up via sms 🙂
Is we can preserve it beetroot cake..??? if that possible how many day…???
this cake should last a week in a sealed container 🙂
I’ve also noticed the lack of thank you cards. One I received over 6 months later. I always send a thank you, even for a birthday card. I guess it’s the way I was brought up. Lovely recipe, Tandy. I’ve saved it. 😉
it could get quite out of hand if someone then sent you a thank you card for the thank you card LOL 😉
I can’t say I personally have been invited to many weddings because all my friends are my age 😛
But the ones my parents get, when traditional, are so lovely!
Like your cake actually 😀
Beautiful new site!!
Cheers
CCU
thanks CCU – I am really pleased with the new look 🙂
I’m a bit iffy when it comes to thank you cards, but if the gift comes in the mail, I always give the person a call or a thank you email!
LOVE this cake. The cream cheese frosting sounds divine.
I loved the frosting for this cake!
This cake sounds amazing!
On the topic of thank you cards, I absolutely agree: if not a card, then at least an email, call, Facebook post, tweet…you get the drift. With the myriad of communication opportunities, there is no excuse for not extending a simple courtesy! I had this happen recently and I was very peeved – more so because the cash I gave was demanded in the invitation (please give cash – and generously – yes really!!) I waited for several weeks and then contacted the bride, who sent a brushed-off, half-baked reply. Next time I will follow my heart and decline!
I cannot get the whole ‘please give cash’ thing! And then to not thank you GRRRR 🙂
What a wonderful idea to create a memory box! I haven’t been to a wedding the last three years, but we are having two in the next 5 months!
Are you on your new site, Tandy, because I am again not getting notifications on your post – went to this post via Facebook?
I have also changed my blog to http://www.pinkpolkadotfood.com
well done on your mapping your blog domain Pink! I am on my new site and you need to resubscribe 🙂
I will subscribe now. I have also lost all my subscribers – so not nice, and also all my stats! 🙁
did you move to wordpress.org or are you still on wordpress.com?
Lovely.. and old-fashioned cake is now hip and trendy with the use of beets for flavor! I’m old school and believe in hand written thank you cards and I believe this is the norm. I attended a shower two weeks ago and got my card in the mail within 2 days!
I love handwritten thank you cards and it is so good that you received one so soon after an event 🙂