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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Imari Trio, Pumpkin Surprise Loaf Cake

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! The last few days have been low key, with an annual bout with allergies. Yechch! BUT...I am feeling much better and want to thank you for your thoughts, prayer and kind messages and emails. But I missed my 2 favorite Christmas bazaars! Rats!!! Ah well...there will be more next weekend!



I have the linky and the list of some of the blogs I link to at the bottom of the post, so please link one post of something related to tea, and visit the other wonderful blogs!






For those of you familiar with this blog, you know I love Imari cup and saucers. The name Imari is generically given to china with the colors of rust, cobalt blue and green that developed in the early 1800s with the trade with the Imari region of Japan. They continued to be popular into the 1940s when they began to wane, and the last version seems to have ended in the early 1950s. But I love the sepia transferware and the hand painted bright colors. This particular set of Imari cup and saucer with matching plate was made by Doric China, England between 1926-1935. It has some gold trim wear, but I love the floral vignettes as well as the colors. Imari was very popular during the late Victorian and Edwardian era. If you watch seasons 1 & 2 of Downton Abbey, you will often spy an imari teacup in use.  For more info on the teacup trio at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.



I was going to share another recipe today, but a member, Valerie, of my Brunch, Tea Scones Yahoo group sent us a link for this and I decided to post the wonderful cake idea from Sheknows.com (to go there and see step by step photos, click on the cake photo) called:

Peekaboo pumpkin pound cake with brown butter pecan icing

Ingredients:

For the pound cake
  • 1 (14-ounce) box pumpkin bread mix
  • 1 (16-ounce) box pound cake mix
  • Orange food coloring
For the icing
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
  • 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Prepare pumpkin bread

Mix up pumpkin bread ingredients according to the directions on the box. Add orange food coloring to make it more "pumpkin-y" looking (less brown).


Bake and cut

Bake in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan according to directions. Remove from oven before completely done, about 8-10 minutes less than instructed. Let cool, remove from pan and refrigerate for up to four hours. Cut cold pumpkin bread into large slices. Cut pumpkin shapes from slices.

Align them down the center of a lightly greased and floured 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.


Make pound cake

Mix up your pound cake batter according to the directions on the box. Pour over your pumpkin bread cutouts in the pan, making sure to cover the tops of the pumpkins. You may have more pound cake batter than you need. Try not to overfill the pan. Bake according to the directions on the box. Let cool when done.


Prepare icing

Meanwhile, prepare the brown butter pecan icing.
Put powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, melt butter and boil, stirring until it starts to brown and form dark flecks on the sides and bottom.

Remove from heat. Pour the melted brown butter and flecks over the powdered sugar. Add the evaporated milk and vanilla. Stir until combined and creamy. Add more powdered sugar if it appears too runny or more evaporated milk if it seems too stiff.


Ice cake

Remove baked and cooled pound cake from pan and top with brown butter icing. Add chopped pecans, if desired. Cut into slices and delight your guests with the pumpkin-shaped surprise that peeks out from inside!

As we all in the group thought, a little extra work, yes, but what fun! And think of all the other holiday shapes you could make with this! Terrific!

So...there you have it for today. Please link your tea related post with the linky and visit the other wonderful blogs. I hope you are all not too harried with Thanksgiving preparations to be too busy to take time to refect on how much we do have to be thankful for. No matter what problems or challenges you are facing, there are always so overlooked gifts in our lives that we pass by when we are in a hurry, that need to be found and cherished.  Have a cup of tea and look for them...they're usually right there so close and familiar we have missed them!




I don't know why the blog list is showing up in different colors...beyond me...I'm not techie!!!

Monday Marketplace
Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday
Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday
Teatime Tuesday
Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness
Tuesday Tea       
Tea On Tuesday
Tea Tuesday
Tea On Tuesday
Poetry In A Pot Of Tea
Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday
What’s It Wednesday
Home On Wednesday
 A Tea Lover     ~http://the-teaist.blogspot.com/
Tea Talk Wednesday



15 comments:

  1. Oh I love the beautiful Imari!! The peekaboo cake looks awesome and yummy! Thank you for sharing the recipe for us to have and I will try to make it soon, even if it's for C'mas. Thank you for hosting, although I have no tea party this time, you will enjoy the French B'day party for my grand. Happy Thanksgiving, for you and yours.
    FABBY

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  2. I love your pretty Imari teacup and the pumpkin cake looks and sounds delicious. Have a great week.
    ~Clara

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  3. I, too, love Imari ... so lovely! The peekaboo cake is so much fun! Thanks for the recipe. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Happy Tea Day!

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  4. Hello Ruth,
    I'm glad you are starting to feel better! Your Imari teacup is stunning! I have only one but I'm happy to have it. Your pound cake is really pretty with the pumpkin in it. Bet it's delicious too. Thank you for coming to tea and have a Happy Thanksgiving, my friend!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  5. Hello Ruth
    Thanks for the info on Imari china, very interesting. The pumpkin cake looks awesome, and yes a lot of work so you make it and I'll come for tea. :-)
    Judith

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  6. Ruth, The cake looks awesome! What fun! Love your teacup trio as well. Happy Thanksgiving, Ruth.

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  7. Hi Ruth,
    thank you for the nice comment about the candles. I understand, that you will never light those candles, your parents brought you. I have also a candle for New Years Eve, which is only for decoration and will never been lit.
    Your Imari cup is really a treasure. It is so colorful and pretty. And the cake - just a keeper! It looks so spectacular. Thank you for sharing the fine china including the information and for the cake recipe.
    Best greetings, Johanna

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  8. Hello Ruth, that's such a regal teacup - the cake looks amazing - I do appreciate you hosting,
    Kathy

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  9. It's all so lovely and the cake sounds just delicious!

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  10. Hello Ruth,
    I love your tea cup and saucer. The coloring is so vibrant. I have seen these cups, but usually when I am in England, and not so much here in the east. In fact, we are really low on tea cups out here! Lately I have not seen any in the shops.
    I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving.
    Today I am finally linking up with you : )
    Thank you so much for hosting.
    Hugs,
    Terri

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  11. Thanks for sharing that bit of history about imari - I didn't know that! Now I will have to re-watch Downton Abbey to check :)

    Have linked up and posted your link up in my own blog post :) Am hosting my own link up tomorrow so feel free to participate!

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  12. Hi Ruth! Oh, my, YES - I do pay attention to the teacup and china details in Downtown and I did notice a cup very similar to this Imari when we were watching episodes on DVD recently. I love the attention to all the period details, don't you?

    Now, that cake is amazing - but I fear it may be beyond me even with the recipe. Far too grand for this simple chef. But, so nice to see - and nicer to taste, I'm sure!
    Joy!
    Kathy

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  13. What a beautiful teacup! I'll be looking for it on tv! Thanks for sharing the recipe, sounds and looks so good! Have a wonderful holiday.
    Nancy

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  14. It would be so much fun to see a tea table set with a variety of Imari. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  15. Ruth, a table setting of Imari would be fabulous, wouldn't it? It's such a beautiful pattern! Thank you for sharing with my HOME and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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Thanks for visiting and we love to hear from you! We read every comment. If my husband's health permits, I love to visit andreply. Have a wonderful day and a cuppa tea always at hand! :)