A Red Dog and an Orange Cake.

Today begins the Lunar Year of the Dog... I started well last week preparing my greeting cards incorporating 'red' in my art works in time for giving and posting. Why are these so red? Most of you can answer that as it is commonly known that the colour red for Chinese symbolises good fortune and happiness. It is certainly the Chinese celebratory colour - unavoidable during Chinese New Year and other traditional and official holidays.

Being the year of the dog, so many cute images of dogs appear in both traditional and contemporary New Year designs. I used Christmas Island stamps on my cards. The stylised patterned image of a little dog is adapted from the Chinese character -very modern and festive. Although I think the little red dog looks pensive, it is certainly a lovable and a reassuring image. This thoughtful dog image certainly fits with what Chinese astrologer Linda Lau predicts for this year....
(from https://www.refinery29.com/2018/02/190941/year-of-the-dog-chinese-zodiac-2018

"The earth element makes this a gentler dog than other elements. This element encourages us to take a cooler-headed approach to problems, rather than letting our emotions flare up and get the better of our reasoning...the year of the Dog is a great time to reach out to those around you and become a friendly presence in their lives, if not a true friend. And, if you're already speaking out for your values, you just might get an energizing boost this year."

And the orange cake? As I am writing my orange cake is cooking. My childhood training would never allow me to turn up at someone's house empty handed, especially on New Year's Day. It is traditional to give oranges at this time of the year, again to signify a wish for good luck. Why? The word for oranges in Chinese closely resembles the word for good fortune. And besides the colour and shape just says 'abundance'. So my take on this traditional gift is a home baked orange cake for our friends when we visit later this evening.

This cake is such a winner. It is so easy to make. It uses whole cooked oranges (skin and all) and has no flour, milk or oil, so is gluten and dairy free and has the additional Chinese associated ingredient of almonds. Here is the recipe:

Flourless Orange Cake ( from www.oversixty.com.au)
Ingredients
250 grams cooked whole oranges
6 eggs
250 grams castor sugar
250 grams almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
Method

Boil the oranges whole for about two hours. Cool, remove any seeds and pulp in a food processor
Measure out 250 grams of pulp ( I cook a whole bag of oranges at one time, measure out the weight and put in containers to freeze ready for the next time )
Beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy . Fold in the combined almond meal, baking powder and orange pulp. Pour into a greased and floured cake tin ( springform preferably) and bake at 180degrees C for approx, 40 minutes or until set.

And here it is - out of the oven cooled and decorated with eight orange slices ( 8 is a lucky Chinese number! ) and ready to be packed for transport and giving.

Happy Chinese New Year - Happiness and Prosperity 恭喜發財

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Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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