Dear Parrots magazine,
Birthday cake for parrots!
I made this special birthday cake last week for five parrots (two macaws, two Amazons and a caique), that I took in one year ago, to celebrate the anniversary of their coming to live with me. They had been found in a distressed state and had suffered badly, having been rescued from a house where their owner had been lying dead for a week.
The cake was so successful, with all my other birds enjoying a small piece too, that I thought readers of Parrots would like to have a go too, at baking this very nutritious cake for their birds!
Ingredients:
- 225g (8oz) plain wheatmeal or wholewheat flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 4 beaten eggs (including crushed shells)
- 110g (4oz) olive oil
- 110g (4oz) runny honey
- 225g (8oz) grated carrot
- 110g (4oz) grated courgette
- 1/3 of a cuttlebone roughly scraped off with a knife
- 55g (2oz) flaked coconut
- 55g (2oz) raisins or low-sugar mixed dried fruits
- 55g (2oz) chopped walnuts
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 or 170°C (325°F).
Mix together the flour and cinnamon, and then add the rest of the ingredients, leaving the carrot and courgette until last, and stir thoroughly.
The mixture should not be too runny or too stiff, if you need to adjust, add a little more flour or a little water as necessary.
Pour the mix into a well-greased 450g (1lb) loaf tin and bake for 60-80 minutes, until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. The cake can be chopped up and frozen, and defrosted as required.
Mrs A Howlett - Essex