Crown of Star Fruit Cake


Happy New Year dear friends!
2020 has arrived with an urgent need to be acknowledged. It is fresh and new and untarnished. Last year was very full of hopes and dreams for what I wanted to accomplish both here and in my life. But life always has a way of bringing with it the unexpected. Things weighed heavily, and at a certain point it felt like the bare minimum was good enough for that season.
Keeping that in mind…All our lives go through seasons. And if for a season we can only manage simplicity and the very minimum, our dear Lord knows. We can still offer to Him our smallest efforts. Like a good parent, he appreciates our gifts no matter the size when offered with love.
This New Year I am opening with a post I had planned for a very long time. It was to honor Blessed Mother, and to be honest I think that it would likely to suitable for any of her feast days.

Our Lady’s feast days are so numerous and give such beautiful insight into how we can deepen our understanding of Christ, his life, and our faith. Each aspect of her life can only lead us closer to Christ– she was closest to Him above everyone else.

I began this set up with a beautiful deep blue sheet that I used as a back drop for my little vignette. You could do the same with your family altar, or a special place designated in your home for liturgical observance. Mary is almost always depicted with stars about her, so I hung a garland of Christmas stars. You could also make one to hang, or you could hang individual stars. As a project one day with your children, you could make the delicious smelling cinnamon stars to use as well. The idea of items being multi-purposeful is very attractive to me!

Star Fruit Cake
Ok, so this idea came to me to use when I happened upon a recipe by simple coincidence. My son and I will sometimes go and pick out a new or different food item from the produce section to try out. We sit together and look up recipes that are possibilities. We happened upon a Starfruit cake recipe that looked simple enough, and the kicker was that I could use it for Marian feast days…you know, the whole star theme! Unfortunately, I don’t have a recipe to share. (I know, I’m sorry!) As usual, I used the recipe I found only as an example and switched out dairy and gluten free ingredients so that my littlest one could enjoy the cake along with us. It is on my radar to try it again and this time write it down! Any simple upside-down cake recipe would work, I would think.

This year is sure to be exciting and full of adventure, as I determine to make it even more faith-filled and full of fun and accessible beauty for my family. And for you as well.
Blessings to you in this New Year!