Living on War Rations | WW2 Cherry Fruit Cake Recipe + Victory Garden Life

Shop the Diary ✨ I've gathered my favorite frugal tools and pantry essentials in my storefront for you: https://amzn.eu/d/03QUtadG Disclosure: I am an Amazon Associate and may earn from qualifying purchases made through this link. War Rations Challenge 2026 Today at Wildwood Cottage in Wales I'm sharing another recipe from my Eating for Victory wartime cookbook, and we're making a WW2 cherry fruit cake using simple ration ingredients. This wartime fruit cake recipe is made using very little sugar, butter and no eggs, just like many recipes cooked during World War 2 rationing in Britain. I'm using glacé cherries and dried fruit to create a simple but delicious wartime cherry cake that would have been typical during the Dig for Victory era. Alongside the recipe, I'm also sharing an update on my 2026 Wartime Living Challenge, where I'm attempting to: • Live on £25 per week food budget for two adults • Follow WW2 ration style shopping and cooking • Grow as much food as possible in my Victory Garden • Practice frugal living and self sufficiency • Save £9,000 this year through simple living In this video you'll also see: 🌱 Seed sowing in the polytunnel 🌱 Growing vegetables for the Dig for Victory garden 🌱 Planting parsnips, tomatoes, chillies and onions 🌱 Log splitting and homestead chores 🌱 An update on my wartime budgeting challenge This channel is all about slow living, cottage life, wartime recipes, frugal living, self sufficiency and growing your own food here in the countryside. If you enjoy wartime cooking, frugal living ideas, victory gardens and simple cottage life, you're very welcome here at Wildwood Cottage. New videos every week with: • WW2 ration recipes • Victory garden updates • Frugal living tips • Grow your own food • Cottage lifestyle Thank you so much for watching 🌿 Enjoy ..xx If you liked this video and want to show your support for my channel, you can do so in the following ways:😊😊 Like, Comment and subscribe - these are free to do and will really help me grow my new channel 😀 You can also buy me a coffee via my KOFI Page if you want to help out with the running costs of the channel or buy me a coffee/beer: or STRIPE & THE GIRLS A TREAT 😀🎉😊 #WartimeKitchen #WWIICooking #1940sHomemaking #VintageCooking Link to my other craft & knitting channel https://www.youtube.com/ @faithfuleweknittingpodcast MY SHOPS KO-FI https://ko-fi.com/faithfulewe/shop ETSY https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Faithfulewe If you would like to support my work here on youtube your support really does mean a lot....😊😊🐓🐓🐓🐓💖💖 Lots of love Hazel xx❤️😊🎉🌼🌺🐓🌻 Hi, I’m Hazel, and welcome to Wildwood Cottage — a frugal living UK channel inspired by wartime skills, self-sufficiency, and simple living. I live in a remote cottage in Wales with a steep, once-neglected garden that was lovingly tended for over 50 years by a gentleman who lived to 97. Today, I’m transforming it into a Dig for Victory kitchen garden, growing organic food, flowers & fruit whilst working towards self-sufficiency. During today’s cost of living crisis, I’m following a long-term wartime challenge, cooking from 1940s ration books, growing my own food, and living extremely frugally — spending as little as possible while still eating and living well. On this channel you’ll find: Wartime ration cooking Dig for Victory gardening Frugal living UK Simple, slow & mindful living Preserving, fermenting & no-waste skills I document my journey turning this garden into a thriving, wildlife-friendly space that sustains us through the seasons. I post 2–3 videos a week, depending on the (very slow!) rural Wi-Fi. If you enjoy wartime wisdom, frugal living, and learning from the past, you’re very welcome here 🌱 A cottage in the Woods A cottage garden in wales Sheep on the hills The seasons changing seamlessly Striving for selfsufficiency & growing my own food delighting in keeping my own chickens 00:00 Intro – Wartime Cherry Fruit Cake Recipe 00:39 Welcome to Wildwood Cottage in Wales 01:13 Victory Garden & 2026 Wartime Budget Challenge 03:55 Searching for a WW2 Ration Book 06:50 Wartime Cherry Fruit Cake Recipe (Eating for Victory) 18:25 Seeds & Polytunnel Update 20:38 Log Splitting & Garden Work 21:11 Cherry Cake Result & Taste Test 22:01 Seed Sowing – Parsnips, Tomatoes & Chillies 26:07 Life Update & Losing One of My Hens 31:18 Wartime Budget Progress & £400 Saved 32:39 Outro