"Pearline girl, look on what you is doing nuh! It is just ugly." ( p.5)
Awww, poor thing. It may be a beautiful mix of colours but it is a sorry little cake. I'll have to try again.
It was meant to be a tropical rainbow wrapped in strips of royal icing to symbolise Pearline's love of knitting in vibrant colours and the 'onlgy that's' (white bandages) she came to make for the leper colony. Except it wasn't nearly as impressive looking as I'd imagined and the royal icing overpowered the delicate flavours in the cake. Like Monsignor Dennis, I removed the offending bandages "like how a pickney would tear shine-paper off of a present" (p.63). Thinking I could still salvage things, I made a drizzle frosting instead with icing sugar, melted butter and lime juice but, in a moment of creative insanity, threw in a handful of dessicated coconut. Now the poor cake looked like it had been coated in a helping of porridge. So I scraped that off too. The cake, in spite of the cruel treatment it's received, still tastes delicious.
How would you interpret The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller? All cakes and comments welcome.
Tropical Rainbow Cake
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
180g butter
250g sugar
4 eggs
200ml coconut yogurt
1 tin or container (aprox 400g) tropical fruits, well drained and patted dry
1 tin or container (aprox 400g) tropical fruits, well drained and patted dry
300g self raising flour
food colouring, 4-6 colours (I used pink, blue, green and yellow)
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 160*C. Grease & flour a 10.5 inch bunt pan.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Fold in the yogurt and fruit with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add flour in two parts, stirring well after each addition.
Split the batter into small bowls and mix a different colour into each one (this does not need to be an exact measurement - just eyeball it).
Randomly spoon the different colours into the tin about a tablespoon at a time until all your batter has been used up - there is no need to stir the colours up once they've been layered in the tin.
Bake in the oven for aprox. 40min or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. I'll let you decide how best to ice this one.
Split the batter into small bowls and mix a different colour into each one (this does not need to be an exact measurement - just eyeball it).
Randomly spoon the different colours into the tin about a tablespoon at a time until all your batter has been used up - there is no need to stir the colours up once they've been layered in the tin.
Bake in the oven for aprox. 40min or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. I'll let you decide how best to ice this one.
Modified from a recipe by Bill Granger, posted on good to know recipes
Recipe, Dessert , Cake, Coconut, Mango
