Divine Matrimonial Cake (for 'The Winter Vault')

I found it next to impossible to pull a quote from this book that would encapsulate the reasoning behind this dessert. The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels crisscrosses between Egypt and Canada as we follow the life, love and loss of Avery (an engineer tasked with moving a sacred temple block by block to higher ground) and his wife, Jean (a horticulturalist who finds a spiritual connection between the soil and her deceased parents). In essence,  

"It is the story of ... people and nations displaced and uprooted; and of the myriad means by which we all seek out a place we can call home"

(Jacket Blurb)

By page 23 I knew I would be making a Matrimonial Cake (as it is known in Canada - I'm not sure why). The crumbly squares perfectly represent the blocks of the temple while the date filling comes straight from the palm trees so loved by Jean for their shade along the Nile. The coconut, pecans, spices and orange zest are not traditional, I wanted to add a little something extra special to symbolise the divinity of the great Abu Simbel temple and the memory of Jean's parents.

I also found it quite fitting that Matrimonial Cake reminds me of my childhood Christmases in Canada. It was a staple dessert that found it's way into many a bake swap and I remember eating thick wedges of it with one hand poised below my chin to catch all the delicious crumbly bits. As this has been my 11th Christmas away from home, it also evokes the same nostalgic longing in me that is echoed throughout the book.

Divine Matrimonial Cake
Makes 16 large squares or 32 bite-sized ones

For the Base and Topping:
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g light brown sugar
125g oatmeal
125g plain flour
zest of 1 small orange
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
small handful coconut
small handful pecans, roughly chopped

For the Filling:
200g pitted dates
200ml water
juice of 1/4 lemon
2tbsp golden syrup or corn syrup


Method:
In a large bowl mix together the butter, sugar, oatmeal, flour, orange zest and spices until they resemble breadcrumbs. (Or pulse it together in a food processor, if you prefer). Pour 3/4 of the mix into a 23x23cm (9x9 inch) pan lined with grease proof paper and firmly press to form the base. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling. Add the coconut and chopped pecans to the remaining 1/4 and set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the dates and water to the boil, stirring occasionally while mashing with a fork, until it forms rough puree. Add a splash more water if necessary. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a food processor. Add the lemon juice and syrup then give it a whizz to break down any fibrous strands of date. Pour this onto your refrigerated base and top with the remaining crumble mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Also keeps well in the freezer.

Cupcakes of Knowledge (for 'Shades of Grey')

"That's good wisdom."

"It was good jam. And Jam is Knowledge" (p.234)

If, like Eddie Russett, you need to bargain for answers to life's mysteries with an Apocryphal Man, it's worth having some loganberry jam to hand. And it has to be loganberry. The closest I could find was lingonberry (from Ikea). Perhaps if the Apocryphal Man was in a generous mood he'd grant me the answer to half a question and a juicy snippet in exchange for a jar since it's a close cousin to the loganberry. Also, in order to symbolise the friendship between Eddie and the Apocryphal Man, I decided to fill them with custard because Eddie appreciates a properly hued custard almost as much as he appreciates a well managed queuing system.

How would you interpret Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde? All cakes and comments welcome.


Cupcakes of Knowledge 
(Custard and Lingonberry Jam Filled Cupcakes)

Makes 16-18 cupcakes

For the Victoria Sponge: (from Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver) 

225g (1cup) butter

225g (1cup + 2tbsp) caster sugar

4 eggs

225g (1 3/4 cups) self-raising flour (or plain flour with 3tsp baking powder)

1 lemon, zest only 

For the Filling:

1 small pot (150g / 5oz) ready-made custard

1 jar lingonberry jam 
Icing sugar to decorate.

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190*C (375*F)

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition. Fold in the flour and lemon zest until you have a smooth batter.
Divide the batter evenly into muffin tins lined with paper cases and bake for 15min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before filling.

To fill:

Cut the top off each cupcake and use a melon baller to scoop out a bit of each base. Spoon custard into the hole and spread a thin layer over the cut part of the base, so the two parts will stick back together again. Then take a small cookie cutter (I used a star shape) and cut out the center of each cupcake top. Place the cupcake tops back onto the bases and fill the cut-out with jam. Dust with icing sugar and serve.



BEWARE IMPOSTORS!

I actually made another version of these but wasn't happy with them as I used store-bought cupcakes. Never Again.  As you can see, they seem knowledgeable enough perched on those philosophy books, but they turned out to be impostors. Like a mediocre self-help book, they looked appealing in their wrappers but one bite was all it took to realise the inside was dry and lacked substance, made palatable only by their sugary coating.

And the custard icing is delicious, by the way. It also happens to be the middle layer of My Great Grandmother's Nanaimo Bars. So, if you already have some cupcakes to hand (especially chocolate ones) this icing will go down a treat with or without a dollop of jam on top.

P.S. I know I said I was putting all baking on hold until the 10k race had been run (less than 3 weeks away!) but I just had to post these. I tried to cut corners reasoning that if I bought the cupcakes and decorated them I'd be torturing myself less than baking them from scratch and filling the house with their wonderful scent. In the end, I managed to find some super strength willpower hiding at the back of my cupboard and made both versions without so much as licking a spoon. I only hope I have enough left over for those cookies I'm planning on making next...

Recipe, Dessert , Cupcakes, Lingonberry, Custard

Pineapple & Amaretto Crème de la Cranachan (for 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie')

 

"To Sandy, the unfamiliar pineapple had the authentic taste and appearance of happiness ... Both girls saved the cream to the last, then ate it in spoonfuls." (p.16)

"Sandy recalled Miss Brodie's admiration for Mussolini's marching troops ... It occurred to Sandy, there at the end of the Middle Meadow Walk, that the Brodie set was Miss Brodie's fascisti..." (p.31)

 With the Edinburgh Festival in full swing and feeling slightly nostalgic for the city after my Harry Potter musings last month, I turned to Muriel Spark for inspiration. It didn't take long for this heady concoction to tickle my creative palate. I took the classic Scottish cranachan (traditionally made with raspberries, oatmeal, cream and whisky) and, using the above quotes for inspiration, turned it into a flamboyant and sultry combination - much like Miss Brodie herself. The pineapple is symbolic of the bright enthusiasm of the Brodie set while the amaretto represents not only Miss Brodie's love of Italy, but the intoxicating effect of her influence.

How would you interpret The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark? All cakes and comments welcome.

Pineapple & Amaretto Crème de la Cranachan

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small pineapple, stems reserved for garnish

120g amaretti biscuits, crushed

200ml double cream

1tbsp caster sugar (or to taste)

2tbsp Amaretto liqueur

Method:

Slice the pineapple into small pieces (like you would get on a pizza). Place half in a blender and pulse until roughly chopped. Stir in remaining pieces and set aside.

In a large bowl, whip cream and sugar until set. Stir in 2tbsp of the crushed biscuits and the amaretto being careful not to over whip the cream.

Layer the pineapple, crushed biscuits and whipped cream into glasses and garnish with the green stems. Allow to chill slightly before serving.

Recipe, Dessert , Chranachan, Pineapple, Amaretto

Gryffindor Mulled Mead Jelly (for 'Harry Potter')

Photo: Harry Potter Wiki

This would make a stunning centerpiece to any Harry Potter party. Definitely one to make ahead of time.

Please note: I am away on holiday and haven't given this recipe a test run. It should work in theory... think of it as a Potions lesson with Professor Snape.


Here are links to sites which contributed to the creative imagining of this dessert:
Mulled Mead from celtnet.org
Broken Glass Jello from The Food Librarian
Wine Shot Jigglers from Cool Grapes
eGForums discussion of leaf gelatine vs. Knox


Gryffindor Mulled Mead Jelly

Printer friendly recipe

Ingredients:

1 package cherry jell-o
1 bottle Chardonnay (a deep yellow one from the southern hemisphere is best)
3tbsp honey
100ml brandy or cognac (optional)
½ orange
8 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp fresh ginger, sliced
4-5 whole black pepper corns
½ tsp ground nutmeg
12 sheets leaf gelatine

Method:
Make cherry jell-o ahead of time by mixing one box of jell-o with 250ml (1 cup) boiling water. Pour into a rectangular container and leave to refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

To make the 'mead', start by placing the cinnamon, ginger, pepper and nutmeg in a muslin bag and tying with string. Stud the orange with cloves. Cover sheets of gelatine with water and leave to soak.

Pour the wine into a saucepan and stir in the honey. Add the brandy or cognac, if using, and place the studded orange and spice bag into the pan. Heat until just below boiling point (do not allow to boil) then reduce to a simmer for 10min. Remove from heat. Squeeze excess water from gelatine and add to wine, stirring constantly until dissolved.

Cut cherry jell-o into 1 inch (2.5cm) cubes and place into whatever you are using as a mold. Pour the mulled mead over the cubes and place in the fridge until set, ideally overnight.

Recipe, Dessert , Gelatine, Mead

Hogsmeade Butterbeer Tarts (for 'Harry Potter')

Butterbeer Bottle Labels - available from Sidetracked Artist

This recipe is a fusion of Tudor Buttered Beere and a Canadian favourite, Butter Tarts.


Please note: I am away on holiday and haven't given this version of the recipe a test run, though I recently made a maple version of them for Canada Day with great success. It's basically this recipe for butter tarts from Canadian Living with a few tweaks. I don't think the changes I've made will affect the way they bake.


Tried & Tested: October 2011
As I expected, the recipe works and the hint of ale gives them a depth of flavour that just can't be achieved by substituting root beer. Which is why I'd like to take a moment to make a case for Real Ale:

Depending on which country you live in, your choice of ales may not be as numerous as here in the UK, but I suspect it won't take a whole lot of searching to find one. Ale aficionados have spread their influence far and wide. Now, I know 2 tablespoons doesn't sound like much in a batch of tarts so you may be asking, "Why should I buy a whole bottle if I'm only going to use 2 tablespoons?". My answer is: Because ale isn't expensive and trust me, it makes all the difference. If you're not up to drinking the rest of the bottle straight, you could pour it into a hearty beef stew or whisk it into batter for another British favourite, fish & chips! C. and I enjoyed our bottle with a plate of sausage, mashed potato and onion gravy. How very British.

 

Hogsmeade Butterbeer Tarts

Makes 12 tarts

Ingredients for the filling:

50g (1/4 c) raisins or currants
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp Real British Ale* - NOT 'beer' as in German or American-style lager
125g (1/2 c) light brown muscovado sugar
125g (1/2 c) golden syrup or corn syrup
1 egg
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla

*For alcohol free tarts, substitute root beer, sarsaparilla, or dandelion & burdock soda.

Make ahead:
In a bowl toss the raisins or currants in the ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Pour in the real ale and leave to soak for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally, so the flavours have time to infuse. Or leave it in the fridge overnight.

Method:
Prepare tart cases according to recipe link above (or use pre-made ones) and place in the refrigerator.
Pre-heat oven to 230 C (450 F).
In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, golden syrup, egg, butter and vanilla. Take the tart cases out of the refrigerator and divide the raisin mixture between them. Fill the tarts 2/3 full and place in the oven for 12-15 min. They will puff and bubble as they cook but you'll know they're done when the pastry is golden. They should remain slightly gooey in the middle. Let stand for a minute or two before carefully removing them from the pan and transferring to a wire rack.



Recipe, Dessert , Tart, Raisins, Ale

Garibaldi R-ice Cream Ladies (for 'The Edible Woman')

 

"Raisins are too risky ... Many don't like them" (p.18)

"The company is layered like an ice cream sandwich, with three floors: the upper crust, the lower crust, and our department, the gooey layer in the middle." (p.19)

"Now she had a blank white body. It looked slightly obscene lying there soft and sugary and featureless on the platter. " (p.269)

"You've been trying to assimilate me. But I've made you a substitute, something you'll like much better." (p.271)

This dessert was created using the above four quotes as inspiration. The first two are from a scene at Marian's workplace, Seymor Surveys, where she edits market research questionaires. The first quote is the dietitian's response to Marian's suggestion of adding raisins to the canned rice pudding she's been asked to taste test. Canned rice pudding appears several times in the book symbolising the ultimate convenience food for busy housewives, hence why I decided the 'gooey middle layer' had to be rice pudding ice cream. I'm guessing nowadays, any dessert containing rice pudding is far more risky than one made with raisins. The last two quotes are from the title scene of the book where Marian bakes and presents her fiancee, Peter, with an edible woman as a test of his unconscious desire to consume her (hence the woman-shaped cookie cutter).

How would you interpret The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood? All cakes and comments welcome.

Garibaldi R-ice Cream Ladies 

For the Garibaldi's:
I always use Simon Rimmer's recipe for 'Squashed Fly' Biscuits. My boyfriend C. loves these and can never be without them while writing an essay. (So, yes I am partially to blame for his freshman fifteen this year)

I found the cookies held their shape better if the cookie cutter was pressed into the whole rectangle of rolled dough on the tray before baking and separated afterwards by pressing the cookie cutter back into the outline and tracing around the edge with a knife if neccesary.

For the Rice Pudding Ice Cream:
Modified from a recipe by Mark Hix, published in The Independent

1 tin good-quality rice pudding (aprox 400g / 10 oz)
1tsp vanilla
70ml (5tbsp) double cream
2 egg whites
2tbsp sugar

Stir rice pudding, vanilla and cream together. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form then add to the rice mixture and fold until well combined. Pour into a  large-ish freezer safe plastic container, seal the lid and place in the freezer. Stir with an electric mixer every half hour for 2 - 3 hours to break up the ice crystals (depending on the shape of your container you may need to run a knife around the edge and into the corners).

To assemble: 
This is the fun bit! It's also self explanitory, but I'll tell you how I did it anyway... I froze my ice cream in a rectangular container then turned it out onto a cutting board by cutting around the edge with a butter knife and diping the bottom of the container briefly in warm water. Then I used my cookie cutter and a knife to cut perfect lady-shaped centers for my lady-shaped biscuits. Sandwich together and leave to soften slighty before eating.

Recipe, Dessert , Icecream, Rice Pudding, Raisins

Cherry Cheesecake Lasagne (for 'The Edible Woman')

 

In trying to create a cake that reflected Marian's disturbed state of mind, I finally decided on a cheesecake with a lasagne complex. It's symbolic of the various psychoses alluded to in the book as well as representing the love triangle - or is it more of a sandwich? - between Peter, Marian and Duncan:

Peter, Marian's fiance, is the graham crackers as he is a seemingly solid individual who crumbles under the pressure of being the last remaining bachelor among his friends. Marion is the cherry filling because she is compelled to play the 'scarlet woman' by carrying on a relationship with both men. And Duncan, an eccentric and impossibly pale grad student, is the cream cheese layer. (Spread it as smooth as possible in a nod to his love of ironing).

How would you interpret The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood? All cakes and comments welcome.

A few notes before we start: 

1. I can't get graham crackers here in the UK so I am indebted to Smitten Kitchen for her post on making your own. However, if you intend to assemble these individually and serve immediately (like I did) then the store bought variety may be more convenient. According to this yahoo forum store bought graham crackers are 5 x 2.5 inches which is pretty close to the ones I made measuring 4 x 2.5 inches (aprox.)
2.  I have an inkling that this would work assembled as one large cake though you would need a rectangular springform pan (9 x 13 x 3 inch) or maybe you could build 'sides' out of foil / plastic wrap covered cardboard until ready to serve. In this case, assemble everything in the springform pan (cherries and all) and chill 2-3 hours or until ready to serve. I'm guessing it may be easier to slice before taking the sides away. Please leave me a comment if you try this, I'd love to know how it turns out!
3. Lastly, I went overboard with the cherries for the slice shown here in the photo. There are 24 in all - 6 on each edge then filled with the thickened cherry sauce in the middle. You don't have to do this! It tastes exactly the same if you don't. If you wanted to do this with all 9 slices you'd either need a fair few few cans of pie mix (I estimate there were only 30 cherries in one 400g tin) or it may be more economical to make your own filling. My Baking Addiction has a nice looking recipe. I wish I'd made my own filling to go with my homemade graham crackers. Maybe next time.

Cherry Cheesecake Lasagna

Makes 9 slices

Ingredients:

18 graham crackers, store bought or homemade (see note 1, above)

750g cream cheese

300ml sour cream

9 tbsp icing sugar, or to taste

2 tsp vanilla

2 tins cherry pie mix (400g) or homemade cherry filling (see note 3, above)

Method:

If you are making your own graham crackers, bake them on two 7.5 x 11.5 inch cookie trays and do not score or cut them into rectangles either before you bake them or after they have cooled on a wire rack (you'll see why in a minute). Once cool, line the same cookie trays with greaseproof paper leaving an inch or two hanging over one end to use as a handle later. Place the uncut graham crackers back onto the lined tray.

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and adjust sweetness to taste. Reserve one third of the mixture in a piping bag (it will be used to top the desserts just before serving - you'll want to pipe it to avoid disturbing the delacate balance of the slices) and spread the other two thirds over the graham cracker trays. Place in the refrigerator until firm, about 2-3 hours, or until ready to serve.

If you're using store bought graham crackers, spread a layer of cream cheese mix onto each of the rectangles and place on a tray to chill in the fridge and continue as per instructions below.

* Only assemble as many slices as you intend to eat* (or see note 2, above)

To assemble, carefully slide one graham cracker and cream cheese slab onto a cutting board using the grease proof paper handle to pull it along. Cut into 9 rectangles and place each one on a serving plate. Spread with cherry pie mix. Slide the second slab onto the cutting board, as before, and cut into 9 rectangles. Place each one cream cheese side down on top of the ones spread with cherries. Pipe the remaining cream cheese mix on top and either spoon on more cherry pie mix or garnish with individual cherries. 

*Serve immediately or they'll slide apart!*

Recipe, Dessert , Cheesecake, Cherry

Strawberry "Tin Can" Shortcake (for 'The Edible Woman')

"Are you going to have them serve it hot?" I asked, "Or maybe with cream?"
"Well, it's intended primarily for the time-saver market," she said, "They naturally would want to serve it cold. They can add cream if they like, later, I mean we've nothing really against it..." (p.18)

Consumerism isn't just an overarching theme in this novel, it's an all smothering one: Posters of girdle-clad young women, sly tactics used by supermarkets and advertisers to entice weary housewives, and the question of whether women become commodities when 'given away' in marriage. I wanted a dessert that reflected 60s femininity as a commodity. Something that could be packaged and sold to those same weary housewives as a worthy substitute for the real thing. And, of course, it had to be pink.

How would you interpret The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood? All cakes and comments welcome.

Strawberry "Tin Can" Shortcake
Serves 6

For the pudding:

50g (1/4c) butter

50g (1/4c) sugar

4 eggs, separated

175g (3/4c) all-purpose flour

2 tins (Net Weight aprox. 400g or 14oz) strawberries in juice, drained. Reserve liquid.

For the sauce:

50g (1/4c) sugar

Reserved strawberry juice

4 tsp arrowroot powder

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Method:

Start with the sauce.  Place reserved strawberry juice and sugar in a saucepan and reduce to 125ml (1/2c). Set to one side and allow to cool. 

Pre-heat oven to 150*C (300*F). Carefully grease & flour 6 well-scrubbed tuna tins (or ramekins).

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time blending well after each. Add flour in three parts. (I found this made a very stiff batter. You may want to loosen it with 1-2tbsp water). Add strawberries and stir with a spoon until you have a smooth batter.

In a second bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold gently into strawberry batter.

Place your prepared tins onto a roasting tray and fill each one 3/4 full with batter before topping up with what remains. Cover with tin foil and secure with string or rubber bands. Fold excess foil up out of the way so the ends don't get wet and pour boiling water into the roasting pan so it comes 1/3 of the way up the sides of the tins.

Place on middle rack of the oven for 25min or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Immediately remove foil, run a knife around the edge of the tins and tip onto plates (they should release by themselves if left 30sec or so). 

Mix arrowroot powder with a little cooled juice before tipping it into the saucepan. Gently heat - do not allow to boil - stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Take off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Pipe sweetened whipped cream around slightly cooled puddings before spooning sauce over the top.Garnish with extra strawberries if desired.

Modified from cookbook The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson
Some interesting info: History of Instant Cake Mixes foodtimeline.org

Added 16/06/11:
Just found these 60s Jello-O dessert photos on oh so loveley vintage. Loving that retro food styling!

Recipe, Dessert , Cake, Strawberry

Ada's Lot (for 'The Last Warner Woman')

"I ask God for something better than Spanish Town, Jamaica, and he give me this country where I have tilled a hard ground." (p.150)

"Just as every fruit don't name mango, and just as every animal don't name dog, so too the Warner Woman's mouth is not only full of thunder and lightning." (p.116)

This dessert is my interpretation of how Ada sees her lot in life. Initially, I thought I could encapsulate different episodes of her life into layers: Growing up in the leper colony, life with the Revivalists, emigrating to England, time spent on a psychiatric ward. But I soon discovered it was impossible to mould this story told 'crossways' into something so linear. For example, I had intended the base to be the 'hard ground' of Adamine's life in the UK but the ingredients symbolising England (cocoa and tea biscuits) get mixed together with the ones representing her life in Jamaica (almonds and coconut). Since Adamine never had an easy life in either place and her time in England was always overshadowed by the beliefs and traditions she carried with her from Jamacia, I let the combination stand. The cream cheese icing in the middle was inspired by the quote, "I don't eat cheese as a rule, and I never frighten for sugar." (p.167). I chose to use both ingredients even though the character wouldn't to highlight how her wishes are blatantly ignored. The nutmeg infused mango and swirls of chocolate represent the reunion of two very different Warners at the end of the book.

How would you interpret The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller? All cakes and comments welcome.


Ada's Lot (Nanaimo Bars with Cream Cheese & Mango)
Makes 16-20 squares

For the base:

113g (1/2 cup) butter

5 tbsp cocoa powder

50g (1/4 cup) white sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

170g (2 cups) rich tea biscuits (or arrowroot cookies), crushed

71g (1 cup) unsweetened coconut

61g (1/2 cup) flaked almonds

For the icing:

125g (4oz) cream cheese

57g (1/4 cup) butter

128g (1 cup) icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

For decorating:

8-10 slices dried mango

1 tsp nutmeg

42g (1.5oz) baking chocolate

1 tbsp butter

Method:

Cut mango slices in half, place in a small bowl and toss in the nutmeg. Add 1 tbsp boiling water and give it a stir so all the slices get wet. Set aside.

Lightly grease a 9 x 9 inch pan. To make the base, combine butter, cocoa, sugar, slightly beaten eggs and vanilla in a double boiler and cook for 8-10min stirring occasionally. Remove from double boiler and add crushed buscuits, coconut and almonds. Stir until well combined (If it's a little dry, add 1tbsp vegetable oil) and press into the bottom of your pan. Place in fridge until cool.

Mix together cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla and spread over the cooled base. Put back in fridge for at least half an hour to set.

Cut the base into 16-20 into squares and top each one with a slice of mango. Melt butter and chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave and drizzle over the top in random swirls.

Nutmeg, Almond and Coconut Swirls with Cream Soda Glaze (for 'The Last Warner Woman')

"The cry of the Warner Woman carries with it a scent, and if you are close by when she prophesies you will smell it too. It is the smell of nutmeg, of earth, of rocks, of rain coming in from a distance, of salt, of ocean, of egrets, of oil, of cream soda, of coconut, of dust." (p. 114)

"Revival was pain and joy mix up together like flour and water." (p.81)

Between the two above quotes this recipe practically wrote itself. I chose to shape them into swirls because when Adamine is taken with a prophesy she spins wildly, as though caught in the gale of a storm.

How would you interpret The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller? All cakes and comments welcome.

Nutmeg, Almond and Coconut Swirls

Makes 12 buns

For the filling:

220g brown sugar (I used dark but I'm sure golden is fine too)

70g almonds (I used slivered but chopped would also work)

20g dessicated coconut
1tbsp nutmeg

57g butter, softened

For the dough:

575g all purpose flour

1tbsp baking powder

76g butter, softened

2 eggs

250ml warm milk

Cream Soda Glaze

150g icing sugar

enough cream soda to make a runny paste (about 3tbsp 2tbsp)

2tsp vanilla

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200*C. Have a bun pan or cookie sheet at the ready.

Put all ingredients for the filling into a medium sized bowl and mix with a fork until well combined. (You may need to zap it in the microwave for 10sec to help the butter along). Set aside.

Warm the milk either on the stove or in the microwave making sure not to let it boil and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder until well combined. Add the butter, cut into small chunks, and massage with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork before pouring into the flour mixture. Add the warm milk and bring together with a wooden spoon before turning out onto a lightly floured surface.

Gently knead the dough until it's no longer sticky. You may want to re-flour your surface before rolling out the dough into a large rectangle approx.1cm thick. Sprinkle all the filling evenly over the dough and then roll into a log shape starting at the narrow side of the rectangle. Cut the log into 12 slices and place each swirl onto your bun pan or cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15min.

To make the glaze combine all ingredients in a bowl. Pour a teaspoon of glaze over each swirl while they are still warm and wait until completely cooled before drizzling over the rest. Garnish with more almonds and coconut if desired.

Modified from Sugarlaws

Recipe, Dessert , Cinnamon Bun, Coconut, Almonds

Rainbow Blues (for 'The Last Warner Woman')

"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

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.

Modified from a recipe by Bill Granger, posted on good to know recipes

Inspired by Omnomicon

Recipe, Dessert , Cake, Coconut, Mango

Ito's Dorayaki Roll-ups (for 'Crawling at Night')

"so much pain packed into a single capsule of space, his heart, chomped down and swallowed, eaten, smothered, covered, lied, disguised, he cries, he cries" (p.138)

For Ito, I wanted to make something traditionally Japanese but with a twist. Dorayaki are sweet pancakes, stacked in pairs, with azuki bean paste sandwiched in the middle. My reason for breaking with tradition and serving these rolled has to do with the shocking revelation in Chapter 13. (Sorry, no spoilers). The flavour variations are symbolic of the three most important women in Ito's life, Tomoko, Xiu-Xiu and Miss Ling Yu.

Tomoko, Ito's wife
(Azuki bean cream with mirin-soaked prunes)
     Ito can't face Tomoko's illness and slowly abandons her. In a way, Tomoko is like the prune, an overlooked fruit which deserves more of a staring role. In this combination the azuki bean flavour is mild and perfectly complements the plummy sweetness of the mirin-soaked prunes.

Xiu-Xiu, the prostitute he frequents in Japan.
(Mirin and ginger cream with peach slices)
     This fusion tastes fresh and exotic, just what you might expect from a Flower Farm girl who goes by the name of Peach Blossom. The zing from the ginger is the first thing to hit your palet but is nicely mellowed by the cream. The peach adds a burst of juiciness.

Miss Ling Yu, the lounge singer / prostitute he stalks in NYC.
(Custard cream with azuki bean paste)
     This combination goes together like lounge and singer. It may not be terribly sophisticated but it will make you want to shout 'bravo' and 'encore' and clap until security arrive to escort you off the premises. Like Ito, you may need a restraining order to keep your hands off this one.

How would you interpret Crawling at Night by Nani Power? All cakes and comments welcome.

Ito's Dorayaki Roll-ups
Makes 6 rolls, serves 3-6

Dorayaki Recipe:
Shizuoka Gourmet. Step-by-step instructions with photos and a recipe for making your own azuki paste too.

Tip: Pouring the batter in a straight line across your frying pan makes each pancake easier to roll without cracking. (I saw this in a post for Matcha and Red Bean Dorayaki Roll at tune-in-tokyo)

The amounts given below fill 2 rolls in case you want to try all 3 fillings with one batch of dorayaki batter. If only one appeals to you then multiply it as necessary. Add all ingredients for your chosen flavour into a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Leave in small containers in the fridge until the dorayaki have cooled. To fill, smooth a spoonful of cream onto a strip of dorayaki, place the prunes, peach or azuki bean paste at one end and roll gently making sure the seam is on the bottom for plating.

Azuki Bean Cream:
4 tbsp whipping cream or double cream
1/2 tsp sugar
1-2 drops vanilla

1 tsp azuki bean paste, sived or smooth 

Mirin and Ginger Cream:
4 tbsp whipping cream or double cream

Custard cream and azuki bean paste

1/2 tsp mirin
1/2 tsp finely grated ginger

Custard Cream:
4 tbsp whipping cream or double cream
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp custard powder, mixed to a paste with 1/2 tsp warm water
1-2 drops vanilla

Fruits:
Again, these are the amounts to fill 2 rolls. Depending on what you've decided to make, you may need to multiply the amounts here too.

4-6 dried prunes, depending on size, de-stoned and soaked in 2 tbsp mirin for a couple of hours until plump
2 slices of peach, fresh or tinned (well drained)

Recipe, Dessert , Pancakes, Mirin

Mariane's Cranberry, Lime & Vodka Cupcakes (for 'Crawling at Night')

"Mariane built her own papery lantern of excuses, reasons ... words like, party, drinkies, fun-loving, good times, living life to the fullest ... she ignored the sounds or possibilities of problems, fucked up, dead end or alcoholism." (p.173)

"Mariane, a woman, who drinks too much, who leads an unexamined life, but who still seeks redemption."(p.201)

I wanted to make cupcakes for Mariane to illustrate her lost childhood and her need to do things right by her baby daughter, Daisy. The trouble is, Mariane can't get herself together. She loves to relax with a stiff vodka, cranberry and lime. She tells herself everything's ok, that there's time, but it may already be too late.

How would you interpret Crawling at Night by Nani Power? All cakes and comments welcome.


Cranberry, Lime & Vodka Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

100g butter
100g sugar
2 eggs
zest of 1/2 a lime
2 tbsp cranberry sauce or jelly
30g dried cranberries + extra for decoration if desired
100g self-raising flour (or 100g plain flour + 3tsp baking powder)
60ml cranberry vodka (or regular vodka)

For the drizzle icing:
150g icing sugar
juice of 1/2 a lime

Method:
Pre-heat oven to180*C
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well to combine. Stir in the lime zest, cranberry sauce and dried cranberries then fold in the flour.
Line a bun tray with paper liners and fill each 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15min.
Once out of the oven, poke holes in the cupcakes with a fork and pour a teaspoon of vodka into each one. Wait until cooled completely before making a thin paste with the icing sugar and lime juice. Drizzle icing over cupcakes and decorate with dried cranberries and lime zest.

Inspired by Cosmopolitan Magazine
Modified from Butcher, Baker

Recipe, Dessert , Cupcake, Cranberry, Lime, Vodka

Black Forest Bombe (for 'The Magic Toyshop')

 

"... you're so fresh and innocent ... 

something to change and destroy." (p.152)

"The cake seemed extremely exotic and unlikely, a figment of the imagination." (p. 168)

My goal this month was to deconstruct, subvert and re-construct a Black forest Gateau into something familiar yet (hopefully) disturbing using the above quotes for inspiration. I wish I could have pulled off this cake of Gothic proportions, but I dared not attempt it.

How would you interpret The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter? All cakes and comments welcome!

 Black Forest Bombe
Serves 6-8

Ingredients: to fill a 1.5 pint pudding bowl

350g morello cherries, fresh or frozen

2tbsp sugar 

1 chocolate sponge cake or 2 large chocolate muffins 
splash of Kirsch (optional)
500ml vanilla ice cream
150g dark chocolate
ready made meringue

Method:

Place cherries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and warm through until plenty of cherry liquid has been drawn out. Strain cherries with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Bring cherry liquid to a boil and reduce to a syrup. Also set aside to cool.

Line pudding bowl with cling film leaving enough to fold together once full. Slice enough chocolate cake or muffins to line the pudding bowl, pressing overlapping slices tightly together. Drizzle in some kirsch, if using, and allow it to soak in. Melt 50g of the chocolate. Layer together: half the ice cream, half the melted chocolate, the cooled cherries, the rest of the melted chocolate and the rest of the ice cream. Pull edges of cling film into the middle and twist together. Place a plate on top and weight down with a heavy object (like a pestle and mortar) to press everything firmly together. Place in the freezer to set for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, melt the remaining 100g of chocolate and pour over the upturned cake (cling film removed, of course). Garnish with meringue and drizzle with cherry syrup.

Variations:

Serve as a Baked Alaska by coating the cake in soft meringue and toasting in the oven or with a blow torch instead of topping with melted chocolate.

For a more traditional Black Forest gateau substitute whipped cream and chocolate mousse for the ice cream and chocolate layers. (In this case, I wouldn't press down on the cake but tap the base firmly on the counter before letting it firm up in the fridge for a couple of hours). Serve garnished with more whipped cream, cherry syrup and flakes of chocolate.

 Inspired by Jamie Oliver

Recipe, Dessert , Black Forest, Cherry, Chocolate

Melanie's Worst Nightmare (Black Forest Bread Pudding)

"They ate a lot of bread pudding under Mrs Rundle's regime ... Melanie grew to fear the bread pudding. She was afraid that if she ate too much of it she would grow fat and nobody would love her and she would die a virgin ... bloated as a drowned corpse".

(The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter, p.3)

It's such a great quote that I couldn't resist creating a bread pudding that would surely terrify both Melanie and Mrs Rundle. Sadly I missed World Nutella Day on Feb 5th but as it's still the correct month, lets call this a belated celebration of the hazelnut spread. The final recipe is still to come.


Black Forest Bread Pudding

Serves 2-4

Printer friendly version

Ingredients:
4 slices day-old bread, any kind
Nutella
1-2 dozen cherries, fresh or frozen


For the custard
250ml double cream
250ml milk
175ml sugar
4 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
2 tbsp Kirsch or 85ml cherry pie filling (both optional) 


Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180*. Lightly grease a small baking dish (mine is 14x19cm) and set aside.
In a saucepan combine cream and milk over medium heat and bring to a boil. In a blender pulse together sugar, egg yolks, whole eggs and cherry pie filling and/or Kirsch (if using) until smooth. When the cream and milk have come to the boil add gradually to the egg mixture pulsing in between to combine.

Make sandwiches out of the Nutella and bread then spread Nutella on the top slice. Cut into small squares and arrange in the baking dish taking care to keep the Nutella side facing up. Fill gaps with the cherries. Pour about 250-300ml of the custard over bread and leave to soak  for 20min.

Pour the rest of the custard back into the warm saucepan and cook stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula until slightly shiny and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and leave to cool. 


Cover your small baking dish with tin foil and place inside a larger one (or in a roasting tin) and pour in enough boiling water to come part way up the side of the dish. Bake covered for 30min then uncovered for 5-10min until top has crisped up.

Custard modified from cookbook: The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Findlayson.

Recipe, Dessert , Black Forest, Cherry, Chocolate

Purely Conceptual Cake (for 'The Raw Shark Texts')

'thought ... congealed' (p.4)

'fluid liquid concept ... waves of association and history' (p.59)

My goal this month was to create something edible that resembled the idea of a cake and tasted like the memory of cake without it actually being a cake. 

I started by asking myself: What do you mean by ‘cake’? If I were to narrow the memory of cake down to one particular type of cake it would be a basic sponge recipe. For many of us this would've been our first taste of cake, perhaps at our own first birthday party, so the psychological impact of the sponge cake must run deep...

A homage to pages 55 and 56 of The Raw Shark Texts might illustrate the 'waves of association and history' I'm aiming for:

Imagine a birthday cake.
You're in a room decorated with streamers and balloons. The lights have been dimmed and a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' is sung in time, though not in tune, by the assembled guests. A glow from the doorway announces the procession of the cake. It is set before you and a waft of wax, icing and sugary sponge invades your nostrils. The heat from the candles warms your face as you are urged to make a wish. There is a snap and flash of cameras as you take a deep breath, pause for effect, and do your best to blow out all the candles in one go. The lights are switched back on and there is a general hubbub as the guests await the cutting of the cake, anticipating it's moist crumb texture and the buttery smoothness of the filling. You are handed the knife. There is another pop and fizz of flashes as you press the blade into it's spongy centre and draw it towards the outer edge with an audible scrape of metal on crockery.

And right on that scraping sound - stop imagining.

The slightly unsettling but mundane truth of the matter is: the cake in my head has become the cake in your head. Yes, that's right. You may have thought you were imagining your own cake but I was merely using an ancient form of symbolism known as 'words' to implant my own cake-thoughts into your head. If you took a moment to contemplate the sheer number of possible combinations and permutations of sugar, flour and butter there are in this world you would be overwhelmed. Given long enough, under the right conditions, these same ingredients could bloom into a living organism of their own - a vengeful and intelligent Metacake with the ability to devour us all! Now, there's some food for thought...

***

After three failed experiments I finally hit on the idea of a birthday cake panna cotta. A molded milk-based gelatine dessert played on the congealed texture I was looking for and lent itself to a cake and ice cream effect. I like the idea of the stenciled letters because the power of the written word is an overarching theme in the book. I think the cocoa powder helps to bring out the cake flavour, which is quite subtle.

How would you interpret The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall? All cakes and commets welcome.

Purely Conceptual Cake  (Birthday Cake Panna Cotta) 

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:

For the eggless sponge cake

1/2 tin condensed milk (198g)
75ml melted butter

2tsp vanilla essence

80ml water

150g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda

For the panna cotta 

500ml whipping cream or double cream

60g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

3-4 sheets gelatine (or 1 sachet powdered gelatine)

125g cake batter

To decorate

A sprinkle of cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 200*C.
Butter and flour a 9in round cake pan and set aside. In a bowl whisk together condensed milk, butter, vanilla and water. Add flour and stir until smooth. Reserve 125g batter in a separate dish. Add the baking powder and soda, stir well and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 12-15min or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Soak gelatine in cold water. Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat and leave to simmer until sugar is dissolved. Do not boil. Add the gelatine to the saucepan and remove from heat stirring occasionally until dissolved.

 

Pour about 2tbsp of panna cotta into each of your ramekins or moulds (I filled eight 85ml containers but you could use 4 larger ones) and put in the fridge to set for about half an hour until firm enough to pour a second layer on top. Meanwhile, stir the reserved cake batter into the remaining mixture and set aside. Pour into molds and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight, until set.

Turn out onto serving plates and dust with cocoa powder. Don't be tempted to skip this step. For some reason, this helps the cake flavour stand out.

 What you do with the eggless sponge cake is up to you. I chose not to serve it along side this recipe because the panna cotta is rich enough to stand on it's own.

If you have no use for a leftover 1/2 tin of condensed milk just double the batch, you'll still only need one 9in cake tin to bake it in. 

I crumbled mine up, stirred in some butter cream icing (140g icing sugar, 70g marg, 1tsp milk - double this too if you make a double batch) and rolled them into Bakerella-style cake balls. I've popped them in the freezer to be coated in chocolate later.

Modified from Del Sole

Eggless sponge cake from aditya28

Recipe, Dessert , Cake, Panna Cotta