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An Dùbhlachd, the Black Month, at Street Prophets Coffee Hour. With cake! [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-12-03
Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour, the place where politics meets up with religion, science, art, nature, and life. Come in, have a cuppa and a cookie (or three!) and join us. You can have yours black, if you prefer, to suit the month.
Yes, I can see how the Scottish who were naming the months could think of December as black, or at least dark. The surrounding waters, plus the Gulf Stream, keep temperatures moderated, nothing like the seasonal swings I get in mid-continent North America. But they’re still very near the Arctic Circle, so while temperatures are reined in, day length is a real issue.
Bird feeders are topped up, and I always keep an old lid from a storage bin on the deck, where I pour additional seed for the ground feeders. The heated birdbath, probably about 20 years old now, is still working, if not as green as it once was. My new-ish propane furnace actually puts out more heat, making the house more comfortable, when the temperature is in the low 20s or below and the second stage burner comes on, even if the thermostat stays the same. And Taffy is lying on the desk in front of the monitor. I have a gooseneck lamp that I bend down to keep her warm, because my thermostat is set a bit lower than an elderly cat would like.
As promised, here’s an applesauce cake. I don’t know the origin. It’s been in my family for at least 75 years, so I got it from my grandmother. (My mother couldn’t cook. She didn’t know that, but nope, she couldn’t cook.) It makes a warm and spicy cake that not only doesn’t need icing but definitely shouldn’t have it. (Somehow it lost formatting so I’m trying again.)
Applesauce Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 egg ½ cup butter
1cup sugar
2 cups applesauce
2 ¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup raisins soaked in apple juice, rum, whisky, or brandy and drained
1 cup chopped walnuts
STEPS:
1. Mix together egg, butter, sugar, and applesauce. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
3. Fold dry ingredients into the applesauce mixture in three stages.
4. Stir in raisins and nuts.
Pour into greased tube pan or two loaf pans. Bake at 350°F for about an hour. Test to see when it’s done.
It’s possible to use this as a base for fruitcake, if you actually like it. I love fruitcake, but I know the old jokes about how there’s only one each year, passed and regifted all season long, because apparently it isn’t a favorite. The real thing harks back to a time when food was often much, much sweeter than today’s tastes.
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