Book club cake of the month... September

Well, after our unofficial pub meeting, we had our first post Summer gathering. We had read Money by Martin Amis.

 Let me start by saying, I really hated this book!

The book's protagonist is an example of eighties excesses, he is obsessed by money, he drinks, pops pills, abuses women and is the most unsympathetic character I have ever read.

Our group fell into three camps. Those who hadn't finished (and I suspect would never pick up the book again) including a friend going through chemo who had to stop because it made her literally sick. Those who had finished and thoroughly disliked it. And finally, those who hated the first half of the book, but felt that the second half brought redemption and reached a very satisfactory (for them) conclusion.

We gave it an average of 5.5, and with that I have no further wish to discuss it!

Our book club meetings are always a great excuse for fantastic nibbles and this months host did not disappoint, she had made a fantastic roasted pumpkin dish with a gorgeous aubergine dip, as well as the usual cheeses and cold meat platters.(I managed to take a quick pic with my phone and Instagram it before anyone tucked in.) Next months host has warned she intends to lower the bar with some substandard crisps! 

I was pondering what I could make to take to our meeting. I had thoughts of making fondant pills to go on top of cupcakes but then it hit me... millionaires shortbread! I love this sooo much, but my waist line doesn't! So I never make it, but it was the perfect confection for a book about excess. 

There is nothing more disappointing than going to a cafe and having a slice of millionaires shortbread, only to discover it is topped with cooking chocolate...bleurgh. So I made certain I had some good quality chocolate for this beauty. I then used my favourite technique for decoration at the moment. I splashed gold paint all over it!

I have to admit that even writing this post and looking at the pictures is making me hungry!

xxx

Previous official book club cake of the month;
August 2012 (unofficial)

July 2012

May 2012

April 2012

February 2012

January 2012

November

July

June

March

April

February

November 

October

September

Book Club Cake of the Month...November

Due to an extreme workload, I had to miss two book clubs, and the last one I did attend, (True Grit) I never got round to writing up (an average of 8.5, I made cheesy corn balls), so apologies for the lack of book club cakes recently. Hopefully I can make it up to you with this post.

This month (well I mean November) we read "The Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. As with many books we tend to read, it was the story of a woman's 'descent into madness' (say this in your head in a movie trailer voice).  It is written as a prequel to Jane Eyre, focusing on the mad woman in the attic, and turning Mr Rochester into a most dislikeable character (not that he is attractive to begin with).

I found reading the novel like reading someone's dream, which swiftly turns into a nightmare. We all enjoyed it and some even went on to re-read Jane Eyre, which I am tempted to do. We gave it an average of 8.5.

I made a Jamaican ginger cake, which went down a storm. I used the recipe I found here. I then made a syrup with 100ml of dark rum and 100g of sugar. I heated the two ingredients in a pan until the sugar dissolved, then cut up a pack of mixed tropical fruit, (pineapples, mango and passion fruit) and steeped the fruit in the syrup for a hour. Then before serving I tipped the boozey fruit and sauce over the cake. I also whipped some cream with sugar and rum, for some extra fun. It was delicious!

Hopefully I will be able to attend more book clubs in the New Year.

xxx

Previous book club cake of the month

July

June

April

March

February

November

October

September

Book Club Cake of the Month...March

This month we were reading 'The Breaking of Eggs' by Jim Powell.

It is about Fascism and Communism in 20th Century Europe, a part of history that I know a little about, but was interested to learn more. So I did enjoy that part of the story.  I also liked the fact that the characters in the novel while complex were still  sympathetic and likeable.  Don't you find that in much of modern literature many of the characters are truly repellent, mentioning no names... (The Slap!)?.

However, while we all found the book enjoyable, for some reason the story didn't stay with us, it had no real impact.  We marked it an average of 7.5, with those who had just finished it giving an 8 and those of us who had read it a few weeks before scoring 7.

We found that our discussion of the book wasn't the the most vociferous we have had, as we all pretty much agreed on everything, but, of course, we didn't sit in silence as the wine was flowing.

.

So now the cake!  Well there is no mention of any cake in the novel at all, can you believe it?  What are these writers thinking off?  The title refers to the saying 'you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs'.  So I googled omelet cake and they were all savoury, which may have been nice but you can't beat something sweet..

Then I remembered one year when I was a child and my Mum made me a special Easter treat.

So last Thursday I arrived at my friends house with a basket full of eggs.

They were very intrigued, and, when the eggs were turned upside down....they were full of ganache.  My fellow book clubers also wondered how I just happened to have a nest lying about...well, who hasn't?

You can blow the eggs but I just chopped off the end with a knife so there were no tell-tale holes on top. I also washed the shells in soapy water and then sterilised the insides with boiling water.

I make my ganache by using equal weight of chocolate (no more than 51% cocoa or it separates) to cream, ie.100g chocolate, 100ml cream.  Boil the cream and then add the broken up chocolate, stir and then beat until the chocolate has melted and the ganache is glossy. Pour or spoon the ganache into the eggs and place in the fridge to harden.
These would make cute Easter gifts, especially if you can find a handy nest to display them in.

xxx