I don't have the small motor dexterity to construct and decorate
gingerbread houses, even with those pre-cut kits. The baking of
gingerbread doesn't faze me, but I am no good at icing and decorating,
it looks like my five-year-old did it, although his small motor is so
much worse than mine that I really should say - it looks like somebody
else's five-year-old did it.

But I am so excited about the gingerbread cake dessert I'm whipping up
for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. My old college roommate gave me a
sandcastle-shaped Bundt cake last summer - why? I don't know. She lives
in Rome, Italy and is a contemporary art curator and historian, so
there may have been some coded ironic message about American
consumerism and Christmas - and she's German, too, so she feels very
sacred about Christmas, but she's also very modern and bemused, having
been married to a famous conceptual artist for more years than was good
for her.
(I digress)
So I have this sandcastle bundt cake pan which may or may not be a
covert witticism but it's also a very cool looking form. Last week I
tested out a gingerbread (cake) recipe in it:

http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/castlecake.jpg

The white bits are where I was clumsy with the PAM spray and "light
flour". Cooking spray is new for me, but I thought it was necessary to
get into all the little crevices of the bundt mold. I was more careful
tonight. It's in the oven so I don't know how it will turn out - but I
think the effect is cool, anyway, sort of snowy.

Then I made a compote, adapting a recipe out of a Russian cookbook -
dried appples, apricots and raisins, a little sugar, a cinnamon stick,
ginger and a few cloves, lemon zest, and at the very end a splash of
rum. I really wanted to use orange flower water but my husband voted
for rum.

When the cake is done I'll turn it out on a plate. Tomorrow for dessert
I'll whip the cream and spread it around the castle base, perhaps daub
a little on the turrets; I may put some of the compote in a custard
dish set down inside the castle's -- keep? courtyard? Gotta brush up on
my castle terminology.

The children will all want just gingerbread cake and whipped cream but
the grownups will get same plus compote. I'm imagining that the
apricots will look like gold treasure or something. Having grown up
around Middle Eastern Crusaders' castles, I find this whole
construction wildly romantic, and love the Arab influences of the
compote. Oh yeah I'm going to stir in pine nuts as well - I once ate an
apple compote in Arcos de la Frontera, Spain, made from an old convent
recipe, with walnuts and orange flower water. The pine nuts are even
more Moorish/Arab than the walnuts would be. But the rum is pure
Crusader influence! Some other time, if this is a success, I'll do it
again with orange flower water, to be incredibly
Andalusian/Moorish/Arab about it.

Ginger and most of the spices used in gingerbread (I added cinnamon,
cloves and nutmeg to the recipe) were introduced to Europe by the
Arabs, via the Crusades. Apricots and dried fruit compote are beloved
by the Arabs, as well. So I'm tickled to make such a Christmas-y
dessert that pays homage to the half of my family that's Middle
Eastern.

I'm thinking of naming the cake "Krak Des Chevaliers" after a castle in
Syria I've never visited. I just like the name.

By the way, if you've gotten this far and are puzzled, remember that
Arab Christians exist in decent numbers - 20% of the population of
Syria, 12-15% of Iraq, 40-50% of Lebanon, almost that high among
Palestinians if you include the diaspora. (Don't know the numbers in
Egypt - a small but significant minority) My father's Eastern Rite
Catholic church is one of the oldest around, older than the church of
Rome. Jesus visited my hometown (Sidon and surrounding hills) and the
Apostle Paul founded early churches in the area. When the Crusaders
came to "liberate" Palestine and Jerusalem, they found indigenous
Christians who traced their spiritual lineage back to the apostles and
Jesus himself. So a Middle Eastern castle Christmas cake is a perfectly
appropriate reflection of my cultural and spiritual heritage.

Merry Christmas everybody. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Love,

Leila

In article .com>,
"Leila" > wrote:


> I'm thinking of naming the cake "Krak Des Chevaliers" after a castle in
> Syria I've never visited. I just like the name.
>
> By the way, if you've gotten this far and are puzzled, remember that
> Arab Christians exist in decent numbers - 20% of the population of
> Syria, 12-15% of Iraq, 40-50% of Lebanon, almost that high among
> Palestinians if you include the diaspora. (Don't know the numbers in
> Egypt - a small but significant minority) My father's Eastern Rite
> Catholic church is one of the oldest around, older than the church of
> Rome. Jesus visited my hometown (Sidon and surrounding hills) and the
> Apostle Paul founded early churches in the area. When the Crusaders
> came to "liberate" Palestine and Jerusalem, they found indigenous
> Christians who traced their spiritual lineage back to the apostles and
> Jesus himself. So a Middle Eastern castle Christmas cake is a perfectly
> appropriate reflection of my cultural and spiritual heritage.

Maybe I'm confused. I see all these pictures of Jesus. They show him
as a white guy. Didn't they realize he was from the Middle East?

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA

In article .com>,
"Leila" > wrote:

> I don't have the small motor dexterity to construct and decorate
> gingerbread houses, even with those pre-cut kits. The baking of
> gingerbread doesn't faze me, but I am no good at icing and decorating,
> it looks like my five-year-old did it, although his small motor is so
> much worse than mine that I really should say - it looks like somebody
> else's five-year-old did it.
>
> But I am so excited about the gingerbread cake dessert I'm whipping up
> for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. My old college roommate gave me a
> sandcastle-shaped Bundt cake last summer - why? I don't know. She lives
> in Rome, Italy and is a contemporary art curator and historian, so
> there may have been some coded ironic message about American
> consumerism and Christmas - and she's German, too, so she feels very
> sacred about Christmas, but she's also very modern and bemused, having
> been married to a famous conceptual artist for more years than was good
> for her.
> (I digress)
> So I have this sandcastle bundt cake pan which may or may not be a
> covert witticism but it's also a very cool looking form. Last week I
> tested out a gingerbread (cake) recipe in it:
>
> http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/castlecake.jpg
>
> The white bits are where I was clumsy with the PAM spray and "light
> flour". Cooking spray is new for me, but I thought it was necessary to
> get into all the little crevices of the bundt mold. I was more careful
> tonight. It's in the oven so I don't know how it will turn out - but I
> think the effect is cool, anyway, sort of snowy.
>
> Then I made a compote, adapting a recipe out of a Russian cookbook -
> dried appples, apricots and raisins, a little sugar, a cinnamon stick,
> ginger and a few cloves, lemon zest, and at the very end a splash of
> rum. I really wanted to use orange flower water but my husband voted
> for rum.
>
> When the cake is done I'll turn it out on a plate. Tomorrow for dessert
> I'll whip the cream and spread it around the castle base, perhaps daub
> a little on the turrets; I may put some of the compote in a custard
> dish set down inside the castle's -- keep? courtyard? Gotta brush up on
> my castle terminology.
>
> The children will all want just gingerbread cake and whipped cream but
> the grownups will get same plus compote. I'm imagining that the
> apricots will look like gold treasure or something. Having grown up
> around Middle Eastern Crusaders' castles, I find this whole
> construction wildly romantic, and love the Arab influences of the
> compote. Oh yeah I'm going to stir in pine nuts as well - I once ate an
> apple compote in Arcos de la Frontera, Spain, made from an old convent
> recipe, with walnuts and orange flower water. The pine nuts are even
> more Moorish/Arab than the walnuts would be. But the rum is pure
> Crusader influence! Some other time, if this is a success, I'll do it
> again with orange flower water, to be incredibly
> Andalusian/Moorish/Arab about it.
>
> Ginger and most of the spices used in gingerbread (I added cinnamon,
> cloves and nutmeg to the recipe) were introduced to Europe by the
> Arabs, via the Crusades. Apricots and dried fruit compote are beloved
> by the Arabs, as well. So I'm tickled to make such a Christmas-y
> dessert that pays homage to the half of my family that's Middle
> Eastern.
>
> I'm thinking of naming the cake "Krak Des Chevaliers" after a castle in
> Syria I've never visited. I just like the name.
>
> By the way, if you've gotten this far and are puzzled, remember that
> Arab Christians exist in decent numbers - 20% of the population of
> Syria, 12-15% of Iraq, 40-50% of Lebanon, almost that high among
> Palestinians if you include the diaspora. (Don't know the numbers in
> Egypt - a small but significant minority) My father's Eastern Rite
> Catholic church is one of the oldest around, older than the church of
> Rome. Jesus visited my hometown (Sidon and surrounding hills) and the
> Apostle Paul founded early churches in the area. When the Crusaders
> came to "liberate" Palestine and Jerusalem, they found indigenous
> Christians who traced their spiritual lineage back to the apostles and
> Jesus himself. So a Middle Eastern castle Christmas cake is a perfectly
> appropriate reflection of my cultural and spiritual heritage.
>
> Merry Christmas everybody. I'll let you know how it turns out.
>
> Love,
>
> Leila

I can't bear to snip any of it, Toots! Go, Leila!! Go, Leila! Go,
Leila! Go, Leila!
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 12-22-05

"Leila" > wrote

> Merry Christmas everybody. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for that great story, and I love your castle. Fun.
Merry Christmas to you, too and best wishes for the
new year. nancy

On 24 Dec 2005 23:02:08 -0800, "Leila" >
wrote:

>I don't have the small motor dexterity to construct and decorate
>gingerbread houses, even with those pre-cut kits. The baking of
>gingerbread doesn't faze me, but I am no good at icing and decorating,
>it looks like my five-year-old did it, although his small motor is so
>much worse than mine that I really should say - it looks like somebody
>else's five-year-old did it.

The one you took a photo of looks great! The white bits look like a
powdering of snow It sounds like a wonderfully different christmas
dessert

--
~Karen aka Kajikit
Crafts, cats, and chocolate - the three essentials of life
http://www.kajikitscorner.com
Online photo album - http://community.webshots.com/user/kajikit

Gingerbread castle cake, version 2, with whipped cream, 4 raspberries
for the turrets, and powdered sugar, on 12/25/05:

http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/cake2.jpg

My brother-in-law said we "sacked the castle." In fact the nephew
beheaded a turret. It went fine. I didn't put pine nuts in the compote,
which was just as well.

Merry Christmas everybody, and Happy New Year

Leila
Planning blackeyed peas

Leila wrote:
> Gingerbread castle cake, version 2, with whipped cream, 4 raspberries
> for the turrets, and powdered sugar, on 12/25/05:
>
> http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/cake2.jpg
>
> My brother-in-law said we "sacked the castle." In fact the nephew
> beheaded a turret. It went fine. I didn't put pine nuts in the compote,
> which was just as well.
>
> Merry Christmas everybody, and Happy New Year
>
> Leila
> Planning blackeyed peas

That is *gorgeous*! How did you make the different shapes for the
layers?
-L.

-L. wrote:
> Leila wrote:
>
>>Gingerbread castle cake, version 2, with whipped cream, 4 raspberries
>>for the turrets, and powdered sugar, on 12/25/05:
>>
>>http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/cake2.jpg
>>
>>My brother-in-law said we "sacked the castle." In fact the nephew
>>beheaded a turret. It went fine. I didn't put pine nuts in the compote,
>>which was just as well.
>>
>>Merry Christmas everybody, and Happy New Year
>>
>>Leila
>>Planning blackeyed peas
>
>
> That is *gorgeous*! How did you make the different shapes for the
> layers?
> -L.
>

looks like a cake mold to me Ellie was looking at my willams sonoma
catalog and saw one like that, and said she wants me to make it

--

saerah

http://anisaerah.blogspot.com/

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

sarah bennett wrote:
> looks like a cake mold to me Ellie was looking at my willams sonoma
> catalog and saw one like that, and said she wants me to make it
>
> --
>
> saerah

Yeah, Duh - you are probably right! I feel stupid. Guess I assume
everything is hand-made because that is how I would have done it. ;P
-L.

On Wed 28 Dec 2005 01:20:45a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Leila?

> Gingerbread castle cake, version 2, with whipped cream, 4 raspberries
> for the turrets, and powdered sugar, on 12/25/05:
>
> http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/cake2.jpg
>
> My brother-in-law said we "sacked the castle." In fact the nephew
> beheaded a turret. It went fine. I didn't put pine nuts in the compote,
> which was just as well.
>
> Merry Christmas everybody, and Happy New Year

It's beautiful, Leila! I'm sure it was equally delicious.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
__________________________________________________ ________________
And if we enter a room full of manure, may we believe in the pony.

Leila provided:

> Gingerbread castle cake, version 2, with whipped cream, 4
> raspberries for the turrets, and powdered sugar, on 12/25/05:
>
> http://people.mills.edu/labusaba/cake2.jpg

That's gorgeous, Leila! What a wonderful thing to present on a wintry
occasion!

Bob

Hey thanks. I'm so long-winded in print, some of you didn't get that
it's a cake mold. A Bundt pan. From Williams-Sonoma. It's in the
original post but you had to read it.

Leila

Leila wrote:
> Hey thanks. I'm so long-winded in print, some of you didn't get that
> it's a cake mold. A Bundt pan. From Williams-Sonoma. It's in the
> original post but you had to read it.
>
> Leila

Thanks. I didn't read the OP just the follow-up. (Sorry!)

-L.

"Leila" > wrote in news:1135843018.136978.118080
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

> Hey thanks. I'm so long-winded in print, some of you didn't get that
> it's a cake mold. A Bundt pan. From Williams-Sonoma. It's in the
> original post but you had to read it.
>
> Leila
>

The cake looked absolutely lovely, Leila. I'll bet it tasted pretty good
too <g>.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

Leila wrote:
> Hey thanks. I'm so long-winded in print, some of you didn't get that
> it's a cake mold. A Bundt pan. From Williams-Sonoma. It's in the
> original post but you had to read it.
>
> Leila
>
long-winded...Not!

Cake looked Fab!

Story was nice and a fun read.



I have the Sydney Opera House (Cathedral stylized) looking bundt
pan...Great for Sour Cream Coffee Cakes, dusted with icing sugar. (the
icing sugar hides the flour marks nicely). Also I have the Rose one,
but the Cathedral one looks the most impressive of the 2.