I got the one with the sweetest ways

[sovay]

Behold the spider cake!





It does not resemble a spider. It looks—and tastes—like a sweet cornbread with a kind of double-layered custard floated on top, which would be the baked cream. spatch has found evidence suggesting the name actually comes from the three-legged cast-iron skillet known as a spider, although the upper surface did fissure attractively as it cooled. I love our new cast-iron skillet even if it has no legs at all. It can bake in an oven and we can make this dessert.

Comments

[gwynnega]

Looks delicious!

[sovay]

Looks delicious!

It was very easy to make—for better or worse, we even had the slightly soured milk in the house—and I have eaten two slices already.

[nineweaving]

Oh, that looks delicious!

The name probably does refer to the vessel it was cooked in.

Well done you for mastering it! Madame Buttery once baked me a “herby pie” (chicken and leek, double crusted) in a cast-iron skillet buried in the embers on my hearth fire.

Nine

[sovay]

Oh, that looks delicious!

The custard layers are very rich and the cornbread is not too sweet and it is extremely more-ish. This skillet has already justified itself as a gift.

The name probably does refer to the vessel it was cooked in.

Then the other explanation must come in as a folk etymology once the tripod has gone out of fashion.

Well done you for mastering it!

Thank you!

Madame Buttery once baked me a “herby pie” (chicken and leek, double crusted) in a cast-iron skillet buried in the embers on my hearth fire.

That sounds delectable. I wonder if it could be adapted for an oven.

[nineweaving]

The custard layers are very rich and the cornbread is not too sweet and it is extremely more-ish.

Mmmm.

Then the other explanation must come in as a folk etymology once the tripod has gone out of fashion.

According to the OED, the term "spider" lingered even after the legs had gone: "A kind of frying pan having legs and a long handle; also loosely, a frying pan. Originally U.S."

The earliest usage they found is 1807: "Spiders with Covers."

The distinction (legs/no legs) was still there in 1830: "A judicious selection of spiders and frying-pans."

Whittier wrote, "Like fishes dreaming of the sea, And waking in the spider."

That sounds delectable.

It was. She was a genius cook.

I wonder if it could be adapted for an oven.

I should think so. Raking embers over it meant it baked top and bottom and all round, as in an oven. As I dimly recall, that recipe book also included stargazy pie. Maybe you could try that next, and gild the mermaids' tails.

Nine

[nineweaving]

Oh hey. Here's a legless skillet with a spider on it!

Nine

[sovay]

Here's a legless skillet with a spider on it!

That's great! And unaffordable!

[selkie]

It wooooorked! I guess I assumed the name was from “cake you can make in a spider,” as Spatch suggests, but the main question is, how is cornbread creme brûlée a la whompin’ skillet?

[sovay]

I guess I assumed the name was from “cake you can make in a spider,” as Spatch suggests, but the main question is, how is cornbread creme brûlée a la whompin’ skillet?

Delicious! The cream part really is ridiculous.

[kathmandu]

The skillet-with-legs I saw a picture of had way more than three legs. More like six. So 'spider' was very much a term that came to mind.

Congratulations on your successful baking.

[sovay]

The skillet-with-legs I saw a picture of had way more than three legs. More like six. So 'spider' was very much a term that came to mind.

I hope there exists at least one eight-legged version.

Congratulations on your successful baking.

Thank you! It was fun. And made up a lot for the total crash and burn of the almond cake.

[minoanmiss]

Oh yes I am here for yankee sweet cornbread ways.

[sovay]

Oh yes I am here for yankee sweet cornbread ways.

Our original plan involved prefacing it with baked beans for dinner, which would just have been too New England for words.

(I ate like two and a half slices. It is good stuff.)

[alexxkay]

Idunno, those dots on top look kinda like spider eyes to me.

[sovay]

Idunno, those dots on top look kinda like spider eyes to me.

Look, I want people to bake this thing for themselves, not go after it with a rolled-up newspaper.

[luzula]

Oh, I remember coming across a recipe for spider cake once, and trying it out! It was quite delicious. And coming to the same conclusion about the word "spider".

[sovay]

Oh, I remember coming across a recipe for spider cake once, and trying it out! It was quite delicious.

There is much less left of it this evening than there was last night.

And coming to the same conclusion about the word "spider".

I'm just fascinated that both versions of the recipe to which I have access ascribe the name to the appearance of the cake when really it seems to have been named after its mode of preparation. Lost knowledge! Folk etymologies!

[strange_complex]

🎵 Spider-cake, spider-cake,
Does whatever a spider-cake does! 🎵

I actually don't think I would much like this particular cake, as I am not a fan of custard. The top does look cool, though, and I'm very happy that you will get to enjoy it.

[sovay]

I actually don't think I would much like this particular cake, as I am not a fan of custard. The top does look cool, though, and I'm very happy that you will get to enjoy it.

Thank you! It has been vanishing rapidly.

[cmcmck]

Looks yummy! :o)

[sovay]

Looks yummy!

It is! And now I am thinking about other applications of cornmeal to skillet.

[imagine_that]

Looks tasty! Although, I think the idea of a "spider cake" would give me moment's pause... ;) But the tripod skillet thing makes sense.

[sovay]

Looks tasty! Although, I think the idea of a "spider cake" would give me moment's pause...

It definitely suggests something this cake is not! But I think I like this cake better.

[regshoe]

What an endearingly strange name, wherever it comes from :D It looks lovely!

[sovay]

What an endearingly strange name, wherever it comes from

"I'm just going to have another slice of the spider cake" is not something one ordinarily has the opportunity to say.

[ethelmay]

"There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,/Of course I mean cake, from the pan she had fried 'er..."

[oracne]

I must try this.

Cornbread is always best in an iron skillet because CRUST. The Yorkshire Puddings I made for Xmas turned out great in them, too.

[sovay]

I must try this.

Enjoy!

Cornbread is always best in an iron skillet because CRUST. The Yorkshire Puddings I made for Xmas turned out great in them, too.

Nice! We had a cast-iron skillet for years, but we could not use it for baking on account of its Bakelite handle. I still regret its loss because it was an heirloom, but so far its successor is amazing.

[aurumcalendula]

Ooh! Now I want to try making this.

[sovay]

Ooh! Now I want to try making this.

It was not complicated at all! Just delicious.

[asakiyume]

Yummmmmmmm! I am definitely going to try this.

[sovay]

Yummmmmmmm! I am definitely going to try this.

Enjoy!

[jesse_the_k]

Mmmm, that is one tasty looking concoction.

Skillet baking creates marvelous crust.

My gluten-free cornbread also has vegan options, in happy contemplation of the day you can host not-you for dinner

https://gluten-free.dreamwidth.org/75882.html

[sovay]

Skillet baking creates marvelous crust.

We made another noodles and cheese last night and this was much in evidence. And then much not in evidence, because eaten.

My gluten-free cornbread also has vegan options, in happy contemplation of the day you can host not-you for dinner

Thanks!