Each other's plans, each other's dreams

[sovay]

The wind chill has reduced to above zero, but it is still so bitterly cold that we inagurated the cast-iron skillet in its new home with a spider cake. A particularly delicious example of the species, too.



I do not actually wish to purchase the shooting script for The Mind Benders (1963), although I think it's neat that it's available, but I would like very much to read it. I wish this sort of thing were easier to track down. I have been wanting the screenplay for The Long Voyage Home (1940) for years.

Comments

[radiantfracture]

a spider cake.

A name calculated to be my worst nightmare and yet

and yet

[sovay]

and yet

We use basically this recipe; traditionally we save it for when we have sour milk to use up, but tonight we soured some fresh milk with lemon juice and it worked out just fine. I have no suggestions if you require it non-dairy, but I'm sure other people on the internet will. It is absolutely best hot, but holds up well over the next day if any survives the first night.

[radiantfracture]

I was thinking I might thin down some chevre or spring for actual goat's milk, which is okay in spidery quantities.

I hope to make this my sanity recipe for family call tomorrow.

[sovay]

I hope to make this my sanity recipe for family call tomorrow.

May it suffice!

(I love goat's milk and bake with it for myself.)

[thomasyan]

Ooh, I'd never heard of spider cake before, but I like sweet cornbread, and the addition of cream sounds delicious. I'll have to try it sometime. The NYT link is behind a paywall for me, but while looking up what this cake is, many recipes came up, such as https://www.thekitchn.com/new-england-spider-cake-22948875

Also, YouTube earlier suggested a cooking video to me, and it also looks intriguing, but might take a fair amount of trial and error -- what counts as "(very) low heat"? https://youtu.be/18jZuQO-OJw

[sovay]

The NYT link is behind a paywall for me

Oh, bummer! It isn't for me. You want to whisk together one cup of flour, three-quarters of a cup of yellow cornmeal, three-quarters of a cup sugar, half a teaspoon of baking soda, and half a teaspoon of salt in one bowl; in another, two cups of soured milk (either naturally occurring or made that way with vinegar or lemon juice) with two eggs. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and leave the batter alone for as long as it takes to melt a couple of tablespoons of butter all across the bottom of a cast-iron skillet. Pour in the batter, then pour one cup of heavy cream into the center of the batter, then bake the entire array at 350 °F for forty-five minutes or until golden brown everywhere. There will be a kind of floating custard-set cream layer on top, so you just want to make sure that the cornbread itself is baked. Enjoy!

Also, YouTube earlier suggested a cooking video to me, and it also looks intriguing, but might take a fair amount of trial and error -- what counts as "(very) low heat"?

Does the video suggest a temperature?

[thomasyan]

I didn't see a temperature. The description is thankfully in English (instead of German) and has the recipe, and specifies only very low heat. Things that caught my attention:
* Use of condensed milk and butter heated until it looks kind off like melted cheese.
* Halved tangerines placed atop, while still bubbling hot in the pan.
* Condensed milk in the batter, poured on top.
* Cooked stovetop, including flipping near the end.
* It LOOKS amazing.

Wonder if canned peach halves would work, too, but I suspect the water ratio is different. Maybe blood oranges would be closer.

[ethelmay]

Argh, I was in hopes this was Margery Allingham, but I don't think there ever was a movie of The Mind Readers, and I think the book was after 1963 anyway.

[sovay]

Argh, I was in hopes this was Margery Allingham, but I don't think there ever was a movie of The Mind Readers, and I think the book was after 1963 anyway.

No, it was a typo on my part and I'm so sorry; I've fixed it. The Mind Benders was adapted from a novel of the same name by James Kennaway which I encountered in reverse order from the film, but the two were developed almost in tandem and I have been curious ever since about the intermediary stage of the screenplay. The Allingham was 1965.

[spatch]

Cats ran around us as we poured liquid ingredients into a hot skillet and then cake happened! It is a special thing.

[sovay]

Cats ran around us as we poured liquid ingredients into a hot skillet and then cake happened! It is a special thing.

The ability to bake is such a big deal.

[cmcmck]

Looks good! :o)

[sovay]

Looks good!

Thanks!

[troisoiseaux]

t is still so bitterly cold that we inagurated the cast-iron skillet in its new home with a spider cake

I'd never heard of this baked good before, but it sounds delicious!

[sovay]

I'd never heard of this baked good before, but it sounds delicious!

We discovered it last year, I believe, and it is now a favorite. See comments above for recipe!

[minoanmiss]

*eagerly licks screen*

[sovay]

*eagerly licks screen*

May it be easy for you to bake!

[pameladean]

I looked it up before realizing that you'd posted the recipe in comments -- yours is extra-special with the floating custard, as not all recipes have that. I was veganizing it as I read, it shouldn't be hard, and there is even a non-dairy substitute for whipping cream that I've been wanting to try. It might not turn into custard, but then again, it might.

I was fascinated by one recipe that didn't use a cast-iron skillet but directed one to grease two "domed cake pans" and then "two heating cores" so the cake would rise more evenly. It was like suddenly entering a parallel universe. I'll stick to the skillet, I think; that is so much of the appeal, to me.

I've only used the skillet to make socca, recently, and perhaps it craves some dessert usages too.

P.

[sovay]

I was veganizing it as I read, it shouldn't be hard, and there is even a non-dairy substitute for whipping cream that I've been wanting to try. It might not turn into custard, but then again, it might.

I look forward to your report! What is the vegan substitute for whipping cream?

I've only used the skillet to make socca, recently, and perhaps it craves some dessert usages too.

I had to look up socca, but it sounds great.

[asakiyume]

That looks fabulous, truly yummy.

We've been eating rum cake from a Caribbean bakery** in Troy, NY. They were selling them at the farmers market in my dad's town when I was with him for his operations, and I bought a mini one there. It was fabulous, so I ordered them for family for the holidays, and now I'm on their mailing list, and they were having a sale, so.

... Sharing because one delicious treat deserves another.

**The founder seems like a cool guy: "Our Founder"

[sovay]

... Sharing because one delicious treat deserves another.

Rum cake sounds wonderful! I'm glad you're within their ordering radius.

[aurumcalendula]

Yay, spider cake! (this reminds me I should make one again)

[sovay]

Yay, spider cake! (this reminds me I should make one again)

It's always spider cake weather!