St. Elizabeth's Crown

On November 17, our church celebrates the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, and she obediently fulfilled her duties as daughter and wife during her short life. After her husband died, however, St. Elizabeth traded her worldly goods for a life of service to the poor and sick, thus trading her crown of riches for the crown of one of God's chosen. St. Elizabeth shows us how to carry out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, and to put other's needs before our own.

St. Elizabeth is also the patron of bakers, and so it is appropriate to spend some time creating a treat by which to remember her. We enjoy this crown cake to celebrate her feast. The cake itself is a Hungarian family recipe from my husband's family and I dress it up with a thick, white icing and bright gumdrops. I found some extra large gumdrops at my grocer, but small gumdrops are just as pretty. The Hungarian flag is red, white and green -- if you can get a bag of candy with those colors in it.

Hungarian Coffee Cake

1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a Bundt or ring pan.

Combine cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts. Reserve.

Cream butter and granulated sugar.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix.
Add flour and baking powder and beat for a minute or so until well combined.
Spread half of batter into prepared pan.
Sprinkle half of nut mixture over batter (try to avoid getting sugar against the pan).
Spread remaining batter over nut mixture.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over the top.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Do not overbake.
Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto a rack or plate.
Cool completely.
Frost with white glaze and top with colorful gumdrops.


Glaze:
2 T. butter, melted
2 c. powdered sugar
2 - 4 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

To prepare the glaze,
mix in a bowl all ingredients until a thick drizzling consistency,
adding a few more drops of milk if necessary.

The Cloak of St Martin Cake

St Martin of Tours is a well known European saint whose feast day is known simply as Martinmas Day. Wikipedia has this to say:

"St. Martin's Day (or Martinstag or Martinmas) is November 11th the feast day of St Martin of Tours who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me."

The cake I made above was inspired by this little image below from Heraldry of the World.

I used a simple recipe for a plain loaf cake:

PLAIN LOAF CAKE

2/3 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. flavoring extract

2 eggs, beaten

1 2/3 c. plain flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

Cream butter, sugar, and flavoring together until light; beat the eggs and add to mixture. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together; add alternately with the milk. Beat 1/2 minute or about 30 strokes. Bake in an oiled and floured loaf-cake pan 40 minutes at 350-375 degrees.

I added a few drops of red colouring to the cake as well.

Here it is, straight out of the oven.


Notice how I have cut the cake, each piece is thinner at one end, wider at the other.




I then proceeded to ice the cake with icing, made from icing sugar, a little butter and boiling water, I added a few drops of red colouring. I iced both pieces, top and sides.

Here is the cake iced. I've used licorice straps, ($2 a bag) cut thinner with scissors, I just copied the pattern in the image further above, very simple. I used wider straps for the cloaks cords on either side, once again, just being guided by the image.

A close up of the licorice straps.

The sword I made from cookie dough, using the recipe below. Eitherwise, to save time, just find a toy sword amongst the children's toys and use that instead, or even just a nice, big kitchen knife.

PLAIN COOKIE RECIPE

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

Pinch salt

65g butter (2.29oz)

1/4 cup sugar

1 small egg ~ milk (if too dry)

Method: 1.Mix butter and sugar till light and fluffy 2.Add egg, flour and salt, mix well. If mixture is too dry then add some milk. 3.Knead lightly and roll out on a floured board as thinly as possible. 4. Cut out into the shape of a sword, use a ruler for the sides. 5. Bake in a moderate oven 350°f (180°c) for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

I just used some of the left over icing for the sword and used a few lollies and some licorice for suitable decoration.

Editing to add Leslie's (The Vine and the Branches) beautiful Cloak of St Martin cake, a beautiful creation!

Wishing everyone a blessed Martinmas!

St. Martin and the Mice Cupcakes

On November 3rd, the feast of St. Martin de Porres, two of our favorite picture books will be pulled off our shelves: Saint Martin de Porres and the Miceand The Pied Piper of Peru. After reading the stories about St. Martin and the Mice with my children, we'll be making mice cupcakes, inspired by a recipe in Let's Eat! Recipes for Every Meal... All you add is fun!

If you'd like to make them too, here's what you'll need:

• 1 package Chocolate Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make cupcakes)
• Vanilla Frosting
• Vanilla Wafer Cookies
• Candy-Coated Chocolate Pieces (ie: M&M's)
• Chocolate Kisses
• Shoestring Licorice

Directions:

Bake cupcakes according to directions on box.

Spread the tops of the cupcakes with frosting.

To make each mouse, put 2 vanilla wafer cookies for the "ears," 2 candy-coated chocolate pieces for the "eyes," 1 chocolate kiss for the the "nose," and pieces of shoestring licorice for the "whiskers."

Enjoy!

Recipes for November ~ Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

"Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. As a reminder of our duty to pray for the suffering faithful in Purgatory, the Church has dedicated the month of November to the Holy Souls. The Holy Souls are those who have died in the state of grace but who are not yet free from all punishment due to their unforgiven venial sins and all other sins already forgiven for which satisfaction is still to be made. They are certain of entering Heaven, but first they must suffer in Purgatory. The Holy Souls cannot help themselves because for them the night has come, when no man can work (John 9:4). It is our great privilege of brotherhood that we can shorten their time of separation from God by our prayers, good works, and, especially, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass."

~ Catholic Culture

In addition to praying for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, here are a few ideas for celebrating the feast days in November, from the archives:

November 1, All Saints Day (New, Trad.):

• Hallowed Days: All Saints & All Souls Fair
• All Saints' Day Treats ~ St. Lucy Cupcakes
• All Saints' Day Treats ~ Bones of Eliseus
• Gluten-Free Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes
• Soul Cakes
• Saint-O-Lanterns

November 2, All Souls Day (New, Trad.):

• Hallowed Days: All Saints & All Souls Fair
• All Saints' Day Treats ~ Bones of Eliseus
• Pan de Muertos
• Gluten-Free Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes
• Soul Cakes

November 3, St. Martin de Porres (New, Trad.):

• St. Martin's Mice
• St. Martin and the Mice Cupcakes

November 10, St. Leo the Great (New):

• Lion Cake (Since Leo means Lion!)
• Lion Cupcakes

November 11, St. Martin of Tours ~ Martinmas (New, Trad.):

• Goose with Apple Stuffing for Martinmas
• Martinshornchecn (St. Martin's Croissants)
• Horseshoe Cookies for Martinmas
• The Cloak of St. Martin Cake

November 13, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini (New):

• Heart Cake (Since the "heart" is one of the symbols for St. Francis Xavier Cabrini)

November 16, St. Margaret of Scotland (New):

• Crown Cake (Symbolizing the fact that she was a Queen.)
• Simple Cupcake Crowns
  
  

November 16, St. Gertrude (New, Trad.):

• Lily Sandwiches (The lily is one of the symbols of St. Gertrude. Other symbols include: Crown and Heart)

November 17, St. Elizabeth of Hungary (New):

• "I am the Bread of Life..." (Bake bread, like St. Elizabeth did, to distribute to others!)
• Crown Cake (Symbolizing the fact that she was a Queen.)
• Simple Cupcake Crowns
• Rosy Treats (Symbolizing the story of when the bread she was carrying turned into roses!)
• Rose Cake and Punch
• Rose Cupcakes
• St. Elizabeth's Crown

November 18, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (New):

• Rosy Treats
• Rose Cake and Punch
• Rose Cupcakes

November 19, St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Trad):

(See November 17th)

November 21, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (New, Trad.):

• Many ideas can be found under the label: Blessed Virgin Mary

November 25, St. Catherine of Alexandria (New, Trad.):

• Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Pasta Suggestions)
• Heart Cakes on the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria

Last Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of Christ the King (New):

• Food fit for THE King
• Cookie Crown Cake
• Quick and Easy Mardi Gras King Cake
• King Cake for Mardi Gras
• St. Lucia's Braided Bread
• Simple Cupcake Crowns

Other:

• Fruits of the Harvest Fair
• Thanksgiving Prayers and Greetings
• From Thy Bounty: Holiday Foods and Feasts

We pray for the dead every time we eat if we pray the After Meal Blessing:

We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

O Mother Most Merciful, Pray for the Souls in Purgatory!

Pan de Muertos

Bread of the Dead — Pan de Muerto Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, Mexico's festive annual celebration of life —and death — takes place on November 2. The modern celebration, now an official Catholic holiday, owes its roots to the Aztecs, who devoted two full months of the year to honor the dead and assist departed souls to their final destination. During and after the Spanish conquest, the culture of the Aztecs became infused with the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Consequently, the Day of the Dead coincides with All Souls' Day, the day after All Saints' Day. Catholic Culture

Ingredients

1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons anise seed
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1.Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm
water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then
add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is
soft.
3.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
4.Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will
take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a
baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
5.Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then
brush with glaze.
6.To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat
and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

Gluten-Free Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes!

Yesterday Barbara shared a wonderful post, and delicious looking recipe, for Soul Cakes. It inspired one of our visitors, Victoria from Cupcake and Sweets Family Bakery, to submit the following recipe for their Gluten-free Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes:

Our gourmet gift bakery's featured cupcake of the month for October has been Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes! We use the Pineapple Ring as a topper to symbolize Eternity in the tradition of the Soul Cake! Here is the recipe for the gluten-free version taken from the Hallowe'en tab of our Seasonal Specialties section from Cupcake and Sweets Family Bakery website.

Pineapple Soul "Cup"Cakes

Individual Gluten-free Pineapple Upside-down Cakes

Servings: 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 - 30 minutes
Total time: approx. 1 hr

Ingredients:

Bottom

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup gf brown sugar, packed
• 8 fresh or canned pineapple rings

Cake

• 1-1/2 cups gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Add brown sugar and whisk until blended.

Divide mixture evenly among jumbo muffin cups prepared with non-stick cooking spray. Place 1 pineapple ring in each cup. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream or yogurt, milk, canola oil and vanilla. Set aside.

Using a mixer, beat 6 tablespoons of butter and granulated sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture and milk mixture in alternate batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake on center rack of oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of each muffin cup comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes in pan, on a rack, for 15 minutes. Loosen sides of cakes and invert onto a serving dish.

In addition, our gourmet gift bakery glazes these Soul "Cup"Cakes with a Pineapple Caramel Drizzle, but it is much less messy to give these to children at All Saints' Day parties without the glaze! :)

This post was written by Victoria, at Cupcake and Sweets Family Bakery, and submitted for publication here at Catholic Cuisine. Thank you Victoria!

Soul Cakes

The tradition of making "Soul Cakes" on All Saints Day or All Souls Day is one which My family has holeheartedly embraced, pun intended. Doughnuts, the modern day version of the old soul cake, are tasty treats on a cool November morning, but they are even tastier when we know the tradition behind the treat.

From the Catholic Education Resource Center:

Begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake" in return for which the beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. Soul cakes, a form of shortbread — and sometimes quite fancy, with currants for eyes — became more important for the beggars than prayers for the dead, it is said. Florence Berger tells in her Cooking for Christ a legend of a zealous cook who vowed she would invent soul cakes to remind them of eternity at every bite. So she cut a hole in the middle and dropped it in hot fat, and lo — a doughnut. Circle that it is, it suggests the never-ending of eternity. Truth or legend, it serves a good purpose at Halloween.

The refrains sung at the door varied from "a soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake," to the later:

Soul, soul, an apple or two,
If you haven't an apple, a pear will do,
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for the Man Who made us all.

It's likely that the Soul Cake was the precursor to candy on Beggar's Night. Enjoyed with a cup of hot cider or hot coffee, they are a lovely way to wake up on All Saints Day morning.

The dough for this recipe must be made ahead of time, so plan accordingly. And the dough is a little sticky, but just flour your board and flour the top of the dough and you'll be fine. Don't be tempted to work more flour into the dough -- they'll be too dry. I used a doughnut cutter, but if you don't have one, use a biscuit cutter, or glass, and cut the hole with a plastic soda cap.

Cake Doughnuts
about 1 dozen


3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 t. vanilla extract
oil for frying

1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, first measure of sugar, baking powder,
salt, first measure of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
Mix until blended.
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

Pour oil into a two-quart pot until you have a depth of about 3 inches.
Heat the oil until about 375 degrees
(I don't use a thermometer; I just wait until it really bubbles up around a bit of dough).

On a floured board, roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.
Use a doughnut cutter to cut out doughnuts.

Fry doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown, turning once.
Remove from oil to drain on paper towels.
Combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl.
Place warm doughnuts in sugar mixture and flip,
turning doughnut and shaking gently to coat.

Saint-O-Lanterns

A common activity for families, in preparation for All Hallows' Eve, is carving Pumpkins. We have found this to be yet another wonderful opportunity to tie in our Catholic Faith. Each year our children look forward to choosing a pumpkin and carving their "Saint-O-Lantern!"

This year American Life League has also suggested carving Pro-Life Pumpkins! They have even shared a template for this beautiful carving:

The possibilities are endless! Even though I have shared links to some pictures in last years Hallowed Days: All Saints and All Souls Fair, I thought I would post them here too, and add to the collection!

Here are some of our own past Saint-O-Lanterns:

The Last Supper ~ St. Pius the X ~ The Birth of Christ

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Peter's Basilica ~ Bernini Columns ~ The Bark of Peter

Here are a few more pictures, of other Saint-O-Lanterns that have been brought to our Home School Group's All Saints' Party in the past:

And here are a few more inspiring Saint-O-Lanterns found online:

• Monstrance Pumpkin at Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool
• Our Lady, Mother Teresa and John Paul II over at Regina's Blog
• First Communion and Nativity also at Regina's Blog

Oh, and Donna at Island in the Grove also shares an excellent idea for converting any of your All Hallows' Eve Jack-O-Lanterns for the feast of All Saints'!

Now I am really anxious to get to the pumpkin patch and find our pumpkins!!


If anyone carves a Saint-O-Lantern this year, or has in the past, please leave a link (or email a picture) since I would love to add your own creations to this post!

Here are some of the new additions from this year!!

• Totus Tuus School carved The Barque of Peter and a Pro-Life Pumpkin.
• They were very busy at Busy with Blessings! Check out their The Holy Spirit, Christian Symbols, The Church and Christmas Star, The Holy Eucharist, Pro-Life, and Crosses.

And here are a few more pictures that were submitted via email:

"Life" carved by C. & S. Nichols

The Immaculate Heart of Mary by LeXuan Culbreath

Our Lady by LeXuan Culbreath

All Saints' Day Treats ~ Bones of Eliseus

This treat and story is taken from my website, Cupcake and Sweets Family Bakery, under the Hallowe'en tab of Seasonal Specialties.

"Bones of Eliseus"

Far, far away in the land of Israel long, long ago, a miracle of God made something morbid into something inspiring. In fact a dead man's spirit was put back into his body! Out of fear of some marauding Moabites, the relatives of a dead man canceled his burial and threw him into the open grave of Eliseus the prophet. While his friends and relatives ran for their lives from the marauders, the dead man rose to life when he fell upon Eliseus' bones! Paraphrased from Scriptural Reference: 2 Kings 13:20,21

"Bones of Eliseus" are actually assorted mini sized pretzels piled up to look like a stack of bones with sweet white chocolate melted over top!


This post was written by Victoria, at Cupcake and Sweets Family Bakery, and submitted for publication here at Catholic Cuisine. Thank you Victoria!

All Saints' Day Treats ~ St. Lucy Cupcakes

I'm always on the lookout for food saint ideas for All Saint's Day parties, so here's something I came up with for St. Lucy.

St. Lucy is populary know as the patroness of eye ailments. This is because among other tortures that she suffered for being a Christian, her eyes were torn out. Legend has it that her sight was returned to her before she died.

I thought it would be fun for our All Saint's Day party to make some St. Lucy eyeball cupcakes, and share the idea with all of you!

How to Make Them:

All you do is make your favorite cupcake recipe, and ice them with white icing. Then use blue icing to make a circle on the cupcake, and stick an upside-down chocolate chip in the middle for the pupil. Leave one of them white for display, and cut a slit in the middle of the cupcake so you can insert a St. Lucy holy card. If your holy card isn't laminated, cover it in some packing tape before inserting into the cupcake.

St. Lucy is often depicted with a palm branch to symbolize her martyrdom, so I also stuck a palm branch into my cupcake holder for display. I got my palm branch at the Dollar Tree.

This post was written by a Catholic mother, at The Masked Mommy, and submitted for publication here at Catholic Cuisine. Thank you for sharing!

October 13th - The Miracle of the Sun

Today is one of the Fatima days (13th October) but one of special importance as it was the last of the six apparitions and the one where Our Lady delivered her promise ~ a great miracle ~ the miracle of the sun.

Here is part of the report from the Lisborn newspaper O Seculo (that was incidently a pro-government, anti-clerical paper)

"From the road, where the vehicles were parked and where hundreds of people who had not dared to brave the mud were congregated, one could see the immense multitude turn toward the sun, which appeared free from clouds and in its zenith. It looked like a plaque of dull silver, and it was possible to look at it without the least discomfort. It might have been an eclipse which was taking place. But at that moment a great shout went up, and one could hear the spectators nearest at hand shouting: "A miracle! A miracle!

Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bareheaded, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws---the sun "danced" according to the typical expression of the people.

Standing at the step of an omnibus was an old man. With his face turned to the sun, he recited the Credo in a loud voice. I asked who he was and was told Senhor Joao da Cunha Vasconcelos. I saw him afterwards going up to those around him who still had their hats on, and vehemently imploring them to uncover before such an extraordinary demonstration of the existence of God.
Identical scenes were repeated elsewhere, and in one place a woman cried out: "How terrible! There are even men who do not uncover before such a stupendous miracle!"

People then began to ask each other what they had seen. The great majority admitted to having seen the trembling and the dancing of the sun; others affirmed that they saw the face of the Blessed Virgin; others, again, swore that the sun whirled on itself like a giant Catherine wheel and that it lowered itself to the earth as if to burn it in its rays. Some said they saw it change colors successively...."

I hestitated to post this cake because my skills are not crash hot but I then I thought at least the idea is conveyed, I am sure that other ladies could do great justice with this idea!

I wanted to recreate this:

"others, again, swore that the sun whirled on itself like a giant Catherine wheel and that it lowered itself to the earth as if to burn it in its rays. Some said they saw it change colors successively."

I used a Marble Cake recipe.

250g (8.8 oz) butter, at room temperature
215g (1 cup) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
125g (1/2 cup) sour cream
2-3 drops pink liquid food colouring
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs milk

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180°C. (356 F or moderate oven) Brush a round 20cm (7.87 inches) (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper.

Use an electric beater to beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Add half the flour to the butter mixture and stir until just combined. Add the sour cream and remaining flour, in batches, and stir until just combined. Divide the batter among 3 bowls. Add a few drops of pink food colouring to 1 portion and stir to combine. Combine the cocoa powder and milk in a small bowl and add to another portion of batter. Stir to combine.

Place alternate spoonfuls of the 3 batters into the prepared pan. Use a spoon to swirl the colours together to create a marble effect. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To ice the cake I made up a simple mixture using icing sugar and milk. I covered the cake in this uncoloured icing, see the photo above.

Then I took the four icing colours and placed a drop and with a clean finger, spread it around in a circle, starting from the center and working out to the edge and down the sides. Unfortunately I was almost out of yellow, I would have liked to have used more of that colour for a nice balance.

This would be a lovely cake to eat while watching the movie, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima the children also had alot of fun making the spinning, colourful sun.

Our Lady of the Pillar Cake

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, a beautiful, ancient apparition where Our Lady did not decend from heaven but bilocated to St James in Spain before her own death. Kathyrn from UK Bookworm has a lovely blog posting with more details of this incredible story.

Here is the wooden statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus sitting up the jasper pillar (now covered in precious metal) that Our Lady gave to St James in Spain.

Here is the recipe for our cake:

SWISS ROLL

Melted butter, to grease
4 eggs, separated
125g (4.4 oz) white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g (1/2 cup) plain flour, sifted
Icing sugar, to dust
480g (1 1/2 cups) Hero Raspberry Swiss Preserve, warmed, strained

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. (356 F) (moderate oven) Brush a 24 x 30cm (base measurement) Swiss roll pan with melted butter and line with baking paper.

Use an electric beater to beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until a ribbon trail forms when the beater is lifted.

Use clean beaters to beat egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into yolk mixture. Sift over flour and use a metal spoon to gently fold until combined.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cover with baking paper, then a damp tea towel. Set aside for 30 minutes to cool.

Dust a piece of baking paper with icing sugar. Remove tea towel and paper from sponge and turn onto icing sugar. Spread with preserve. Starting with the short edge and using the baking paper as a guide, firmly roll up sponge. Wrap in baking paper and place, seam-side down, on a baking tray. Set aside for 30 minutes to set. Dust with icing sugar.

I made up some icing using icing sugar and milk, added a few drops of yellow colouring and piped the scrolling pattern onto the cake.

You can keep this easy if you like and buy a swiss roll, if time is pressing!

Here is our Our Lady of the Pillar craft, if you would like to see how we made this, click here.

Happy Feast Day!