The Batbattenburg: My Take on the Classic Cake

     I've been experimenting with xylitol and cassava flour to make our desserts sugar-free and gluten-free, and I'm happy to report that, for the most part, they've succeeded!

     My mom discovered cassava flour, and I decided to experiment with it because it's a light, refined texture and is supposed to work as an almost one-for-one substitute for all-purpose white flour. It has also been reported to absorb more moisture than all-purpose flour, so some sources recommend reducing the amount slightly (my guess for the reason that it absorbs more liquid is because it is even finer than regular flour).

The two ingredients that have made healthy desserts possible!
Both available from Amazon.com

     My latest experiment with these two ingredients is Mary Berry's Coffee and Walnut Battenburg Cake, and the verdict from the family is favorable so far! Which means that we have another sugar- and wheat-free dessert that everyone likes! A total win in my book.

     I based my cake on the recipe from the Great British Bake Off How to Bake cookbook, and I referenced a marzipan recipe online (because, as usual, the recipe for the cake expects you to be able to find marzipan pre-made in the store – unfortunately, I live in the U.S.).

I didn't have to change much in either recipe. But be sure to read the rest of the post to see what I did change, so you can avoid my mistakes...

1.  Cream together using a wooden spoon:
• 100g unsalted butter
• 90g xylitol
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 90g cassava flour
• 1 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 50g almond flour
2. Divide the batter in half. To one half add:
• few drops of vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
3. To the other half add:
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coffee granules (I used instant coffee) mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
• 25g chopped walnuts
4. Make a fold in the center of a piece of parchment paper, put it in an 8-inch square cake pan, then add the vanilla-flavored batter to one half and the coffee/walnut flavored batter to the other. 
5. Spread with a knife, then bake for about 35 minutes (cover lightly with foil if the cakes begin to brown). Remove both cakes from the pan after a few minutes of letting them cool.
6. For icing, mix together:
• 100g powdered xylitol, sifted
• 40g softened butter
• 1/2 teaspoon coffee granules in 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

The two different batters divided by the parchment paper.

Flavoring for the vanilla batter.

Flavoring for coffee walnut batter.

My rather flat cakes...

      I had to increase the baking powder from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/3 teaspoon. (I know there is no such thing as 1/3 teaspoon, so I'd just do a heaping 1/4 teaspoon.) ;) The recipe calls for self-raising flour and baking powder, but I was naïve and just followed the recipe without considering the implications. My cake didn't rise at all, and I am pretty sure a lack of baking powder is the reason why.

So I made a little graphic for future recipes that call for self-raising (also called self-rising) flour:

     Even with the non-rising disaster, it still tasted good! And I was able to construct it so that it didn't look as if it had been sat on. The instructions have you cut each flavor in half, then stack them to look like a chessboard. So to compensate for the lack of height, I cut mine into thirds! It was still on the small side, but it at least resembled the traditional square shape.

The marzipan recipe I used is:

• 2 1/2 oz./5 tablespoons blanched and ground almonds (almond flour would work, too, it just wouldn't look as smooth)
• 3 1/2 oz./7 tablespoons powdered xylitol (to get it to the fine consistency just pop it in a Ninja blender or food processor and pulse it a few times in 5 second bursts)
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1. Sift the almonds and xylitol together.
2. Add the water and extract, mix with your hands until it comes together. (You may need to add a little water.)
3. Roll it into a log shape, wrap in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for about 1 hour.
4. Roll out the marzipan between two sheets of parchment paper.
5. To wrap around the cake, remove one piece of the parchment paper from the rolled out marzipan, then take the other and roll up the cake (making sure to press the marzipan well onto the cake before carefully removing the parchment paper).

     Ét vóila! You can now enjoy a delicious and practically-good-for-you dessert! It's perfect with tea or coffee, for birthdays and holidays, or just whenever you'd like!

© Anna Morton 2017

Fiction that changes you? Yes, please!

"I cannot continue live as if these things were complete fiction."

     It's been a long time since I've found a book series that I could really be emotionally invested in - you know, the kind that you have a hard time putting down, and must finish even though you have other things you should be doing? I think the last time that happened might have been when I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy over 15 years ago. I think I read The Two Towers in a day.

     I say so not to boast but to make a point: at long last I have discovered a series that is thrilling again! I actually read over 100 pages in one sitting, and I haven't done that since... I can't even remember when!

     Not only that, but the characters and what happens to them now means so much to me. (Even more than what happens to my favorite Downton Abbey characters, which is saying something.) Everything and everyone in this book became so real that I could hardly wait to read another page before knowing what would become of them. The fact that it happened in a real time and place made them almost too real. I don't know how many times I cried.

     Now shall I tell you what book it is? I suppose I've kept you in suspense for long enough...

     This book – so poignant, so thrilling, so though-provoking – drum roll, please – is Vienna Prelude.

     And the title just captures the story perfectly.

     The author is Bodie Thoene, and this book is the first of her series that covers events in Europe during World War II. It begins in Berlin, right at the heart of Germany, then moves to Vienna, Austria in 1936. The story follows the young violinist Elisa Lindheim, whose mother is German and father is Jewish. With that information alone you can tell that the author is setting you up for a doozy of a story!

     I had no idea what went on in Austria in 1936-38, but, boy, I do now.

     Of course one aspect that I love is traveling to Europe as I made my way through the pages. Vienna sounds like a particularly magical place, especially at Christmas, and I began to understand Elisa's love for this historic city, with music and coffee houses around every corner.

"...through Elisa's eyes we see it all as someone whose world seems to be falling apart around her..."

     The scenes are not often described, but when they are it is through the eyes of characters, which brings an immediacy to the action and keeps the story moving. There is a lot of switching between the points-of-view of several characters – sometimes even minor characters – but it's easy to follow and it also adds to the urgent pace of the story.

     Besides Elisa, we see a lot through the eyes of John Murphy, usually known as just Murphy – a young but jaded, tired, truth-seeking American journalist on assignment in Berlin who gets tangled up in Elisa's story. From his point of view we see things as strangers learning to understand the people and events in Europe. By contrast, through Elisa's eyes we see it all as someone whose world seems to be falling apart around her – even her new romance that had begun so hopefully.

    
     Because even in the midst of the elegant, historic Vienna, filled with luxurious coffee houses, decadent pastries, ancient cathedrals, and the magnificent music of Mozart and Strauss, the darkness and hatred of the Nazis can find its way to the lives of anyone. There is a lurking sense throughout the story that this city of light and music is about to be engulfed in the shadow, that Austria will be swallowed up in Hitler's Reich if no one will stand for its freedom.

     Of course the shadow falls first on the Jews, in Germany and then in Austria, and what results from that in Elisa's life and the lives of those around her is heart-wrenching – the more so because we know that things like this really happened. People were really forced from their homes, searched by Nazi officers on trains as they tried to escape to a safer life in another country, and faced arrest or even death for helping those who Hitler deemed less than human.

    


For this reason I find that, unlike most fiction I read, I cannot forget the events of this story and the way they effected peoples' lives – I cannot continue live as if these things were complete fiction. As never before it brought to life the fact that persecution is a real thing and happens to real people – and it is evil.

"It gives us a picture – a well painted picture by a talented artist – of how people faced an overwhelming darkness..."

     It is impossible to read this book and not to learn compassion for a people who were attacked simply for being Jews – or even just for helping Jews! Friends were lost, families broken apart, homes were stolen, and lives were changed forever. Thoene uses her writing skills to bring these people to life in a powerful way. She can make you care about them.

     Most people would categorize this as a Christian novel, and they would be right, in part – it is one of a series called The Zion Covenant. But to see it as nothing more would be to miss the historic and human power of this story. It gives us a picture – a well painted picture by a talented artist – of how people faced an overwhelming darkness and still found the hope and strength to show love. When they are drowning in hopelessness and there is nowhere left to look, they look up, remembering that God is there.

     Being a Christian myself, it strengthened my faith in God's faithfulness. I couldn't help but ask myself, "What if it had been me? What would I do if my life and everything I loved seemed to be slipping away?"

     That, for me, is fiction worth reading.

     Historical – Thrilling plot – Believable characters – Romantic settings – Unpredictable love story – Ability to make me think – My one complaint is: I can't stop reading it!

© Anna Morton 2017