Books and cakes - 42

    Before I read Babette's Feast, our CBG book of the month, I was expecting that the high point of the novella might provide a good deal of choice in the way of a 'cake' for this post, but sadly, no. Turtle soup, Blinis Demidoff, Cailles en Sarcophages, grapes, peaches, fresh figs .... (click here and scroll down for links to various articles and recipes about the food), but no cake as such. So I thought I'd look for something to represent the more usual fare of Martine, Philippa and Babette; not perhaps the split cod and ale-and-bread-soup which was typical eating, but an everyday equivalent.

    Casting around for recipes, I found these Norwegian biscuits, and if we have any Norwegian readers I'd be glad if they could tell me how authentic they are! The recipe itself is slightly odd in that the quantities given don't produce enough mixture to fit the size of tin specified, the ingredients include margarine or butter (I used the latter) while the method makes no mention of those fats but instead refers to oil, and the 'extra Demerara sugar' listed at the end isn't in the method, either  (I sprinkled it on after baking) - a bit sloppy for a food company's website, don't you think? However, the results taste good, so I'll let them off, but I ought to say that as this recipe included sesame seeds, I threw in some, too, so we have a glorified flapjack, but one that's going down well with my tasters here. What would Babette think of them, though?

Comments

[B R Wombat]

I think they look delicious, but Babette would probably reckon they need a bit more turtle.

[Marg]

They do look awfully good -- but they remind me more of the benne wafers so popular in Charleston, South Carolina. My father's family is from Norway and I just made him a kransekake for his birthday. It seems to me Norwegian cookies are more likely to either be plain or have some form of almonds or cardamom in them. Of course Babette's raison d'etre was a more exotic type of cuisine -- you might want to try something like this:

http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/cardamom-shortbread-cookies-clv

[Cornflower]

Many thanks for that link, Marg.