One lucky reader will win a signed copy of SCOT IN A TRAP!
CATRIONA McPHERSON: SCOT IN A TRAP opens on the morning of Thanksgiving, in a kitchen so full of food there’s a lemon meringue pie in the dishrack. Lexy, my fish-out-of-water Scot in California, is unbelievably snotty about the excess of butter and sugar on display. So I thought I’d give her one in the eye with a traditional British recipe that’s not exactly ketotastic. It is, however, delicious.
I have translated from
weight to volume for you, to the best of my ability, even though I use my
beloved counterweight kitchen scales and always will. A teenager once, seeing
these for the first time in my house, asked if they “still worked.” How could
they stop working? Unless you took them into space.
(Leslie's note: If you, like me, read the recipe and wonder 'where's the Madeira?,' perhaps while remembering a beloved professor singing "Have some Madeira, my dear" at the law school talent show, turns out there is no madeira in the cake -- it's meant to be eaten with a few sips of the Portuguese wine to wash it down. But any wine, tea, or coffee will do. Cheers!)
Madeira Cake
Ingredients:
A stick and two sections of butter (5 ounces total), at room temperature
¾ of a cup of caster sugar (5 oz)
3 eggs, at room temperature
A very scant 2 cups (actually 1.87) of self-raising flour (5 oz)
A lemon – phew!
A drop or two of vanilla extract for an even richer cake
Plus optional icing and other toppings
Method:
The eggs and butter should be at room temperature.
Pre-set the oven to 350F. Grease a 18cm(ish)
cake tin with the butter paper.
Cream the butter and sugar in a big bowl until they are light and fluffy. You can use a spoon for big muscles or an electric whisk for an easy life. I usually start with a whisk and then bash them to bits with a spoon to finish.
Lightly whisk the eggs in a jug.
Zest the lemon and snip the zest into tiny pieces. Juice the lemon. Add to the creamed mixture, along with the vanilla if you're using it.
In four or five batches, add the whisked egg and a spoonful of flour, beating thoroughly in between batches.
Fold in the rest of the flour. Pause to remember that episode of Schitt’s Creek where David and Moira screech “fold in the cheese” at each other.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Don’t worry about how stiff it is. That’s normal.
Are you a rebel or a purist? Do you put cheese in carbonara and tomatoes in chili? I’d love to know. Talk to us in the comments -- be sure to leave your email address -- for a chance to win a signed copy of SCOT IN A TRAP. (US addresses only. Winner will be chosen Friday, December 2.)
From the cover of Scot in a Trap by Catriona McPherson (out December 6, available for pre-order now:
A mysterious object the size of a suitcase, all wrapped in bacon and smelling of syrup, can mean only one thing: Thanksgiving at the Last Ditch Motel. This year the motel residents are in extra-celebratory mood as the holiday brings a new arrival to the group – a bouncing baby girl.
But as one life enters the Ditch, another leaves it. Menzies Lassiter has only just checked in. When resident counsellor Lexy Campbell tries to deliver his breakfast the next day, she finds him checked out. Permanently. Shocking enough if he were stranger, but Lexy recognises that face. Menzies was her first love until he broke her heart many years ago.
What’s he doing at the Last Ditch? What’s he doing dead? And how can Lexy escape the fact that she alone had the means, the opportunity - and certainly the motive - to kill him?
About Catriona:
Catriona McPherson (she/her) was born in Scotland and immigrated to the US in 2010. She writes: preposterous 1930s detective stories, set in the old country and featuring an aristocratic sleuth; modern comedies set in the Last Ditch Motel in fictional (yeah, sure) California; and, darker than both of those (which is not difficult), a strand of contemporary psychological thrillers.
Her books have won or been shortlisted for the Edgar, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Lefty, the Macavity, the Mary Higgins Clark award and the UK Ellery Queen Dagger. She has just introduced a fresh character in IN PLACE OF FEAR, which finally marries her love of historicals with her own working-class roots, but right now, she’s writing the sixth book in what was supposed to be the Last Ditch trilogy.
Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.
Find Catriona on Facebook
Aww, what a treat seeing you on the blog this morning, Catriona! That cake looks yummy. I'm in the rebel-cook camp. Well, except when it comes to sushi. That has to be strictly Japanese. NO avocado or "sauce" please.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm a total California Girl these days - avocado everywhere!
DeleteThanks for the recipe, Catriona. I've always wondered about Madeira cake!
ReplyDeleteI'm mostly a purist, but our family chili recipe includes tomatoes and tomato sauce. And beans, by the way. Some don't call it chili, but it's delicious. If Madeira cake can pose as a vehicle for a fancy drink, why can't my chili pose as a traditional dish?
I think it's like tea biscuits and beer nuts, Karen. I - surprise, surprise - put tomatoes in my chili.
DeleteWhat a yummy looking cake! Is there enough for all of us to have a litle sliver? :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough we don't put whole tomatoes (or even chunks) in our chili, we do use fresh tomato juice (doctored with a can or rotel tomatoes to give it extra heat). Nothing makes a dish taste better than using tomatoes from the garden.
Thank you for the chance to win a copy of "SCOT IN A TRAP". Sounds like a wonderful read and one I know I would thoroughly enjoy reading and reviewing.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Skinning tomatoes is one of my favorite kitchen jobs - I did a couple of pounds last night for a soup. My least favourite is chopping mushrooms - they're so so unsatisfying.
DeleteKay, part of the magic of the Kitchen is that there is ALWAYS enough to go around!
Deletewelcome today. thanks for sharing this recipe. yummy. oh but this books sounds like a page turner. have to go and look it up quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteIt's really easy, Lori. And if you do over-bake it, you can drizzle it to soften it up. But then, even for a rebel like me, it's not Madeira cake anymore.
DeleteYour recipe is delectable and beautiful. What a delight for a birthday cake. Your book sounds captivating and special. I use tomatoes sparingly but I enjoy the flavor of tomatoes greatly.saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI have a tendency to keep adding more things to any recipe I make a lot. It starts with tomatoes, garlic and basil and after a few months there are peas and peppers and corn in there. Then I have to dial it back, or everything ends up the same.
DeleteHmm.... In the cooking realm, I guess that I am halfway between a purist and a rebel. I have some cooking tendencies of both!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
I'm trying to think of what *would* make me jump and drop my knitting. I know! The recipe for Waldorf salad in the Amish cookbook I picked up in Ohio years ago. We used to have a laugh asking people to guess the seven ingredients. They'd go "Well, celery, apple and walnuts ..." Nope.
DeleteThis gorgeous cake is a real beaut. I would love it for my bd. I create and add tomatoes when I feel is makes a big difference in taste and looks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteRight? I always think people who don't like - or can't eat - tomatoes must have a hard time when they're out and about looking for sustenance. Sushi, I suppose. Doctored burgers?
Delete"Beaut" is a word we don't hear enough. I'm putting it in my draft today. Thank you!
DeleteWow what a beautiful cake. I am in the rebel camp all the way. peggy clayton ptclayton2 at aol dot com
ReplyDeleteI'm still not over Nadiya coming last in the technical in Week 1 for not icing the sides of her walnut cake. And that was seven years ago. (I'm hoping you know what I'm talking about. If not, you are in for a treat!)
DeleteNadia wuz robbed
Deletedefinitely tomatoes in the chili.
ReplyDeletewskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com
Yeah, I think that one might be over. But I still read it and hear it!
DeleteHow can it be chili without tomatoes? And the cheese goes ON the carbonara, not in it. Though I put sausage in mine. Call me a tradibel. Delighted to have you here, my friend!
ReplyDeleteSausage? It's been nice knowing you. (J/k)
DeleteHey, I learned the sausage-proscuitto combo in one of the first cookbooks I bought, the Sunset Italian Cookbook, way back when Sunset Mag was cool. I was shocked to learn it wasn't traditional. (My name tells you how Italian my heritage is.)
DeleteShocking! Does Fresca know about this?!?!
DeleteLOL! Fresca not only knows -- it's her recipe, in Death Al Dente!
DeleteI like to mix things up. sgiden at verizon(.)net
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it!
DeleteWhere's the fun in being a kitchen purist?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there are those cooks of great confidence with poor instincts . . .
DeleteI believe in being a purist the first time trying a recipe, then I become a rebel as I make it my own!
ReplyDeleteYes! I think that sums up what I do too. Sometimes, when I haven't made a recipe for a while and I need to check something - the oven temperature, usually - I can be quite surprised by what it says and how far I've drifted.
DeleteWhat ever is available is what gets cooked. So a rebel. cheetahthecat1982ATgmailDOTcom
ReplyDeleteMe too! I love eating down the fridge to absolute zero before I go shopping. Sometimes, it's delicious. Sometimes it's . . . edible.
DeleteYummy cake - going to try this. I just made a brown butter ginger carrot cake where the ingredients were (mostly) adjusted for US measures, but I needed to adjust the volume for an 8x8 pan instead of 7x7. 5.2 eggs was a challenge! I think I'm a rebel but I can't stand to let those little leftover bits in the fridge sit when I cook - so who knows what I might toss in this time and how will I ever repeat ? Thanks for the giveaway. sallycootie(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI made a big pot of fridge soup yesterday - vegetable and chick pea (garbanzo bean), knowing that I'll be tossing in last night's side vegetable leftovers day by day until the weekend. It's nicer than it sounds!
DeleteNot familiar with this series, but it is going on the TBR list right now. Not to mention the Madeira Cake recipe, I agree, make it your own, isn't that what baking/cooking is all about, trying things out and playing with flavors. Not to mention that almost everything goes great with chocolate added! I often put my own twist on things because I don't like an ingredient in the recipe. Thank you for the opportunity to win your book, tracy.condie@gmail.com or tracy dot condie at gmail dot com (not sure which is the preferred method LOL)
ReplyDeleteAnother time I shouted at the telly was Paul Hollywood berating a baker for missing out cilantro and sesame seeds from a Greek pie, because she didn't like them.
DeleteYou had me at chocolate butter icing and malt balls. (One of my fondest memories is of gorging on an enormous box of Maltesers [i.e., British malt balls for all you Yanks] while watching "Yellow Submarine" the first month it opened in a London cinema.)
ReplyDeleteAs for breaking food "rules," I'll put Sriracha on most anything, one of my favorites being on a peanut butter sandwich.
That sounds lovely! Have you seen Nadiya Hussain's new series on BritBox where she goes to visit a pepper grower/ hot sauce maker in on episode?
DeleteThat was me, by the way.
DeleteThe cake looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI've never had carbonara but pretty much anything is better with cheese, and we always have enough fresh garden tomatoes so those do go in chili, spaghetti, goulash, etc. I thought everybody put tomatoes in chili!
kozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com
That might be a Texas rule only.
DeleteThat cake looks delicious and the book looks delightful. deborahortega229@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteIt was. The slicing is a bit tricky with that many malt balls but they roll!
DeleteRules are for guidance only. Ask my hubby the chef. I love this cake recipe and feel I could do it. Especially the sipping part.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha. I don't drink any alcohol at all but I *do* make a teetotal version of sherry/madeira/marsala every year at Christmas. It's a thick, dark, sweet, ginger-flavoured tipple that makes me feel much less left out.
DeleteOooh, I'd love to see that recipe.
DeleteI believe the cheat in Carbonara you're thinking of is cream, not cheese. (We ate it at La Carbonara in Il Campo de' Fiori, Roma and there was cheese, no cream.)
ReplyDeleteYou're dead right! I just googled it. What am I thinking of then? Wait! I think I've mixed up carbonara and quiche Lorraine.
DeleteHA! Yes, no cream! Good catch, Anon!
DeleteAnd the Italians say you shouldn't put cheese on pasta with seafood (something I've ignored on countless occasions because, you know, CHEESE!)
DeleteOh yes, that no cheese with rule. We broke it here last night.
DeleteIt was a surprise when I first learned that this cake does not include Madiera. But a sip or two with it? Why not?
ReplyDeletelibbydodd at comcast dot net
Now I want some Madeira. Would sweet Vermouth do?
DeleteWhy not, indeed, Libby. Hey, Edith, do you know the song 'have some Madeira, m'dear"? It is dated in its approach to consent but it's interesting to a linguist because it's chock full of zeugma.
DeleteHow many others who look up to Catriona had to look up zuegma?
DeleteScroll up for the link to a video of the song by -- hmm, the Lamplighters? Though I always think of my law school tax prof singing it at the school talent show.
DeleteI remember that song from a college coffee shop! I think the bearded sexy singer had a lot to do with me loving it. Now I have to go back and review all the lyrics I don't remember!
DeleteAnd now that I have, it's brilliant - I wish I'd known to analyze it back in the 1970s.
DeleteTwo of my favorite things: cake & good books.
ReplyDeleteWill you share this icing recipe?
Thinkitover(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
Certainly. It's butter - about a stick and icing sugar (powder sugar) and cocoa powder. I creamed the butter and added cocoa and sugar until it didn't taste like butter anymore! I think I had to add a bit of milk to make it spreadable too.
DeleteThis cake looks delicious. Even without a dirty old man singing "more madeira, my dear?" So, cheese on more things than call for it. Tomato sauce in the chili. Tomatoes would be fine, but no beans. Frito pie for an old high school football game treat. patdupuy@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteNo beans? Okay. (And yes that song is just awful, isn't it?)
DeleteI'm definitely a rebel! Love tomatoes in chili! The cake looks so good. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeletejarjm1980(@)hotmail(dot)com
Me too. Especially as skinning tomatoes - as I said above - is more fun than popping bubble wrap to me.
DeleteLooks yummy. How was it?
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely. It dried out a bit quicker than I would have wanted. By day three you really needed the icing.
DeleteYour cake looks amazing! I definitely follow a recipe when baking, when cooking, not so much.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
Wise counsel!
DeleteI usually follow a recipe but sometimes I like to change things up to suit my taste and my family's taste so I would say I am a mix of both. cherierj(at)yahoo(com)
ReplyDeleteExactly! I always put more pepper,in, for instance.
ReplyDeleteMostly a purist when baking, total rebel when cooking. It usually comes out pretty tasty. I do miss now and then, but how else do you learn? This cake looks and sounds delicious and I love the malted milk balls. They, along with cheese and tomatoes make everything better! I am not familiar with the Last Ditch or Dandy Gilver series, so am adding them to my TBR list. Thanks for a chance to win one, makennedyinaz(at)hotmail(dot)com.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcia! Dandy Gilver is a bit more of an undertaking (15 books) but the Last Ditch is only five books long so far.
DeleteI've never heard of this cake, thanks for sharing the recipe! tWarner419@aol.com
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a go.
DeleteDefinitely tomatoes in my chili!!!
ReplyDeleteCake looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe!!!
sandyjb23(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
That is now the law - this many cooks can't be wrong.
DeleteThis looks delish! Thanks for sharing it, Catriona. I can't wait to give it a try. FYI - I'm a rebel. :-)
ReplyDeleteValerie, if you had said "By the book, baby" I would have said "Who are you and what have you done with Valerie?"
DeleteWow! This cake looks delicious and rich! I think hubby would love it - he's a chocolate lover! The malt balls sound interesting- can they be eaten just by themselves?
ReplyDeleteLove carbonate with bacon and cheese! Haven't had it for a while. Maybe will have it sometime this week!
Visiting Scotland is in my bucket list. Thank you for the giveaway.
cwkuen(at)yahoo(dot)com
Emily- I can't believe it took this many comments in a food blog before someone said "bacon". Hat tip.
DeleteNot a rebel and not a tomato person! I can't eat them! Thanks for the introduction to this book! lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI can't eat raw onion - they give me a hangover. And they're in all the salads!
DeleteThank you for this easy and delicious-looking cake, which we have to
ReplyDeletemake! SCOT IN A TRAP sound most intriguing, and I do want to read it! In our home we are most adventurous with food, and we are always experimenting when cooking and baking. We are fierce REBELS! Cheese in Carbonara? Definitely! Chili with tomatoes? Yes, of course! We love to use every scrap of food when we make soups and stews, and keep a tab on what is to be repeated, and what did not work well. We have even tried to grow celery and lettuce from the stalks, and it works! Thank you for sharing your books and recipes with us eager readers :-) Luis at ole dot travel
I'm wondering if you mean lettuce and celery in the ground or on the fridge. In the ground - of course. In the fridge? I salute your food thrift!
DeleteGood morning! Your post was absolutely wonderful!!! I do put tomatoes in my chili 🥰
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think we all do and whoever said that was trolling.
ReplyDelete