TSS: Weekly Geeks 2010-25 Author Picture Quiz and Giveaway

I am going to use my TSS post this week for my Weekly Geek post and my first ever giveaway :D

Weekly Geeks this week is doing an Author Picture Quiz which was one of Dewey’s original ideas. Here is my picture:

A few hints:

• It is an author whose book I have reviewed here on the blog in the last 12 months.
• He is one of my favourite authors.

Prize for the giveaway:

A book valued at €10 or less from BookDepository.co.uk

Rules for the giveaway:

• Open to any location that BookDepository ships to (check here to make sure your country is on the list)
• Comment in the comment section with your answer.
• Only one answer per person (multiple answers by the same person will disqualify ALL your answers)
• Only correct answers will be included in the draw.
• Entries must be in by July 31st 2010 11:59pm CET
• I will use random.org to choose a winner.
• Winner will be announced on August 1st 2010
• Please include a way for me to contact you in your entry

The catch:

The winner must submit a guest post stating which book they have chosen to receive and why they chose it (nothing long).

ETA: The incredibly helpful Leeswamme pointed out a problem with the comments and entries on this giveaway so currently I have comment moderation on so that you can’t see previous posters comments, just to make it a bit harder :D To those who already entered, don’t worry, I have your comments saved. Thank you all for bearing with me while I learn to navigate the world of giveaways.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee

Category: Non-fiction (Memoir &  history)

Challenges: Spotlight Series

Synopsis: Quite simply a book about books. The selling of books. The love of books. Just a book about books.

My Thoughts: Oh My! How I love this book! I love it! And I want EVERYONE to read it!! If you love books you MUST read this book!!!!

I mean how can a booklover like me not love opening passages like this one:

“When I walk into a bookstore, any bookstore, first thing in the morning, I’m flooded with a sense of hushed excitement” (3).

I feel exactly the same way when I walk into a bookstore, really any time of day. The thought that in that store is the perfect book. The book you have been looking for, even when you aren’t really looking. Buzbee manages to capture that excitement throughout the book as he talks about the history of bookselling as well as his own personal relationship with books and the selling of them. This small book is simply an ode to books and bookselling.

Throughout the book Buzbee talks about books that have shaped who we are as readers, the book that sparked that fire within us that made us devour books. The books that changed who we were in some way. I am not sure I have a book that made me a reader. I was born a reader. The next in line of a long long line of readers. When I was just a few hours old my mother (and here in lies a certain amount of dispute as my dad claims it was he) read me Isaac Aisimov. I know that at age 2 I would “read” Sagan om den lilla, lilla gumman (The Tale of the Little Little Old Woman) by Elsa Beskow and I never looked back. I do know the book that had the biggest impact on me as a teenager: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It is a book that shaped the way I think and the way I read. For Buzbee that book was Stienbecks Grapes of Wrath (a book, incidentally, that I hated :D). This, from me, slightly rambly passage is simply what this book did to me. It got me thinking. And herein lies perhaps the greatest strength in this book, it gets you thinking about books. Books you love. Books that mean something. Books that you read when that big thing happened in your life. Your life in books quite simply.

Apart from his love of books and bookstores, Buzbee touches upon a few topics that are near and dear to my heart when it comes to books. One of them is how to get children to be readers. Buzbee’s long term friend Greta brings him down to earth when he is quite young by pointing out to him that it doesn’t matter WHAT parents read, as long as they read. Although I like reading classics and Important books (unlike the young Buzbee I am fully aware of the fact that I occasionally laps into snobbishness about my reading, then I remember that I too like candy books on occasion), I fully recognize that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and people should simply be encouraged to read! Not to mention the fact that one book often leads to another. There are some books that seem to be gateway books :D I loved Nancy Drew as a child. In fact, upstairs, in my old bedroom I have 5 of my aunts old Nancy Drew books from the ‘60s. They were the books that lead me to my current love of mystery books.

Speaking of cups of tea, well coffee actually, Buzbee manages, in several places to discuss the natural connection between coffee shops and bookshops. While telling the history of bookshops he points out the natural symbiosis that exists between these two places. Books invite discussions, although reading in and of itself is a solitary pastime, once you have read them they need to be digested and discussed, and this is easily done over a nice cup of coffee in the company of friends. One of the things I love about the UK and the States (and I miss terribly when I am here in Sweden) is the fact that most bookstores there seem to have a coffee shop attached to them. There are few things that make me as happy as sitting on the floor of a bookstore, leafing through a book that I find interesting and drinking a VERY large latte. That is my idea of a slice of heaven. And it is something I plan for every single time I am across the pond.

This book has sparked so many thoughts, and so many ideas for blogposts that I really don’t know where to even start. I do want every single booklover out there to read this book, so thank you to my friend Gatz (not her real name :D) who gave me this book and thanks to the Spotlight Series for making me take the time to read it. It only took me a day but what a pleasurable day it was.

Normally this is where I point you to BookDepository.co.uk to purchase the book, but I think Buzbee would want me to say: Go to your local bookstore to buy this particular book. I agree with him. If your local bookstore carries it or they can order it, then buy it there!

 

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Strong Poison

Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers

Category: Crime fiction (classic)

Synopsis: Harriet Vane has been accused of murdering her former lover by way of arsenic poisoning. Lord Peter Wimsey is however certain that she did NOT do it and sets out to find out who the culprit is.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was a very easy to read, easy to figure out who-dunnit but thoroughly satisfying as a reader.

Those who read my reviews know that I did not like Agatha Christie because there was no chance for the reader really to figure out who did it, how and why. In that respect this book was much better. It did rather serve the who on a silver platter but the how and why was a bit more of a mystery but I did work out the how before they “told you” and I really liked that.

I also liked the fact that Lord Wimsey uses females for his sleuthing. I loved the idea of an office filled with women who are ready to go out and collect information. It seems like the forerunner to the women who were instrumental in the intelligence community during world war 2. It seems so very intuitive to use women.

Despite the fact that there are several intersting women in the book, especially the murder suspect Harriet Vane, I think my favourite character is Buntner, Lord Wimsey’s man. There is something dry and comforting about him. I love the scene with him and the maid and cook at Urquhart’s. It is also from this scene that one of my favourite lines comes

“Nothing goes so well with a hot fire and buttered crumpets as a wet day without and a  good dose of comfortable horrors within” (106)

There is something so very true with that sentence. I mean why else would murder mysteries and horror movies be so popular? And I have to admit, this book really made me crave buttered crumpets and by extension, English muffins. There is a lot of good eating in this book!

I’m really looking forward to the next instalment in this series.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekend Cooking: Cook Book Reviews

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish at Beth Fish Reads and it is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post. 

My offering for this weekend is a review of two cookbooks that have been in print for quite some time but I finally got around to buying now. They are Delia’s Winter Collection and Delia’s Summer Collection both by Delia Smith. I first discovered these cookbooks through my college boyfriend whose mother loved them (and I adored her).

Delia’s Winter Collection by Delia Smith

This book has a lot of comfort food in it. In my experience British food tends to run towards the comforting meat and two veg variety and this cookbook is no exception. And it makes no apology for it. The book is divided into 13 chapters that cover everything you need for lunch and dinner, from starters to desserts to sides. All of the dishes look absolutely yummy (and way to heavy for summer, but more on that later).

It also includes a handy table with times for when to start cooking the different dishes in order to have them ready for the One O’clock Sunday Lunch. I like this because I am rubbish at knowing when to start things to have them ready in time for dinner, and although my family never eat one o’clock lunch it is handy because this way I can use her times and just adjust.

Now the recipes in this cookbook are, as previously stated all of the hearty variety, and we are currently in the middle of a heat wave so they aren’t actually appropriate to make right now, but I have made one recipe before and eaten another so I thought I would comment on those two (both recipes are available on Delia Smiths website so I have just linked to them rather than write up the recipes here, just click on the recipe title). First up the one I have made myself:

Oven-Baked wild Mushroom Risotto

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This recipe gives yummy creamy risotto without having to stand around and stir the risotto. It is however quite fiddily as it includes dried porcini mushrooms that need to be soaked and then chopped. It has been a while since I made this but I do remember it being a bit time consuming and that it created quite a few dishes. THAT said, it tastes absolutely divine so it is well worth making.

Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa

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This one I haven’t made myself but the aforementioned mother of boyfriend made it for us once and I absolutely loved it. She was a bit sceptical because in Britain Chilli is made with minced beef but this recipe calls for braising steak chopped finally (again with the fiddily) but it really works! We all loved this recipe and all went back for seconds :D

Delia’s Summer Collection by Delia Smith

This book contains recipes that are far more suitable to summer. Still very British but less on the heavy cream. There are several fish recipes that I am dying to try but my little brother is home for the summer and does not eat fish so I will try those once he goes back to college in a few weeks. This cookbook is responsible for me finally getting around to making elderflower cordial (more on that next week) as several of the recipes call for elderflower cordial and I have a large elderflower tree out back. I will definitley be trying the English Gooseberry Cobbler when our gooseberries are done in a few weeks.

This book contains 12 chapters again covering starters to desserts. It also includes a couple of recipes for preserving and chutney making. It also includes a short chapter on baking breads that fit with summer.

This week I tried Chicken with Sherry Vinegar and Tarragon Sauce.

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It was yummy, but there are definitely some changes I would make to the recipe. First off I should admit that I couldn’t find any Sherry vinegar in the store (and I went to the biggest supermarket around) so I will have to do some sleuthing and find it somewhere else. Now to the changes I would make no matter what: 1) I would start making it much earlier, you are supposed to reduce the liquid and I just didn’t have time to let it reduce more, it meant that the sauce was a bit boozy still. 2) I would use more than 2 tablespoons of fresh tarragon leaves to enhance the flavour. I would probably double it. Other than that, this recipe was awesome. The chicken was super tender and falling off the bones

Although many of the recipes from these books are available on Delia Smiths website I recommend buying the books. Somehow there is nothing like looking at recipes in a cookbook.

Purchase Delia’s Summer Collection and Delia’s Winter Collection from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekly Geeks 2010-23: Book Trailers

This week the Weekly Geek question is about book trailers: do you watch them and if so what do you think about them.

To be honest, I don’t watch book trailers. I don’t read that many new releases so I don’t go seeking them out on the net and they aren’t really being shown on this side of the pond. In addition to this I’m not sure I want to see them but in order to write this post I decided to go and have a look at some of the ones posted on the Moby award site. I have to say it did not make me want to watch any more. I purposely chose books I would not want to read to see if they could convince me to read them. They did not. I really don’t want images put in my head before I read a book. Sometimes I even don’t want to look at the covers because I want my own ideas of what things look like, how names are pronounced etc. I don’t want some advertiser to tell me that. I think I will stick to avoiding them in the future.

I do want to say that although book trailers are not for me I am not against their existence. If they bring more people into reading then hey they are a good thing!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Teaser Tuesday: Strong Poison

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

“It would be natural for you to think that this proposal of marriage takes away any suggestion that the prisoner had a cause of grievance against Boyes. Anyone would say that, under such circumstances, she could have no motive for wishing to murder this young man, but rather the contrary”  (7).

From Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

 

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid

The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Category: Non-fiction (Memoir)

Challenges: 2010 Challenge (Charity), Memorable Memoir

Synopsis: Bill Bryson tells of growing up in the 1950s and 60s in Des Moines, Iowa while also looking at America at the time.

My Thoughts: I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed with this book. I loved A Walk in the Woods and perhaps I had to high expectations. My problem with this book lay primarily in the fact that it at times felt repetitive. It also takes quite some time until we find out WHY it is called The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid. That said, it was a perfectly pleasant read and a couple of the chapters and incidents that really captured me.

The first chapter that caught my attention was the one titled Boom! In it Bryson discusses the Red Scare and how it came about. In parts it felt like he was describing today with people being stopped at borders because they looked wrong or their passport might be suspicious. The fear and suspicion then feels eerily similar to the fear and suspicion that seems to exist in our society today. Makes me wonder if we ever learn anything.

The other thing that caused some connect with me was the similarities between Brysons stories of his childhood and the stories my dad tells of his. My dad is three years younger than Bryson and grew up in Philly. He occasionally tells stories of him and his friend roaming free in much the same way as Bryson and his friends did. They knew all the local cops (who used to bring them home in the evenings on a fairly regular basis, not for being in trouble but to stop them from getting into trouble). This connection made the book feel a bit more alive to me.

The final thing that kept me reading the book was one of the aspects that made me love A Walk in the Woods: the way Bryson manages to mix facts with the personal. Bryson through facts and figures lends a certain amount of authority to the deeply personal stories he tells and this makes the book feel very alive. So…Although I doubt I will read this book again it hasn’t put me off Bryson, I have a bunch more of his book lined up.

I purchased my copy from Myrorna the Charity shop run by The Salvation Army here in Sweden.

Purchase The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS:Wherein It Is Really Very Hot

It is 34C here and everyone is suffering from a lack of AC. It is to hard to think. Really to hard to think. Also I’ve been working and a negative colleague has zapped all my energy so I don’t have much of a post BUT…

Thank you all for the congratulations to my family of our new addition, we adore her. To those who have asked about her name: I have decided that for her privacy I won’t reveal that here. I am quite private on this blog because of what my future career will be, Zee is not my real name :D, so, I’ve decided to give her a nickname for the blog because I WILL talk about her (and possibly post pictures at least now when she is very little). So the new addition will be called Madicken on the blog. Why Madicken? Madicken is the name of a character in Astrid Lindgrens books and she was a heroine of mine. I thought I would use nicknames for any future nieces and nephews that reflect our cultural heritage. Madicken is an independent, imaginative and intelligent girl, all the things I want for this little girl.

Also many of you book bloggers “know” Betsy Bird of Fuse #8. Now meet her husband who is a screen writer and blogs about movies and comics over at Cockeyed Caravan. Check it out!

I have been reading loads and have so great reviews coming up!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Technical Issues

Thank you to those who have left me messages in various places today. Google decided that there had been suspicious activity on my accounts and suspended it. I discovered it this morning but as I was running out the door to work and then to see my brand spankin new niece couldn’t do anything about it then. I’m back from work and visiting and taking pictures. Thought I would share one with you all as compensation: here she is

Isn’t she the most adorable thing you have ever seen (I’m terribly biased but you know…)

Anyway, blog should be back to normal although might be a bit on the quiet side as work will be very busy for the next four weeks.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Category: Crime Fiction

Challenges: POC Challenge, Women Unbound

Synopsis: Mme Ramotswe is the only female private detective in Botswana. She has vowed to take on all cases. Some are big, but most are small domestic matters, philandering husbands and teenaged daughters with secrets.

My Thoughts: This book, with its rather quite contemplative style rather grew on me. Most crime fiction have One Big Crime that it focuses on. There might be smaller storylines as well, but in general they are connected in some way to the One Big Crime. That wasn’t the case with this book and it made for a different read. Most of the cases were solved in one or two chapters but they added to a whole that was really rather nice. I would put this book in the very cozy cozy mysteries.

Although (as frequent readers of this blog will know) I love mystery books, that wasn’t actually what I loved the most about THIS book. My favourite part of this book was the chapter titled All Those Years Ago which is narrated by Mme Ramotswe’s father and tells both his story and the story of Botswana and its people. It was a beautiful, evocative and somewhat sad chapter. But it really stuck with me. And I think that the descriptions in this chapter and in subsequent chapters are where McCall Smith’s strength really lies, or perhaps it is my own prejudice, I love myself a good description.

I also really enjoyed Mme Ramotswe’s independence (and this is why I am counting it towards Women Unbound). She is set on doing things her way, and although she employs the help of men, especially her friend Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, she does so on her own terms. I also liked getting her back story in the way we got it. She tells the story in a very matter of fact way, but throughout the rest of the book it becomes very clear how her past has influenced both her chosen career and her decision making process.

The book is mainly comprised of short chapters and is in itself not a very long book, the length of the book doesn’t really matter to me (other than the fact that I am now in desperate need of the next one in the series) but I did like the short chapters. I read much of the book at work (yep I can occasionally read at work, one of the few perks (the other being the fact that we wear scrubs and comfy sandals…after years of suits, pantyhose and high heels trust me this is a perk)). The short chapters made it easy to put down the book to do, you know, actual work without loosing the plot.

I will definitely be reading more of McCall Smith (especially since will be going to at least one presentation by him in September at Bok och Biblioteksmässan which is focusing on Africa this year).

Purchase The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Baby Catcher

Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent

Category:  Non-fiction (Memoir)

Challenges: Memorable Memoirs, 2010 Challenge (Bad Bloggers), Women Unbound

Synopsis: Peggy Vincent tells of being a midwife in California from the early 70s until the early 90s. In those years she caught over 2000 children and she has some hilarious, sad and interesting stories to tell. She also tells the tale of the poor care women sometimes get at the hands of the medical profession, for something that is actually perfectly normal.

My Thoughts: Although this book has been on my radar since I read Eva at A Striped Armchair’s review late last year I didn’t start reading it until this week. The week my little sister is due with her first. Isn’t it strange how some books, despite being on your bookshelf for months don’t move to the top of the TBR pile until just the right time. Yes my sister being pregnant had something to do with me reading this book, but she has been pregnant for 9 months now, why did I choose to read the book now? I really don’t have an answer for it, but it did fit well right now.

Before I go any further I am going to warn sensitive readers that there is a strong risk that this post might veer into TMI territory. It is just that kind of book, and I am just that kind of person.

This book had me laughing, crying and angry all within a few pages. It also made me count myself lucky that I live in Sweden and not the US. One of the ongoing themes in the book is the constant battle midwifes have to engage in with regards to the medical community. Here, in Sweden, midwifery is firmly entrenched in the medical community. I have never seen a gynaecologist, my sisters pregnancy has been monitored by midwifes the whole time. That is the norm here. For your woman business you see a midwife, whether it be pregnancy, birth control or the pap-smear it is the local midwife. Now everything isn’t rosy when it comes to midwifery here, my sister has had some bad luck. Because midwifery is part of the regular health care here we will not have the same midwife at the birth as does our pre- and post-natal care. And the midwife at the surgery where my sister is registered quit, then her partner buckled under the pressure of a babyboom and a new management that were, well not very good. So at the end of a pregnancy that has not always gone smoothly (poor thing had hyperemesis) she ended up with agency midwifes. So although Vincent talks about midwifery being more excepted in other countries, it is not always a rosy picture here either. That said I think I prefer our system, at least there isn’t the antagonism that there is in the states. And we don’t have the insurance issues.

All that said though, the events that caused me to see red and rage against the medical profession would, to my knowledge NEVER happen here. Vincent tells a story at the end of the book of a woman who comes into the hospital and wants to have a midwife present. She wants a birth on her terms. The doctor on duty decides that she is progressing to slowly and starts her on pitocin and breaks her water while Vincent is attending another woman. All because HE doesn’t want to be woken up should there be need for a caesarean. To my (slightly limited) knowledge births here are rarely medicated. Births are allowed to take the time they take. I was so angry I actually had to put the book down for a while.

However most of the stories Vincent tell don’t have that component of anger. Most of them are simply lovely stories about the strength of women and the camaraderie that birth brings out in the women present. It is also a story of family. I recognized Vincent’s children in myself. Although my mother isn’t a midwife, she is a nurse and so is my sister. Dinner conversations in our house, like those in Vincent’s house would probably horrify most people, but in our house they are completely normal.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it.

Purchase Baby Catcher from BookDepository.co.uk

Authors website

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: June Round-Up

First off: Happy Independence Day to all Americans out there!

So June was a fairly busy month for me, I worked loads and that seriously cut into my reading time but I still managed, a for me respectable, seven books (almost 8). So what books did I read in June?

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I started off the month with a book that I actually read in May but the review, part of the Classic Circuit, was posted on June 1st so it is included in this months round-up.

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. I didn’t love this book like I wanted to. I just don’t like books with a large info dump at the end. I think it cheats the readers a bit.

 

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be interesting and I really felt like I learned something while reading it, while at the same time being entertained. It is a book I highly recommend to others who are interested in people and religion.

Then I completely immersed myself in Julia Spencer-Flemings Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries. I LOVE them and can’t wait for the seventh book in the series to come out sometime this winter (hopefully).

 

A Fountain Filled With Blood

Out of the Deep I Cry

To Darkness and To Death

All Mortal Flesh

I Shall Not Want

I also managed another book for the Classic Circuit this month, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I didn’t love it like I thought I would (I am sensing a theme here) but this time I think a lot of the problems were with the translation I read. I am willing to give it another go with a different translation.

 

Overall June was a pretty good blogging month (at least compared to May). Along with the above mentioned reviews I also wrote several posts for Devourer of Books Audiobook Week Event (Great event Jen I really enjoyed it!)

 

Overall a good month! I also have high hopes for July although it should be just as busy as June, I’ve got work scheduled and I continue to be on the sub list for those weeks I am not on the schedule. Plus (and infinitely more important) I am due to become an aunt for the first time any day now!! So excited!

Hope you are all having a great summer so far!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekend Cooking: Chocolate Squares or An Old Favourite

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish at Beth Fish Reads and it is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post. 

  I love finding new recipes I really do. But sometimes I also like to go back to old favourites. This recipe is written down in my book of recipes and I don’t know where I got it from. I do know I’ve been making it since junior high. I especially love the icing on it. This time I made it with egg substitute. It was okay, but in this case I think real eggs would be a lot better, wish I could use them.

 

Recipe (all measurements are metric):

Butter and breadcrumbs for the pan

50g butter

2 eggs

2dl sugar

3dl all purpose flour

2tbsp coco powder

2tsp baking powder

1dl hot water

Icing:

3dl powdered sugar

1tbsp coco powder

3tbsp melted butter

5tbsp strong cold coffee

2tsp vanilla sugar

coconut flakes

 

1. Turn the oven to 225C

2. Butter and breadcrumb the pan (I use a rectangular pan)

3. Melt butter and let it cool. Whisk eggs and sugar until well. Mix in flour, coco powder and baking powder. Add to egg and sugar mixture.

4. Add butter and water. Pour the mixture into the pan.

5. Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cake is firm when tested (my oven required a lot more time). Let it cool in the pan.

6. Mix all the icing ingredients until the sugar melts. Pour it over the cake and sprinkle it with the coconut flakes. Cut the cake to appropriate squares depending on what you want.

The icing and coconuts are really what make this cake and I would use the icing for other things than this cake. It is so incredibly easy to make and is very yummy!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.