Hello and welcome to my first blog! I am a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to technology but I’m willing if you are……
So what is Coffee Cake and Culture, you might ask? Well CCC is a music appreciation/ history course I give in my lounge room.
My first series comprises six classes, each covering a different topic exploring invented developments in music rather than those which evolved – Major Musical Milestones.
My second series looks at the Romantic period and how world events in the 19thcentury changed so many musical norms for all time – Reaction, Revolution and Romanticism.
My students’ say the beauty of my course is that it feels like you are coming to a friend’s home for a chat rather than being lectured in a class situation.
Why the name? As a mother of 3 young girls, I am fully aware of how important a little treat is..so I serve delicious homemade cake and a good cup of tea or coffee before the classes start, and sometimes even during it!
In this blog I intend to divulge my secret cake recipes as well as giving some interesting and maybe quirky bits of music trivia.
Tomorrow I am giving a class on Beethoven, (the second class in Reaction, Revolution and Romanticism) looking at how his life mirrored the political situations in Europe at the time. It’s quite amazing how often you can follow Beethoven’s musical output against the victories or losses of the Holy Roman Empire during the time of Napoleon. Beethoven wrote his Symphony No 3 (the Eroica) initially for Napoleon – at that time being a stanched Republican and Francophile. When he heard about Napoleon accepting the French crown in 1804, Beethoven flew into a rage changing the original title of the 3rd Symphony from “Bonaparte” to Eroica.
BUT I’ve also made a Jaffa cake (chocolate and orange for those who think Jaffa is a place in Israel!)
The standard chocolate recipe I use is one my Auntie Bern gave me probably 30 years ago. It is an indestructible cake and I add all sorts of crazy things to it. Sometimes I just try and see how far I can push it before it doesn’t work! It’s written on a ripped and holey piece of paper and a few months back I had a real toddler tantrum when I thought I had lost it!
Good eating
Love me x Andy Bromberger
Chocolate Cake Recipe
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1cup milk
2 heap cups self raising flour
4 dessert spoons cocoa
250 g melted butter
Beat all ingredients except butter.
When mixed add the butter
Pour into a prepared cake tin and bake at 180 degrees for about 1 hour or until a skewer comes out ALMOST clean when you insert it into the middle of the cake.
My extra tip: At the melted butter stage I added a whole lot of homemade orange jam, then iced the cake with Lint orange dark chocolate ganache ( very easy…just melt chocolate and some butter in a heavy bottom saucepan over low heat until its melted and glossy)
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