Ginger Pudding Cake and 2013 at Coffee Cake and Culture.
2013 has been a pretty busy year for Coffee Cake and Culture. Not only have my home classes continued to grow, but I have given “one off’ talks at Woollahra Library, Flute Tree and Limmud Oz 2013.
This year I also wrote a new series “Music’s Mechanical Make-up” which delved into 6 elements of music. They are melody, rhythm, harmony, the bass, the orchestra and literature in music. I found this series fantastic to research and great fun to present. When we listen to music we rarely think about the components which bring it together. In “Music’s Mechanical Make-up’ we unlock some of those mysteries!
Next year looks to be incredibly exciting.
I have started writing another series whose working title is “Atonalism, Alienation and Appeasement”. In these classes we are going to look at the 20th century. Musically, the 20th century has shocked liked no other; splinted into a myriad of subcultures and been caught up in turbulent and violent social and political systems. These have all had radical effects on composers, performers and the listening public. Each of these classes looks at how composers adapted in these social and political situations.
20th century music is at times challenging. My aim in this series is that by explaining the environment in which pieces were written one can appreciate the music if not actually start liking it.
My next big adventure in 2014 is my concert series. I have selected 7 concerts from the major musical institution in Sydney. I will be inviting people to attend these concerts with me and prior to each I will be presenting a class discussing the pieces. Unlike my usual series, people can pick and choose which classes and concerts they want to attend. Come to the classes and not the concerts; come to the concerts and not the classes! Also please feel free to invite friends to both.
As the year starts to wind down, I’d just like to thank you for all your support throughout the year and I hope I have made your musical experiences more enjoyable.
One last cake too.
I made this Belinda Jeffery cake at my class on Harmony last week. A perfect cake for this talk as the flavours all work beautifully together as good harmony should!!
Have a safe and relaxing holiday,
Love me
GINGER PUDDING CAKE
130g plain flour
130g SR flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
170ml golden syrup
170ml sour cream
1 ½ tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 Tsp. freshly grated ginger
½ cup brown sugar
180g butter melted
150g pitted dates chopped
6 (I used a lot more!) crystallised ginger finely sliced
Preheat oven to 180 degrees and butter a 24/5 round cake tin. Line with backing paper
Put plain, SR flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt into large bowl and whisk together for a minute. In a separate bowl add lightly beaten eggs, golden syrup, sour cream, lemon zest, fresh ginger, brown sugar and butter. Whisk until just combined
Tip flour mixture into the egg mixture and stir until just combined. Toss in dates mixed with an extra couple of Tsp. of flour so they don’t fall to the bottom.
Pour batter into the tin and scatter the crystalised ginger on top
Belinda says to bake the cake for 35/40 minutes but I found in my oven that it was closer to an hour. Cake should spring back when pressed in the centre.
Leave the cake for about 7 minutes before undoing the spring form or inverting.
I served mine with a mixture of sour cream, sheep’s yoghurt, vanilla extract and a pinch of sugar!
Yum!