Search results for clockwork recipes

Bready or Not: Maple Sugar Cake: A Clockwork Dagger recipe

Posted by on Nov 11, 2015 in Blog, Bready or Not, breakfast, cake, Clockwork Dagger recipe, maple | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Maple Sugar Cake: A Clockwork Dagger recipe

Maple is one of my favorite flavors. It’s also a flavor that is often mentioned in my Clockwork Dagger books, especially in connection with the northern kingdom of Frengia.

Maple Sugar Cake

My new Clockwork Dagger novella “Wings of Sorrow and Bone” follows an important minor character from Clockwork Crown: Rivka. Her mother was Frengian and a baker, and teenaged Rivka is also a baker when you meet her in the book.

“Wings of Sorrow and Bone” begins soon after the events in Clockwork Crown. Rivka now lives in Tamarania City with her grandmother. Instead of running a bakery, she is pursuing her dream of becoming a master mechanist… but maple-flavored goods are still a major subject of nostalgia. They make her think of her old home, and her mama.

Maple Sugar Cake

I looked around online for recipes that I thought would suit the more rustic world of my books. I found a maple sugar cake recipe
at The Kitchy Kitchen and decided to make some adaptions. I wanted something that would work for gift-sized loaf cakes.

Maple Sugar Cake

Maple sugar is the one extravagant ingredient, but it can now be bought for a decent price on Amazon.com–heck, you can even subscribe and get it cheaper! A little maple sugar goes a long way, too. It’s potent stuff.

Maple Sugar Cake

The resulting cake is perfect for breakfast or a snack. You can sweeten it up to your preference. Make glaze with the recipe below, or eat it plain. Plus, it freezes and keeps for months! I used it as a handy breakfast loaf to thaw out for company.

This maple loaf cake has a role in the novella, too. Maybe you can go all meta and eat some cake as you read about the cake!

 

Maple Sugar Cake
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Bready or Not: Maple Sugar Cake: A Clockwork Dagger recipe

This maple sugar loaf cake is featured in my Clockwork Dagger novella "Wings of Sorrow and Bone." It's great for breakfast or snack. Freeze the unglazed mini loaves and they keep for months. Recipe makes FOUR small loaves.
Course: Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Keyword: maple, quick bread
Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

For the loaf cake:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups maple sugar
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon heaping
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Glaze for ONE small loaf:

  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar or powdered xylitol, sifted
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons milk or almond milk or other substitute, more as needed
  • 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor or vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Prepare mini loaf pans (tin, stoneware, paper) by applying nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, cream the butter and gradually add the maple sugar. Beat until creamy; with a mixer, this takes about a minute. Add the beaten eggs and combine.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, baking soda, spices, and flour. Alternately add applesauce and dry ingredients to butter mixture. Once they are blended, fold the nuts into the batter. Distribute the batter among the pans; they should be about half full.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minute, until a tester comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely. If they are in a tin or stoneware pan, remove them from the dish.
  • At this point, you can freeze the loaves wrapped in wax paper and plastic wrap or in a gallon bag.
  • If you want to eat them now, store at room temperature or in fridge. Serve with glaze (see recipe above) or topped with powdered sugar or even a small amount of maple syrup... or plain! Eat cold or warmed in microwave.
  • A loaf keeps for days if wrapped in the fridge. In the freezer, keeps for upward of six months.
  • OM NOM NOM!

 

Maple Sugar Cake

 

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Bready or Not: Cardamom Honey Chicken: A Clockwork Dagger Recipe

Posted by on Jul 15, 2015 in Blog, Bready or Not, chicken, Clockwork Dagger recipe, main dish | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Cardamom Honey Chicken: A Clockwork Dagger Recipe

In The Clockwork Crown, you meet some of Alonzo Garret’s family. You even find out some of his favorite foods.

Cardamom Chicken2_sm

“…And tonight, Cook is going to make your very, very favorite, cardamom chicken with cashews, and there will be lemon curd with shortbread for dessert.”

I chose cardamom chicken because 1) I love cardamom, 2) it’s not a common American way to flavor chicken, which sets apart my setting. When I wrote it, I figured that at some point I would need to make the recipe for myself.

Cardamom Chicken4_sm

Cardamom chicken recipes are out there but vary widely. I decided to combine bits and pieces to create something new. The result was mildly sweet, tender chicken that was fabulous served with its own citrusy drippings. It’s definitely a different taste, but a nice one.

Cardamom Chicken1_sm

There are lots of options for leftovers, too. Eat it as-is, or chop it up for a salad with a sweet dressing, or add some Greek yogurt or sour cream and make it a chicken salad for a wrap or sandwich. YUM!

Cardamom Chicken7_sm

I didn’t add any cashews to my chicken, but you certainly could do so to add texture. I suppose at some point I need to do a new shortbread recipe that will pair well with lemon curd, eh?

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Bready or Not: Cardamom Honey Chicken: A Clockwork Dagger Recipe

This original recipe inspired by The Clockwork Crown creates spicy, sweet chicken.
Course: Main Course
Keyword: cardamom, chicken, citrus
Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

Marinade

  • 1/4 cup cooking sherry
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders

Main dish

  • 1 orange thinly sliced
  • salt and pepper

Glaze

  • 2 Tablespoons honey
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  • Place marinade and chicken in a large Ziploc bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 400-degrees. Place orange slices in a casserole dish and lay the chicken tenders on top. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Bake chicken for about 15 minutes, flip the tenders, and bake another 10 minutes. Whisk together the glaze ingredients.
  • Pull out the chicken and check for doneness; it should be fully cooked at this point. Change the oven to broil and move the rack a bit closer to the top. Brush the glaze over the chicken--use every drop! Put the chicken in to broil for just a few minutes.
  • The chicken is delicious on its own or with the sweet pan drippings. You might even want to chop the meat into pieces to allow them to soak in more flavor.
  • OM NOM NOM.

 

Cardamom Chicken3_sm

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Bibliography: Short Works

Posted by on Apr 6, 2021 in | Comments Off on Bibliography: Short Works

This page lists my published works of fiction and nonfiction, with the newest items listed toward the top. If you’re looking for my novels, go directly to the pages for my Chefs of the Five Gods duology, The Clockwork Dagger series, and Blood of Earth Trilogy.

Please note: links to Amazon and Bookshop are part of their affiliate programs. I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Red Dust cover

Red Dust and Dancing Horses and Other Stories

A novel-length collection featuring 28 stories and 6 poems.
published by Fairwood Press
paperback & ebook

Short Stories

Podcasts/YouTube

Guest Blogs

Poetry

Translations

Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies and Other Nonfiction

Interviews

Notable Notes

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Bready or Not: Tunnel of Fudge Cake (redux)

Posted by on Jun 10, 2015 in Blog, Bready or Not, brownies, bundt, cake, chocolate, fudge | Comments Off on Bready or Not: Tunnel of Fudge Cake (redux)

The Clockwork Crown is out! YAAAAAY! Now here’s the cake to celebrate. THE cake. The infamous Tunnel of Fudge Cake.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

I originally posted this back in May 2012. I figured that for this splendiferous occasion, it deserved a repost. This is one of the most amazing cakes I have ever encountered. I mean, LOOK AT IT.

You just gained five pounds by looking at that picture. I’m sorry.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

To quote my original post:
As you can see, it’s a bundt cake. It cooks up and creates its own middle layer of fudge inside. When the cake is fresh, it oozes out in an amazing way. After it has been in the fridge, honestly, it tastes even better. The middle solidifies so it’s like there are two layers of fudgy frosting, one on the inside and one on the outside. You also have this whole mingling of textures thing going on: cakey chocolate, fudgy chocolate, chocolate glaze, walnuts, chocolate, chocolate, chhhhhhocolate.

If you don’t like nuts or have allergies–sorry, this cake really does need them. I think they provide some scaffolding for the massive quantities of chocolate.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

I can add some experience from making this a few times, too. The leftovers are easy to handle. Line a small pan with wax paper. Slice the cake however you want and place the pieces on the pan. Freeze them. Bag them. When you want to serve a slice, remove from freezer and zap it in the microwave until it’s as thawed or hot as you want.

Recipe is adapted from Relish Magazine, and originally in Bundt Cake Bliss by Susanna Short.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Print Recipe

Bready or Not: Tunnel of Fudge Cake

The ultimate cake for any chocoholic. The core is like fudge. It's even better after a day in the fridge.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Keyword: bundt cake, cake, chocolate
Author: Beth Cato

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
  • 1 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 6 eggs room temperature
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
  • 2 cups walnuts or pecans, chopped

Glaze:

  • 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan. One option is to melt 1tablespoon butter, mix 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder into it, then brush the sides of the bundt pan. Or use nonstick spray or butter and sprinkle flour or cocoa powder into the pan.
  • In a small mixing bowl, combine flour and cocoa powder and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and mix thoroughly. Stir in flour mixture by hand until well blended. Gently stir in nuts. Batter will be thick and rather mud-like. Spoon all of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
  • Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is set and the edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Do NOT use the toothpick test. You don't want the center to solidify with this cake.
  • Cool cake upright in the pan on a wire rack for 1 1/2 hours to allow fudge to set. Invert onto a plate to cool thoroughly. Make sure the cake is completely cool before you add the glaze.
  • To prepare glaze, combine sifted confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Add 2 tablespoons milk. Mix thoroughly, and add more milk if needed to create a smooth but pourable glaze. Spoon glaze over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides.
  • This can be eaten fresh but is even better after being in the fridge overnight. The chocolate flavor deepens. It can also be frozen in slices and thawed/warmed in microwave.
  • OM NOM NOM and take an insulin injection.

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Ask Me Stuff!

Posted by on Jun 4, 2015 in Blog, clockwork crown, public speaking | Comments Off on Ask Me Stuff!

Clockwork Crown is out on Tuesday and I intend to be everywhere and Do All the Things. To that end, there are two opportunities next week where you can ask me questions.

I’ll be in reddit/Fantasy next Tuesday for an AMA (Ask Me Anything). A thread will start early in the morning and folks add questions throughout the day. In the afternoon and evening, I’ll hop on and answer things.

On Wednesday, I’ll take part in the Sword and Laser video show/podcast. They have started a topic on Goodreads where you can also pose questions for me. No need to wait–you can post your scintillating queries for me now.

Please participate! Have fun with it. Ask about my writing process or recipes or cats or cosplay or books. Whatever. I’m game.

The Clockwork Crown by Beth Cato

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