I apologize that I have been having trouble with the recipes; everything at the Bistro is still really topsy-turvy and cattywampus, and I’m not sure how we will get it together again. The kitchen, despite our best efforts, is a disaster area. Besides that, the staffing is complicated. Peirce has gone on a trip to Canada, Wode is still AWOL, one of us has a short term gig as an assassin, and one of us is doing an obscure Tennessee Williams play.

However, Mousy & I did put together a cake for the Milligan College Library’s 4th Annual Edible Books Festival. It was a Fireman’s Cake, themed around Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. It was a  Double-Dark Chocolate & Hot Pepper Cake with Lapang Souchong Tea (smokey)Frosting and a Chocolate Chip Cookie cover.

The cake was a variation on my standard cake recipe, and we made cupcakes with the extra:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup powdered chocolate
• 1  tsp.  baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. hot paprika
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup strong Lapang Souchong Tea
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup dark molasses (not black strap)
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

The frosting was pretty standard:

•  ½ pound softened butter
• 3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp. Lapang Souchong (拉普山小種) Tea, steeped, then boiled down to very intense.
• additional heavy cream or sugar as needed

The book cover was a standard Tool-House cookie recipe, baked out on a baking pan, and the detail work was melted chocolate.