A Deadly Grind (26 page)

“I don’t think that’s true,” she murmured.

“We’ll see.” He covered her hand with his and smiled.

She felt a tremor of dawning warmth toward him.

“You know, I always did like you, Jaymie,” he said, still watching her eyes. “But while you were with Joel . . .” He shook his head. “Then I found out you guys broke up. I hate to say it, but I was glad. He was never good enough for you.”

“Now,
you
are good for my self-esteem! I should have had you around last December.” She smiled up at him, intent on keeping it light.

Once the cabinet was fully put together, she began to choose the display pieces she wanted to store on the Hoosier, while Daniel sat at the table sipping tea. A vintage glass rolling pin and a collection of tin cookie cutters were her first choices for the work top. Then she picked out a wood-handled rotary eggbeater and a copper kettle. Along the top of the upper cabinet she lined up a vintage colander on a stand, a wood spice drawer and a salt box.

It wasn’t quite right, yet, but she’d work on it. She got out her digital camera and took a couple of photos. “This will be for the blog, if my cookbook gets picked up.” Denver slunk in and rubbed up against Daniel’s leg. Jaymie noticed and laughed. “He never does that!”

“I like cats,” he said, picking Denver up and cradling him on his lap. The cat didn’t hiss or jump down.

“He always hated and
still
hates Joel with a fiery cat passion.”

“Cats are more discerning than dogs,” Daniel said, his mouth quirking up in an awkward smile.

There was another long pause, a fairly comfortable silence, as Jaymie fussed with her arrangement, then Daniel said, “So, you doing anything tonight?”

“Not really. Laundry, but that can wait.”

“Would you like to go out somewhere for dinner?”

She hesitated only a moment, watching him pet Denver, then said, “Sure, why not?” Dinner was just about right. Maybe she needed more time to figure out what she wanted from a guy and a relationship, but dinner she could manage.

history of queen elizabeth cake

by Jaymie Leighton

According to CooksInfo.com, the recipe for Queen Elizabeth cake was sold for fifteen cents a copy during World War II as a fundraiser for the war effort. As Queen Elizabeth (known now as the late Queen Mother, as she was the current Queen Elizabeth II’s mother) was a staunch supporter of the war effort, it may have been named in her honor, but it was certainly not a favorite cake of hers.

In fact, according to another foodie website, Astray.com, when the Queen Mother was asked about the source of the recipe, her lady-in-waiting wrote back to the questioner that the source was uncertain, but that it should not be called “Queen Elizabeth cake” but rather “date and walnut cake.” Given the rather plain and unexciting nature of the recipe, who can blame her? Perhaps she would have liked something a little more regal named after her!

The modern cook will notice that some assumptions of knowledge were made in this recipe, originally from the
1953 Johnsonville United Church Ladies’ Auxiliary Cookbook
, that may baffle modern cooks.

First, a “moderate” oven is about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Second, what the heck is “top milk”? Cream! In previous years, milk used to be bought in glass bottles with an odd ballooning of the neck. This would capture the cream as it separated from the milk and floated to the top, and thus, “top milk!”

The recipe still seems, to the modern eye, to be a jumble of directions and ingredients. Following this, you will find the deciphered recipe, with baking and serving suggestions!

recipes

Queen Elizabeth Cake

vintage recipe (from cooksinfo.com)

This is the original recipe for the cake Jaymie made for the annual Queensville Tea with the Queen event!

Mix 1 cup dates, 1 cup boiling water, 1 small tsp. of soda and let stand while doing the rest. ¼ cup shortening, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, ½ cup chopped nuts, 1 ½ cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, salt and vanilla. Mix cake as usual, fold in date mixture, pour into 8X8 pan and bake in moderate oven for about 30 minutes.

TOPPING:

5 tbsp. brown sugar, ¼ cup cocoanut, 3 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. top milk. Boil 3 min. Remove cake from oven and while still warm pour this mixture over cake. Sprinkle cocoanut over and put back in oven to brown.

Queen Elizabeth Cake

modernized recipe

Feel free to experiment with what is essentially a simple date nut cake. Perhaps you could change out the “topping” for a cream cheese icing, or bake it in a round pan, turn it out and slice the cake horizontally, then fill it with raspberry preserves. It is a very rich, moist tea cake, though, and doesn’t really need any fancying up!—
JL

Makes 16 good-sized pieces.

CAKE:

1 cup dates (I packed the dates down to fill the cup
measure)

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts)

1½ cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt (estimated)

½ tsp. vanilla (estimated)

TOPPING:

5 tbsp. brown sugar

3 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. cream

¼ cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dates, boiling water and baking soda together and let stand while doing the rest. This softens the dates to let them blend with the batter.

Blend together shortening, sugar, beaten egg and vanilla in large bowl.

Mix together in a
separate
bowl the flour, baking powder and salt, then add chopped nuts.

Mix dry ingredients (flour mixture) with wet (shortening mixture) until thoroughly combined, then fold in the softened dates. (I mashed the dates to make them softer, and it helped the batter blend nicely.)

Spray 8x8 pan with spray oil, pour cake batter in and bake in 350 degree oven for about 40–45 minutes. Test cake with a toothpick for doneness; inserted toothpick should come out clean.

Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients and boil three minutes.

Remove cake from oven, and while still warm pour this mixture over cake. Sprinkle coconut over and put back in the oven to brown. (I put the cake in the 350 degree oven for five minutes, but the coconut was not browning, so I put it under the broiler for two or three minutes—four inches away from the element—to brown the coconut. If you do this step,
watch it carefully
! The caramel glaze on top will bubble.)

Cut into squares and serve with good, strong tea, on your prettiest cake plates! I would suggest, in honor of the Queen Mother’s Scottish origins (she spent her childhood at Glamis Castle in Scotland), that you use a tartan-pattern china like Lenox’s Holiday Tartan or a wonderful Canadian original, Newfoundland Tartan dishes made by Royal Adderley of Ridgway, though the latter are rare and hard to find! Alternately, in honor of Queen Victoria, you could use the Herend pattern “Queen Victoria,” a lovely floral china introduced at the first world’s fair, the Great Exhibition in 1851 and actually purchased and used by Her Royal Highness!—
JL

Victoria Hamilton
is a pseudonym for national bestselling author Donna Lea Simpson, who is also a collector of vintage cookware and recipes.