Hi, everybody! To celebrate the recent release of my second book, A LITERARY HOLIDAY COOKBOOK, I’ve been doing a monthly post series devoted to recipes from fiction-inspired cookbooks. Today’s recipe is from THE GEEKY BARTENDER COOKBOOK by Cassandra Reeder, creator of The Geeky Chef blog. When I first started blogging, The Geeky Chef was one of my greatest inspirations when choosing a focus for my blog, so making a recipe from Cassandra’s book is great honor for me! Let’s get started!
For my Lord of the Rings bonus recipe, I loved the idea of making the cake from Bilbo’s birthday party. It’s not expressly mentioned in the book, but it’s hard to imagine a birthday without one. As you may recall, the one in the movie is huuuuge—2 giant tiers with 2 layers each, enough to fit 111 candles and a host of fresh flowers. I thought about doing a recreation of that same cake, but I’ve seen enough other bloggers do it that I wanted to try something different. Plus, I just finished making a giant chocolate chip cookie, and I made a 10-inch 2-layer double chocolate cake last month. They were fun (and delicious), but I think I’m done with giant desserts for a while. I was in the mood for something mini, but not JUST mini. I wanted a unique, creative element to make this dessert just a little bit special. And that’s where I got the idea for these cupcakes!
The cake in the movie appeared to be white cake with vanilla frosting. I decided to stick with the white cake for the cupcakes themselves but went with a lemon frosting on top, garnishing with candles and edible flowers just like the movie. Inside, I added a surprise: homemade blackberry curd! It’s super delicious and easy to make—an invisible surprise, just like at the end of Bilbo’s party!
The round, green door of Bag End is one of the strongest icons in the stories of Middle Earth. It represents so much—home and journey, beginnings and endings, comfort and adventure—and it holds all these otherwise contradictory ideas in effortless resolution. It’s the door through which Bilbo greets his unexpected guests and leaves for adventure in The Hobbit. It’s a symbol of the home that Frodo longs to return to in The Lord of the Rings, but when he does, he finds that although we can go home, we can never go back. It’s a door that, when opened, leads to the promise of good company, a full larder, and a kettle of hot tea. It holds a special place in my heart (and that of many other Tolkien fans as well), so I knew my Lord of the Rings menu wouldn’t be complete without a tribute to it.
I’ve made giant chocolate chip cookies in the past, and I loved the idea of making one to look like a hobbit door. So here it is! The recipe is the giant chocolate chip cookie recipe from Tollhouse. I love how it turned out, though if I’d been thinking ahead, I might have tried to create a wood grain effect with my smoothing knife as I spread out the frosting for the base. I love the yellow doorknob and Gandalf’s rune in the corner. The quote around the border comes from Bilbo and Frodo’s traveling song, and it couldn’t be more perfect! 🙂
Normally I make just one tea for my Book of the Month, but I’ve been known to make multiple teas for books I’m really excited about. I knew The Lord of the Rings would be one of those books long before I even started planning the menu. For one thing, it’s a trilogy, so it’s only fair to have one tea for each book, right? Plus, there are just too many awesome potential teas to choose just one. I actually made FIVE originally, but that seemed excessive so I narrowed it down to my three favorites: Ent-Draught, Breakfast at Bag End, and Sam’s Garden Tea.
Ent-Draught was the most obvious choice, since it’s arguably the most iconic drink in the story. There are two versions, and I decided to make the refreshing, less savory version. Breakfast at Bad End is a slight variation on a hobbit tea I designed for my cookbook (the one in the book uses English breakfast and chestnut, while this one is Irish breakfast and hazelnut). And Sam’s Garden Tea is a tribute to orchard, herb, and flower bed with a refreshing blend of peach, chamomile, and spearmint.
“A Short Cut to Mushrooms” is one of my favorite chapters in Fellowship. It’s when we get a really good look at the nature of hobbits. When Pippin first suggests crossing Farmer Maggot’s land, Frodo doesn’t want to because he was caught stealing mushrooms from Maggot as a child. However, we see a glimpse of hobbit-y good humor when Maggot laughingly remembers the thefts…and his wife later sends a basket of mushrooms with them just for Frodo! We also see the stout-heartedness of hobbits when Farmer Maggot volunteers to take the travelers to the ferry, even though he knows there are dangerous men out looking for Frodo. He stands up bravely to what they think is a Black Rider (but turns out to be Merry in the end). It pulls at my heart that the farmer is willing to risk himself for his neighbors when he owes them nothing.
Long story short: from the moment I first started planning this Lord of the Rings menu, I knew I HAD to have a mushroom recipe. I wanted something quick and easy with only a handful of ingredients—a literal short cut to mushrooms! This recipe is one of my favorites. I use it all the time at home. Just throw the ingredients in a bowl, stir, spread it on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. It works well in a skillet on the stove top too!
Not gonna lie, creating this reading kit was downright intimidating. There are just SO MANY cool Lord of the Rings items out there! Choosing felt like such a huge task. I actually put off writing this for a week to give me time to thoroughly sort through everything and make sure my kit included only the really good stuff.
I did my best to avoid items that were too obvious or super easy to find, since I figure people don’t need anyone to tell them about Frodo Funko Pops or One Ring replicas. I also avoided super expensive stuff (with two carefully considered exceptions). I focused my efforts on creative, high quality, mostly fan-made items that would make great gifts for the hobbit, wizard, shieldmaiden, or Heir of Isildur in your life. Enjoy! 🙂
We’re doubling up on recipes today! There are SO many awesome foods in Lord of the Rings, so it was the only way I could fit in everything I wanted today make. ^.^ For the stew, I combined a method I found on The Spruce Eats with my own list of ingredients and created what is now one of my new favorite recipes. The meat is savory, mild, and tender (it falls right off the bone!), and the broth is perfectly seasoned. It’s definitely a dish Sam Gamgee would be proud to serve Mister Frodo!
For the lembas, I used a recipe featured on Tea with Tolkien as a jumping off point and experimented with it from there. The original recipe makes a thicker, slightly sweeter cookie with almond pieces in it—which sounds delicious, don’t get me wrong—but I was in the mood for a thinner, simpler cookie. It took a few tries, but I FINALLY came up with a version I loved. It’s delicate and faintly sweet, almost a cross between a cookie and a savory biscuit. The almond-lemon flavor combo is just the sort of subtle, fresh, back-to-nature flavor you’d expect to find in Elven food. Husband and baby loved it too! 🙂
Dear Tom Bombadil,
I never got over you being left out of the Lord of the Rings movies. You’ve always been one of my favorite Fellowship characters, quite possibly because you are such an enigma. Even Tolkien himself didn’t claim to know your whole story, though I admit I favor the theory that you represent Adam before the Fall. No matter what your origin may be, you undeniably bring a refreshing touch of charm and joy to a book series that definitely has it’s share of somber moments. As such, I wanted to show my appreciation for you by giving you a place of honor in my Lord of the Rings menu.
As I read Fellowship, the dinner you shared with Frodo and friends sounded sooo wholesome and delicious: white bread, butter, herbs, yellow cream, honeycomb, and berries. I simply couldn’t resist recreating it for myself! I used a white bread recipe developed by Red Star Yeast, which produced a beautiful, soft, smooshy loaf. It paired wonderfully with basil butter, fresh blackberries, and a light drizzle of honey.
A slice of this bread is the perfect start to a wonderful culinary journey. If you ever decide to travel outside your forest and visit the land of Chicago, don’t hesitate to stop by. I’ll put the kettle on, and we’ll munch on homemade bread as you tell me all about Old Man Willow and your adventures in your beautiful forest.
Love,
Ali
P.S. I love your boots.
