Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson recipe by John Godwin
I’ve taken some of the notes below, from a number of on line sources.
From Pen America, the Creative Writing Institute and other places I cant remember, because i do spend such a long time on the internet.
Author
Charimaine Wilkerson, known as a Caribbean-American writer who’s now based in Italy, Charmaine Wilkinson wrote Foodie Book Clubs June read, Black Cake.
Spending time living in Jamaica Charmaine, she now does a lot of her writing in Italy where she has lived, along with her family, on and off for 20 years.
Even though Black cake is Charmain’s first novel, after graduating from Stanford, she spent the beginning of her career in news and communications, writing award winning short fiction for anthologies and magazines.
Charmaine Wilkerson
Charmaine had amazing success for her first novel, Black Cake, so successful that it caught the eye of those in the know and it’s being made into a mini-series.
It was picked as Oprah Winfrey’s book of the week and was a #ReadWithJenna book club pick.
Speaking about the success of Black Cake with ‘Book Page’, Charmaine said that black cake “…is a family favourite, a recipe handed down for generations” She wants her readers to look at the book as a “cosy culinary story”
About the book, “It’s about the idea that there’s the story you tell about your life, about your family history, about your culture, Wilkerson said. "And then there are the stories that are not told, or concealed, or not fully revealed. The cake symbolises the history of this family, in which the children, who are now grown, really don’t know the half of what their parents went through. Their journey of discovery is going to actually change the way in which they see not only their parents, their family history, but their own relationships.”
Love this cover for Black Cake
Book
A book which goes from past to present.
A brother and sister come together after eight years to hear the voice of their dead mother reading her last thoughts.
She tells them that most of what they knew about her life wasn’t true.
A murder in their mothers history and a new sister in the mix, Benny and Byron need to learn to forgive themselves and their mother. They have to earn to accept each other for who they are.
Left with an inheritance of a traditional Caribbean black cake, they decide to give it back to the sea.
My Thoughts
I found this a little difficult to listen to, not because it was badly read (audio book again) but because I just wasn’t interested in the story. Apologies to the lovey writing of Charmaine Wilkerson.
The writing was good, with a flow that I liked, and the Island setting of the book was a delight to imagine, I just felt that I’d heard the story before.
Someone dying and leaving an unspoken issue behind for those left to resolve, felt like an old story in a new format.
I loved the way the black cake was used as a bridge between the generations and cultures, I always knew that food was a stitch joining family histories, and it was nice to see it’s use here.
Using food to link the past with the future speaks to me.
With many note books full of recipes in my keeping, I hope my children will learn to love them, and miss me more, when I’m no longer around.
There is something special in sharing food with others, and having a piece of paper with a recipe that comes out on special occasions, it speaks of love.
And love from mother to children is what I took from this book.
I give it the book a 2 egg rating, but I would still recommend it to others to read.
I give this a 2 egg rating.
Food
John Godwin
John wrote this bio himself, which I loved – thank you for gifting us a recipe for Foodie Book Club, and what a recipe it is too.
John Godman
Full-time I'm an electrical/mechanical engineer responsible for the maintenance of a busy railway depot in Liverpool.
In my spare time I have started my little home bakery called Scones of Anarchy from the cottage on the Wirral that I share with my partner Vicky and our French Bulldog, Bentley.
I've been baking for over 50 years, taught by my dad, a chef, and my mum and Nan who used to own guest houses in Ireland before I was born.
I enjoy baking a wide variety of baked goods, but my real passion is for patisserie, especially things incorporating laminated dough and pastry.
In my spare time, when I have any, I enjoy motorcycling and amateur dramatics. Back in 2016 I was lucky enough to appear on the BBC1 cookery show, Yes Chef! I won my week cooking with Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth.
Recipe
Tropical Buns
Ingredients
For the Buns.
200g Ripe Bananas (without skins)
1 Large egg + yolk
Approx 100mI whole milk
500g Bread flour
10g Instant yeast
10g Salt
60g Caster Sugar
75g Creamed Coconut (finely grated)
1 tsp Cinnamon
75g Softened Butter (unsalted)
100g Golden raisins
75g Finely chopped pineapple (fresh or tinned but reserve about 25ml juice)
25ml rum (optional)
25g Soft brown sugar
For the Custard
175ml Whole milk
75ml Passion fruit puree
½ Vanilla bean (or ½ tsp Vanilla bean paste)
50g Sugar
2 Large egg yolks
15g Cornflour
10g Plain flour
30g White Chocolate
Method
The Buns
Put the raisins into a bowl with the reserved pineapple juice and rum if being used.
Put the dry ingredients, flour, caster sugar, grated coconut, cinnamon, salt and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the salt and yeast on opposite sides as salt can kill the yeast if they come in contact before mixing.
Mash the banana in a bowl until there are no big lumps and beat in the egg and egg yolk until well mixed.
Add the egg & banana mix to the dry ingredients along with another three quarters of the milk and, using a dough hook, mix on low speed until the ingredients come together, adding more milk as required. The amount of milk will vary depending on the type of flour, if using very strong flour you may even need a little more.
Once the dough has come together mix for 5 minutes and then add the butter a bit at a time until fully incorporated. Keep mixing on low to medium speed until the dough is not sticking to the bowl and is smooth and shiny. This could take over 15 minutes depending on your mixer. The dough should be soft but not sticky and should be able to be stretched between your fingers until nearly transparent... the window pane test.
When ready tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Put the dough into a buttered bowl, cover and leave to prove until doubled in size. Whilst the dough is proving is the ideal time to make the custard. (See below)
When the dough is nearly ready, remove the raisins from the liquor, dry on some kitchen towel and chop roughly. Dry the pineapple on kitchen towel and put with the raisins. When the dough has doubled, leave in the bowl and knead to collapse the dough. Mix the fruit in well by folding and kneading until well combined.
Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces (approx 95g) and form into balls by rolling under your palms on a lightly floured surface. Place the balls onto a bun tray or baking sheet, put into a plastic bag and leave to prove until almost doubled in size.
While the buns are proving, preheat your oven to 200⁰C fan. Make a simple syrup by adding the soft brown sugar to the pineapple juice (and rum) and boiling until reduced. This will be used later when the Buns are filled.
When the Buns have risen brush with a little beaten egg, sprinkle with pearl sugar if desired and place the tray in the middle of the oven. Lower the temperature to 185⁰C and bake for around 17-20minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and, after 5 minutes Place the buns on a cooling rack.
These look so beautiful
The Custard
Heat the milk, half the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod (or the vanilla bean paste) in a saucepan.
Put the egg yolks, flour, cornflour and half the sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale and stir in the passionfruit puree.
When the milk is near boiling add a small amount to the egg mixture and stir well.
Keep adding the milk a bit at a time until all is in the bowl.
Transfer back into the pan and bring to the boil on a low heat whilst whisking constantly until the custard starts to thicken.
Take off the heat and add the white chocolate and mix in until combined.
Transfer to a clean bowl through a sieve to remove any lumps. Cover the surface in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to cool.
To fill the buns put the cooled custard into a piping bag, use a chopstick to make a hole in the side of each bun and gently use it to make a cavity in the centre.
Now, having cut the tip off the piping bag push the end into the hole and fill each bun with custard. When all filled, warm up the syrup and brush over the buns.
Look at the wonderful filling
