friday feast: sweets for the sweet, or, why marie antoinette licks the spoon

~ jama

kirstindurnst

Slip into your silks and satins, your high powdered poufs, your diamonds and tulle. Rouge your cheeks, flutter your fans. Today, a deliciously decadent slice of Marie Antoinette courtesy of Northern New York-based poet Christie Grimes.

I first tasted Christie’s sensual, sensory rich poem in the recently published food anthology, Joys of the Table: An Anthology of Culinary Verse (Richer Resources, 2015). Sweets are often considered a self-indulgent extravagance, and I like how the flavors of Christie’s images are enhanced with a subtle subtext of 18th century notes. How fine the line between berries and blood!

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via Glorious Treats
via Glorious Treats

MARIE ANTOINETTE OPENS A PASTRY SHOP IN PARIS
by Christie Grimes

She calls it simply Marie’s,
fills her large store front window
with red velvet cupcakes,
raspberry crescents, cherry turnovers,
loves the clash between sweet and tart
the way it cleaves her tongue in two
seems like it will linger forever
but in a moment,
just the time it takes to blink
or swallow,
it is gone.
Only the remnant
of a seed
or the soft jelly coating
remain.

People come through the door
ask for coconut crèmes,
flourless chocolate torts,
lemon meringue
but she refuses to supply them.
“Eat these cakes I have made,” she tells them
as she waves her hand at the window.
There are strawberry preserve cookies,
boysenberry crepes and cranberry blintzes.

She can’t help it.
She loves working the red fruit between her hands,
the way the juices stain her cuticle beds,
deepen the creases of her palms.

When she is baking,
she licks the spoons and spatulas
sucks on her fingertips,
savors the smooth syrup of the crushed berries,
the way they pop in her mouth
or burst under her fork,
darken the side of her bowl.
And, after they are all in the oven,
as she scoops the batter into her mouth
she always runs the edge of the spoon along her lip
indulging in the short slide of steel.

~ Posted by permission of the author, copyright © 2015 Christie Grimes. All rights reserved.

via Bridget Davis
via Bridget Davis

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via Turnips 2 Tangerines
Bumbleberry Pie via Turnips 2 Tangerines

Christie: I wrote this poem gathered at a friend’s cabin for a poetry retreat day. It was a lovely location on Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence Seaway of Northern New York State. It was a brisk day to take a boat across (it can be cold there even in July), but we were hoping that the mist and chill would burn off as the day brightened. We brought lots of goodies from summer farmer’s markets, including fresh berries and pastries. We also had an assortment of French and Spanish cheese and summer sausage, which we began cutting with a large cleaver, the only nearby blade we could find in the small kitchenette. When we nestled into the couches, all of the images – the delectable pastries, the fresh berries, the chopping blade in the other room, all swirled together into the poem.

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🍒 A LITTLE CAKE BOUTIQUE 🍓

Two things immediately come to mind whenever anyone mentions Marie Antoinette: “Let Them Eat Cake” and the sharp blade of that guillotine. By now most of us know Marie didn’t really say that, but alas, her decadent cake legacy lives on and on, compelling pastry chefs all over the world to top their over-the-top creations in her honor.

The Marie Antoinette cake seems to be a favored specialty of wedding cake artisans, allowing them to indulge their wildest fantasies in flamboyant frostings and fondant. The higher and more intricate the design, the better. Problem is, these cakes are so exquisite, you’re loathe to take a knife to any of them.

Feast your eyes:

via Wedluxe
via Wedluxe
via sweet ruby
via sweet ruby
via Sevva
via Sevva
via Cake Coquette
via Cake Coquette
viacafecentral -sillybakery
via Cake Central
via Connie Cupcake
via Connie Cupcake
via Cake Central
via Cake Central
via Weddingly Color
via Weddingly Color
via Belle the Magazine
via Belle the Magazine
via Cake Zone
via Cake Zone
via Elizabeth's Cake Emporium
via Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium
via Olfson Design
via Olfson Design
via Rosy Cakes
via Rosy Cakes
via Rosalind Miller Cakes
via Rosalind Miller Cakes
Amanda Macleod's prizewinning Marie Cake too 200 hours to make -©2013Eastnews Press Agency PLEASE BYLINE: Martin Rose/Eastnews.co.uk Date: April 26 2013 Location: Roxwell, Essex. LET THEM EAT CAKE: Cake maker, Amanda Macleod has made an award winning cake version of Mary Antionette! Pictured: The cake.
Amanda Macleod’s prizewinning Marie Cake took 200 hours to make -©2013 Eastnews Press Agency (Martin Rose/Eastnews.co.uk) Date: April 26 2013
Location: Roxwell, Essex.
For those with smaller appetites
A cake pop for those with smaller appetites 🙂

All this cake is making me thirsty. Yes, there’s even a Marie Antoinette tea:

marietea

And interestingly enough, there’s a real Marie Antoinette’s, but it’s not in Paris, it’s in Whitby, England. 🙂

FOT1195339

marieantoinettespatisseriewhitby

I think we should all drop by sometime soon!

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Christie Grimes teaches at SUNY Jefferson and hosts the North Country Writers Festival in Northern New York. She has published in journals including Harpur Palate, Permafrost and Passages North. She earned graduate degrees from Florida State University, Texas State University, and Binghamton University. She adores Texas fruit kolaches. Her debut poetry collection will be published by Jane’s Boy Press in early 2016. 

 

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🎈 THE DOUBLE HAPPINESS GIVEAWAY WINNER 🎈

IS

LINDA BAIE,

WHOSE FAVORITE CHINESE DISH IS

🐔 KUNG PAO CHICKEN! 🐔

CONGRATULATIONS, LINDA! 

Please send your snail mail address to readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com so we can get the book out to you right away.

Thanks to everyone for entering. It was such a mouthwatering treat reading about all your favorite Chinese foods. 🙂

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poetry fridayThe lovely and talented Michelle H Barnes is hosting today’s Roundup at Today’s Little Ditty. Take her a piece of decadent cake and check out the full menu of poetic goodies being shared in the blogosphere this week.

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"Another?"
“Another?”

This one is especially nice:

Ispahan by Laduree
Ispahan by Ladurée (giant raspberry macaron with rose water creme), via A Life Worth Eating

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Copyright © 2015 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

36 thoughts on “friday feast: sweets for the sweet, or, why marie antoinette licks the spoon”

  1. The poem by Christy was really rich with descriptions and I love the background story for it… hen the pictures of those gorgeous cakes and sweets! Time for some peanut butter on gluten free toast… maybe some raspberry jam to go with that, ma’m?

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  4. Pingback: 2015 Poetry Friday Archive | Jama's Alphabet Soup

    1. Thanks for noshing with us today, Renee — those cakes are definitely works of art which I can’t imagine anyone actually eating. Christie’s poem, on the other hand, is something we can feast and nibble on over and over . . . 🙂

      Like

  6. Oh my, a ‘win’ on Marie Antoinette day. I think I’ll have a slice of cake, Jama! Thank you! Christie’s poem is quite tart, as Marie would have wished, at least according to the poem’s story. What a sinister current in that “the way the juices stain her cuticle beds,/deepen the creases of her palms.” And the cakes. I had no idea that these are created. Wow! Love the cake pop and the one by Amanda Macleod. Thank you for this sweet post.

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    1. Congrats again, Linda! I know you will enjoy Double Happiness!!

      I was surprised to find those cakes online — they must cost a fortune. It is interesting to see artisans taking a simple wedding cake to another level.

      Yes, that sinister current is very interesting — there’s a wicked deliciousness in indulging our sweet cravings, isn’t there?

      Like

  9. Yummy and slightly sinister at the same time – I love it! Also, now I am craving something sweet, and all I have in front of me is a small bag of pita chips. Sigh!

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    1. It’s definitely a compelling poem — fascinating blend of sweet and sinister. The phrase “slice of cake” has new meaning now. 🙂

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  12. Jama,
    What a powerful poem! Thank you so much for sharing it.

    How have I been away for so long? I’ve missed visiting. Glad, as always, to see all the loveliness you share.

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  13. This post drove me to my fridge to find the last sliver of chocolate cake I’d been saving, even though it was just sweet through and through. Cake for breakfast is allowed, right? Delicious from top to bottom, Jama!

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  14. Oh that Marie! This post makes me think of the movie CHOCOLAT, which we just watched again with our son, who was seeing it for the first time. Something so soul-full about cake and chocolate and even Marie herself. Thanks for the poem and the pics. I totally want to visit the cake shop in England xo

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  16. One word sums it up – “Oui” – for the poem, and the beyond-decadent cakes. Only in poetry could you so cleverly bring together sweet and sour, blood and fruit, sword edge danger and swoon enjoyment. Nikkie’s poem is a tempting appetizer for her upcoming book.

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