of love, longing, and liniment cake: a sweet treat from the anne of green gables cookbook (+ a giveaway!)

~ jama

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

Raspberry Cordial, anyone?

 

Have you ever noticed how often the characters in Anne of Green Gables take tea? Apparently it’s the drink consumed most often in the Anne series, with cake and pie topping the list of foods. Of course there’s also apples, preserves (cherry, blue plum, crab apple, strawberry), biscuits, cookies, puddings, taffy and chocolate caramels. Is it any wonder I want to live in these books? 🙂

We had an elegant tea. Mrs. Barry had the very best china set out, Marilla, just as if I was real company. I can’t tell you what a thrill it gave me. Nobody ever used their very best china on my account before. And we had fruit cake and pound cake and doughnuts and two kinds of preserves, Marilla. And Mrs. Barry asked me if I took tea and said, ‘Pa, why don’t you pass the biscuits to Anne?’ It must be lovely to be grown up, Marilla, when just being treated as if you were is so nice.

 

Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla and Richard Farnsworth as Matthew in the 1985 Sullivan TV series.

 

For some reason I didn’t read Anne of Green Gables until I was an adult — and not until after I had seen the 1985 television series with Megan Follows as Anne. I immediately inhaled all the Anne books, wishing Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert would adopt me, and that I could have a bosom friend like Diana Barry and a dreamy admirer like Gilbert Blythe. I could picture myself sitting at the Cuthbert kitchen table, pouring from the brown teapot, buttering thick slices of homemade bread, and trying to make conversation with shy Matthew.

Last Fall, when the revised and expanded edition of The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook came out, I decided to reread the original novel, which in turn aroused my curiosity about Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.

 

 

The most surprising things I learned about her?

  • She hated “Lucy” and went by “Maud,” being irritated when people added an “e” at the end (just the opposite of Anne Shirley, who insisted on the “e”).
  • Like Anne, she was somewhat of an orphan, since her mother died when she was just 21 months old, and her father moved to Western Canada for work. She was therefore raised by her maternal grandparents, who were pretty strict and humorless. She coped by inventing imaginary friends, reading, writing, and enjoying nature.
  • She always wanted to be an author, publishing her first poem at age 15. In addition to 20 novels, she also published hundreds of short stories and poems.
  • At first she kept her writing a secret — her family thought such a profession was a waste of time (especially for a woman). Once she became assistant postmistress in Cavendish, she was able to submit manuscripts and receive responses without anyone knowing. She persisted despite rejections, because deep down she knew someday she would succeed.
  • Montgomery didn’t really want to write the sequels to Anne of Green Gables, but her contract locked her into writing them if the first book sold well (it was an immediate success). At one time she earned more per year than the prime minister.
  • She had many suitors and turned down several proposals of marriage, including one from her 22-year-old high school teacher. While she was secretly engaged to her second cousin Edwin Simpson, she fell madly in love with a young farmer named Herman Leard. Eventually she married Presbyterian minister Ewan Macdonald, after being secretly engaged to him for 5 years.
  • Montgomery suffered from depression, and was lonely, isolated and filled with worry and dread for much of her life. Her marriage was not a happy one: the duties of a minister’s wife proved trying and her husband suffered from mental illness. In 2008, her granddaughter Kate Macdonald Butler revealed a family secret — Maud had taken her own life with a drug overdose.
  • Writing was Maud’s saving grace and helped alleviate her mental and emotional suffering. Ironic that one so tormented continues to make millions all over the world so happy with her books.

 

But getting back to Anne of Green Gables, first published 110 years ago this June. With Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I’ve been thinking about the different kinds of love included in the novel, and how Montgomery’s beautiful portrayals contribute to the book’s wide and enduring appeal.

First, we have a spirited and optimistic main character who has never felt truly loved by anyone, but with her active imagination has a rich fantasy life full of flowery romance. During the course of the novel, she learns to be loving and is in turn loved back, without losing her penchant for melodrama or her unique way of looking at the world.

 

Schuyler Grant as Diana Barry and Megan Follows as Anne Shirley

 

At the heart of the book is Anne’s romantic friendship with Diana Barry, an intense relationship that mirrors the kind of female friendships central to Montgomery’s own life. Though it may seem over-the-top effusive to us today, it was typical of the time period. Upon their first meeting, Anne asks Diana to take a solemn vow to be friends forever and ever:

I solemnly swear to be faithful to my bosom friend, Anne Shirley, so long as the sun and moon shall endure.

 

Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert Blythe

 

As for romantic love, there’s Gilbert Blythe, who has a crush on Anne from the beginning. They become rivals after Gilbert teases Anne about her red hair. Though she remains resolute in her disdain for him, he is unwavering in his attempts to get in her good graces. His longing is palpable, and it’s notable that he recognizes and admires Anne for her intelligence. Gilbert’s devotion is definitely swoon-worthy.

 

 

Finally, there’s the familial love experienced by Anne, Matthew and Marilla. It’s sweet and touching how Matthew, normally terrified of all females, is instantly charmed by Anne when he picks her up at the train station. It is he who convinces Marilla that they must keep her, even though they originally wanted to adopt a boy. It’s wonderful how Anne came into their cheerless lives, how Marilla gradually softens as the story progresses, and how Matthew, who usually defers to Marilla, stands up for Anne.

 

 

But whether we’re taken with Cuthbert family dynamics, are reminded of our first boy-girl crushes, or are inspired by Anne and Diana’s passionate, idealized friendship, we can recognize parts of ourselves in the characters and relate to their emotions. We can’t help but root for Anne Shirley, one of literature’s most interesting, amusing, and endearing heroines, the orphan outsider who finds a family who needs her as much as she needs them.

 

Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada

 

By writing this book, Montgomery was able to indulge her deep and abiding love for Prince Edward Island and create the kind of happy ending she never had, with a loving family and a romantic interest who was all the things her real-life suitors were not: notably, someone of equal intelligence who cared about literature and valued her writing.

*

 

 🌺 TIME FOR TEA AND CAKE 🍰

 

 

The Cookbook

If you’re a devoted Anne fan, you might already own a copy of Kate Macdonald’s first Anne of Green Gables Cookbook published by Oxford University Press in 1985.

The most notable changes in the new 2017 Race Point Publishing edition are the beautiful color photographs of all the recipes save two, lovely floral paintings to mark each section, and charming interior illustrations by Flora Waycott. Oh, and the lovely grosgrain ribbon bookmark! 🙂

The new book contains all the recipes from the old one in addition to eleven new ones, and they are now presented according to which novel they were inspired by (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of Windy Poplars). The new book also contains four recipes from L.M. Montgomery’s own kitchen, adapted for modern cooks. As before, relevant excerpts from the novels are sprinkled throughout, and all ingredients are listed in both US/Imperial and Metric measurements.

 

Puffy Apple Dumplings

 

A quick glance reveals that some of the original recipe ingredients have been updated. For example, the old recipe for Liniment Cake Creamy Butter Frosting calls for 1/4 cup butter, while the new calls for a full cup.

In her Introduction, Montgomery’s granddaughter Kate Macdonald explains that the first collection was published before she had children of her own, and, “I now understand more clearly how much pleasure comes from providing good, tasty food.”

 

Marilla’s Plum Pudding

 

So, if you enjoyed the famous chapter where Anne invites Diana to tea, you can make your own Raspberry Cordial, the “snaps” (Gingersnaps) Marilla said Anne could serve, as well as Marilla’s Plum Pudding with Caramel Sauce (sans drowned mouse!) that Anne tells Diana all about.

Or, why not channel some of the Avonlea schoolgirls with Tantalizing Raspberry Tarts, or serve up a savory dish with the men in mind (Gilbert’s Hurry-Up Dinner, Matthew Cuthbert’s Yummy Biscuit Sandwich)? I admit to being partial to this cookbook because it’s heavy on treats appropriate for tea time (Poetical Egg Salad Sandwiches!), but you can also find some tempting main dish entrées such as Saucy Chicken, Miss Stacy’s Baked Macaroni, and Green Gables Shepherd’s Pie. 

 

Gilbert’s Hurry-Up Dinner

 

The new cookbook, in essence a complete makeover, is well worth purchasing even if you already own the original collection. It’s a treasure for Green Gables fans of all ages, and promises an especially delicious way to cherish the series.

 

The Cake

Especially for Valentine’s Day, Mr. Cornelius and the Alphabet Soup kitchen helpers decided to make Anne’s Liniment Cake with Creamy Butter Frosting. Do you remember when Reverend Allan and his wife were invited to Green Gables for tea, and Anne asked to bake a layer cake? She loved Mrs. Allan and was so intent on making a good impression, sharing her trepidation beforehand with Diana:

Everything is ready, Diana, except my cake which I’m to make in the morning, and the baking-powder biscuits which Marilla will make just before teatime. I assure you, Diana, that Marilla and I have had a busy two days of it. It’s such a responsibility having a minister’s family to tea. I never went through such an experience before. You should just see our pantry. It’s a sight to behold. We’re going to have jellied chicken and cold tongue. We’re to have two kinds of jelly, red and yellow, and whipped cream and lemon pie, and cherry pie, and three kinds of cookies, and fruit cake, and Marilla’s famous yellow plum preserves that she keeps especially for ministers, and pound cake and layer cake, and biscuits as aforesaid; and new bread and old both, in case the minister is dyspeptic and can’t eat new. Mrs. Lynde says ministers are dyspeptic, but I don’t think Mr. Allan has been a minister long enough for it to have had a bad effect on him. I just grow cold when I think of my layer cake. Oh, Diana, what if it shouldn’t be good! I dreamed last night that I was chased all around by a fearful goblin with a big layer cake for a head.

 

Anne was so excited she couldn’t sleep, and woke early with a head cold. She worked earnestly, still nervously chattering to Marilla about doubtful baking powder and possibly forgetting to add something, but in the end, her cake turned out “as light and feathery as golden foam.” She proudly spread some ruby jelly between the layers and envisioned Mrs. Allan asking for a second piece.

The tea went swimmingly until Mrs. Allan actually tasted Anne’s cake. Poor Anne!  She had mistakenly added anodyne liniment instead of vanilla. She was devastated, but Mrs. Allan comforted her as only a true kindred spirit could.

Cornelius took out our big bottle of vanilla and double checked it by removing the cap and inhaling deeply. Mmmmm, don’t you love the smell of vanilla? No mistaking it!

We followed the cake recipe to a “T” — it didn’t specify slathering “ruby jelly” between the layers, but certainly you could easily do this if you wanted the cake to be more “Anne-ish.”

Still, it was very tasty with the updated buttercream frosting recipe; the cake was dense rather than “light and feathery,” more like a pound cake. Recipe directions called for beating the batter 3 minutes: next time I will try to beat longer, and might also consider adding another egg to get a lighter cake. Still, others who’ve made this recipe commented that it wasn’t as light as they’d expected either. Since no anodyne liniment was accidentally added, we can call it a success. 🙂

Cornelius and Anne devoured several pieces and discovered they are indeed kindred spirits — they both like daydreaming, wildflowers, and reciting poetry aloud. They’d like you to share this cake with someone special this week.

Anne's Liniment Cake

  • Servings: 6 to 8
  • Difficulty: average
  • Print

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 120 g) butter, melted, plus more for greasing
  • 2 cups (220 g) sifted all purpose flour, plus more for the pans
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1-1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (235 ml) 2% milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Frosting

  • 1 cup (2 sticks, or 240 g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups (360 g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) heavy cream
  • 2 or 3 drops red food coloring (optional)

Directions

    For the cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans with butter, then flour the pans. Set them aside.
  2. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a large bowl. Mix together.
  3. Add the melted butter and the milk to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon.
  4. Beat the mixture for 1 minute with an electric mixer.
  5. Break the eggs into a small bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the cake batter, then beat with the mixer for another 3 minutes, constantly scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
  6. Pour the cake batter evenly into the 2 cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
  7. Test the cakes with a toothpick. When they are done, use oven mitts to remove them from the oven. Let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
  8. Slide the blade of a metal spatula around the edges of the cake to loosen them from the pans.
  9. Place one of the cakes on a cooling rack. Place a second cooling rack on top. Hold the 2 racks together and flip the whole thing over. Gently lift off the pan and transfer your cake to a plate. Repeat with the other cake.
  10. Let the 2 layers cool completely before frosting.

    11.  

    For the frosting:

  11. Cream the softened butter with an electric mixer.
  12. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until it is all combined.
  13. Mix in the salt, vanilla extract, cream, and food coloring. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer for 10 minutes, until frosting is silky.
  14. With a metal spatula, spread about one-third of the frosting between the 2 cake layers. Use the remaining two-thirds to cover the top and sides of your cake.

Tips:  I used two 8-inch pans instead of two 9-inch pans, and am glad I did. Otherwise, the layers would have been shorter.

The frosting recipe calls for 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar; you could cut this back if you prefer less sweetness (I used about 2-1/2 cups and still found the frosting a little too sweet for my taste).

~ recipe adapted from The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate Macdonald (Race Point Publishing, 2017), as posted at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

*

THE ANNE OF GREEN GABLES COOKBOOK: Charming Recipes from Anne and Her Friends from Avonlea
written by Kate Macdonald and L.M. Montgomery
illustrated by Flora Waycott
food photography by Evi Abeler
published by Race Point Publishing, September 2017
Cookbook for ages 8-12, 112 pp.

*Enjoy this short Raspberry Cordial video:

*

 

📗 SPECIAL BOOK GIVEAWAY! 📗

The publisher is generously providing a copy of the cookbook for one lucky Alphabet Soup reader. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment at this post no later than midnight (EST) Tuesday, February 20, 2018. You may also enter by sending an email with “ANNE” in the subject line to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, please. Good Luck!

*

“Her eyes astar with dreams . . . “

 

“The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and storytellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland.”

 

“Which would you rather be if you had the choice — divinely beautiful or dazzingly clever or angelically good?”

 

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it?”

*

 

 ❤️ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO ALL YOU KINDRED SPIRITS! ❤️

xoxoxoxoxo

*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you purchase something using a link on this site, Jama’s Alphabet Soup will receive a small referral fee (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

**Copyright © 2018 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

50 thoughts on “of love, longing, and liniment cake: a sweet treat from the anne of green gables cookbook (+ a giveaway!)”

  2. Pingback: chronological book review archive (2008-2018) | Jama's Alphabet Soup
  3. Pingback: dessert recipe archive | Jama's Alphabet Soup

  4. Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too, Jama. What a wonderful heart day treat to read so much about Anne and her creator, Lucy Maud. I am sorry to hear the news of her later life. I think I must go back to re-read the first book. It’s been a long time! Your pictures show off the cookbook’s invitation to make most wonderful things for tea! I love that it is by Maud’s granddaughter. And I smiled with this: “Marilla’s famous yellow plum preserves that she keeps especially for ministers”. Thanks for a sweet post!

    Liked by 2 people

  5. i have not read Anne of Green Gables and i’m in my late 50’s. Your post has me inspired me to look for it the next time I am in the library.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Oh, I want a slice of Anne’s Liniment Cake! Sans liniment, of course. Thank you for another great post, Jama. This takes me back to the days when I was about 12 and read all of the books.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. It does sound like a minister’s tea was very extensive. Oh, to think that you’ve made something delicious and then find out that you spoiled it!
    Anne and Cornelius look very comfortable together, and definitely ready for Valentine’s Day! Thanks for the love-ly post, Jama.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Cornelius is all a-swoon over Anne. Of course he’s now made Eloise jealous.

      That minister’s tea does sound like a lot of food to eat!

      Like

  11. Perhaps the liniment – with all that good ether and opium and alcohol – is what made that cake so fluffy. Surely you have a wee bottle sitting around the house, Jama-j?

    I read this first Anne book when I was 9 – the castoff of our 4th grade teacher who was dumping old books. It was a 1950 copy with a hard-backed, green and cream patterned cover and I read that book until it LITERALLY fell apart, not knowing until college that there were sequels. By then, of course, I had written volumes of my own, and re-wrote the ending, because I hated Gilbert and was sure I would until my dying day.

    I honestly haven’t seen more than a snippet of any of the films. I have MY Anne, and the rest of the Annes don’t measure up – although the first Gilbert is a cutie.

    I haven’t read this book in years, after having it nearly memorized… I’m always afraid to reread books like this, for fear it won’t stand up, and I’ll find some awful blatantly racist or whatever stuff in it (and I’m sure I would; the Canadians were pretty anti-immigration back in the day and that Marilla had a tart tongue). With our love of nostalgia and “good old days” tales, it’s hard to read this critically, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Anne-with-an-‘e’ for making me the weird nine-year-old who went around babbling about how she was having an ‘epiphany’ and that there were ‘dryads’ in the creek, maybe, and that this was the ‘epoch’ of my life where I was thinking this or that. I talked like an escapee from the 19th century. Good times. ☺

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hah. You made me laugh with your comment about the ether and alcohol in the liniment (none to be found in our house BTW). 😀

      Wow, that 1950 copy is probably a collector’s item — but it sounds like it hasn’t survived. You’re right about not wanting to reread things for fear it won’t stand up. And these days, everyone must be politically correct about everything. But we have to keep remembering that what was “acceptable” back then is not necessarily acceptable today, so these old classics must be read in context and not judged by impossible standards. Books that are frowned upon now — Five Chinese Brothers, Wilder’s LH books (description of Native Americans) — are ones that many of us grew up with and loved. I swear I didn’t think of Asian stereotypes when reading the FCB — to me it was just a good story and not necessarily “real.”

      I’m curious how you rewrote the ending regarding Gilbert. Because I saw the TV series before I read the books, it was impossible for me to envision my own “Anne” or “Gilbert.” I saw the actors’ faces when I read the book. I wish I had read the books first. Perhaps I wouldn’t have liked Gilbert as much either.

      Like

  12. Another wonderful post! I don’t know what to gush about first, that cake and the rest of the delicious-looking food, the videos, your beautiful tea settings…. I’ve recently been watching the 1990s mini-series of Avonlea and also of Emily of New Moon–both well done. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  13. How wonderful! I can’t wait to check out the cookbook. I too was a HUGE fan of the 85 (?! that long ago?!) tv series and thought it could never be done better. BUT then I fell in love with “Anne with E” on Netflix. Have you seen it yet? It’s done SO wonderfully by a new generation of actors and with so many beautiful elements added to it.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I just started watching the Netflix series. It’s much darker than the 1985 series. Those flashbacks in Episode One are depressing. Hope things brighten up. So far, I’m not liking the new Diana as much as the other one.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Oh, Jama, this is a wonderful post. It brought back memories of watching the tv series with my daughters, and I want to go watch it all again now – Anne in that gorgeous blue dress that Matthew had made for her, Gilbert teasing Anne, the special relationship between Anne and Matthew. I see there is a new series coming out, but I don’t think I can watch it except that I love Martin Sheen who plays the new Matthew. I never knew all the facts about Lucy Maud Montgomery, but there is a new novel called MAUD by Melanie Fishbane that I want to read.

    Thank you for the recipe and the always lovely tea party photos. Every time I read your posts, I want to have my own tea party! Our newest granddaughter is almost two. I can’t wait to have a tea party with her. Our daughter has her grandmother’s childhood tea set!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You have some wonderful tea parties with your granddaughter to look forward to, Joyce — and with heirloom china no less.

      I don’t know anything about the series with Martin Sheen but will look into it. And thanks for the heads up about the Maud novel (hadn’t heard about it either).

      I will always love the Sullivan TV series. I’m a longtime fan of Colleen Dewhurst and love her portrayal of Marilla. You need to watch it again!

      Like

  15. I loved these books as a girl and the PBS series was such a treat. Jama, those caramels are calling to me. Seriously. Thank you for such a rich post. It makes me want to go back and read Anne again.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Love this idea for a cookbook! I am a huge fangirl of the 80’s movies. Just watched the first one with a twenty-something who had never even heart of it! I thought I was Anne of Green Gables back then. I even read poetry while walking in the woods all the time. LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I think the 80’s series is still my favorite (just finished watching “Anne with an E”). Reading poetry in the woods is good :)!

      Like

  17. Fun, fun post! Thank you. This has two of my favorites: a cookbook and Anne of Green Gables. I read cookbooks like they were novels. And I have great memories of my daughter and her friend in HS reading the Anne of Green Gables series aloud together through during a summer. Now she and her boys (9-11-13) watch the movies together.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Love hearing about your daughter and friend reading the series aloud together — what a great idea and a nice memory. Also nice to know the Anne love is being passed down to your grandsons. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  18. That video bought tears to my eyes. I didn’t know there was new edition of the cookbook; it sounds lovely. I didn’t know all those things about Maud (without an e).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I was surprised to find out Maud had such a tough life. I do think her female friendships sustained her far more than any of the relationships she had with her suitors or husband.

      Like

  19. Wow, what a great post, so much to take in! I have never read Anne of Green Gables or saw the TV series and I’m a kid from the 80’s! Where have I been? I will have to get the book now. I love all those recipes however, an overindulgence might just make me a little dyspeptic. Sad about the author though.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. All those scrumptious looking tea time foods really make me want to try the recipes. As always, your photos are absolutely delightful!

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Those puffy apple dumplings are calling out to me. I think I really NEED that cookbook! Such fun remembering those books and now re-reading is in order. Yes, kindred spirits are true treasures in life.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. They did a good job of revamping the old cookbook. The pictures make a world of difference. I need to reread the entire series now.

      Like

  22. Such a fascinating post. I had no idea about most of the info about the author–so interesting and sad. I have been thinking about rereading the original book and your post makes me want to even more. It also makes me very hungry–all of the recipes sound delicious and your cake is gorgeous. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The book is definitely worth rereading. Immersing oneself in a classic is comforting and you notice different things with each rereading.

      Like

  25. I didn’t know about “Anne with an E” — I’ll definitely give that a try. And I want this cookbook! This post made me so hungry, thank heavens I had some (liniment free) tea cake handy. I’m definitely going to try making the raspberry cordial.

    Like

Comments are closed.