Welcome to Meriva's world! I'll be uploading extra content here occasionally like unpublished short stories, snippets of work-in-progress, artwork of the characters or that illustrates some of the stories, maps and some facts and figures about Draffe, and the wider world of Shymeyria. This section is only small at the moment, but will grow over the next few weeks and months. I hope you enjoy!
Custos
Meriva
Florina's 'Bluebird' spicecakes, as featured in 'Spicecakes and Sabotage'.
Try Meriva's favourite sticky, sweet treats for yourself!
There are two methods given, using different amounts of yeast. Using less yeast will increase the time needed for the first proving of the dough.
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1. To make the dough
You'll need:
Warm the milk and melted butter (1½ mins on high in a microwave).
Add the salt, yeast, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract, and mix to combine.
Add the flour and stir until the mixture forms a shaggy ball. Combine the dry flour on the sides of the bowl with the moist flour.
Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free location, cover with a towel, and prove for at least 2½ hours (12-24 hours if using the longer proving time)
2½ (or 12-24) hours later…
Pull and stretch the dough by hand or with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a sticky ball.
Sprinkle the dough with dry flour to make it easier to handle and shape.
Dust the work surface with flour, and roll the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface.
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2. To make the spicecakes
You’ll need:
Mix the sugar, cinnamon and other spices together in a bowl and set aside.
Dust the work surface with flour and flatten the dough ball into a strip. Dust it with flour, turn it over, and roll it into a strip about 8”-12” wide and as long as possible (the longer the strip the more of a ‘spiral’ there’ll be in the cakes).
Sprinkle the dough with the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg mixture and spread it all over the surface with your hand. If you’re using them, sprinkle the raisins and/or candied peel thinly over the surface.
Roll the dough up tightly lengthwise.
Cut the roll into 8 sections and place them cut face down into a round 9” cake pan. (If you’re using a rectangular 9”x12” pan, make 2 rows of 4 and reduce the baking time to 30 minutes).
Place in a warm, draught-free location, cover with a towel, and prove for at least 30 minutes.
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3. To cook
Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Farenheit (160 degrees Celsius/320 degrees Farenheit for a fan oven).
Bake the proved cakes for 35 minutes. They should be cooked through and golden on the outside, but still soft and ‘squidgy’ in the middle.
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4. To glaze
You’ll need:
After 35 minutes remove the cakes from the oven and set aside to cool (still in the pan) for about 10 minutes.
Put the sugar into a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and mix to combine. When thoroughly mixed add the rest of the milk slowly until the glaze is thin enough to spread, but not too runny.
If the glaze starts to thicken before you’re ready to spread it add a little more milk and stir to thin.
Spread half the glaze over the cakes while they’re still warm.
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5. To serve the finished cakes
To serve, remove the part-cooled cakes from the pan, tear them apart at the edges, and place on a plate. Drizzle them with a little more glaze, and serve them with spiced tea or bittersyrup while still warm. (If you don’t have any brewed bittersyrup available, coffee is a perfectly good substitute!)
More pictures and other content to come soon!
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