A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) (34 page)

Read A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) Online

Authors: Chelsea Monroe-Cassel,Sariann Lehrer

Pairs well with everything

Similar to French petit fours, these modern lemon cakes are just as addictive as the cakes produced by the Elizabethan recipe, but are sweeter and heavier than their historical counterparts.

For the Cake:

2½ cups all-purpose flour, well leveled

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

1½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

Juice from ½ lemon

2 to 4 tablespoons grated lemon zest

1 cup whole milk

For the Icing:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

⅓ cup lemon juice, plus more if needed

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened

Yellow food coloring (optional)

Garnishes such as candied orange peel, pomegranate seeds, or decorative sprinkles (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom of an 11-by-7-inch baking pan, line the bottom with parchment, butter again, and dust with flour; tap out any extra flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add lemon juice and lemon zest, mixing until just combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in three batches and the milk in two, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Don’t overmix!

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top of the cake should be just turning golden. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out and cool it for another 15 minutes. Place the cake in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the chilled cake into cubes and set them aside. It’s now time for the icing!

Mix the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice together in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring all the while. Stir in the butter. Mix until the icing is a nice, smooth consistency, suitable for pouring. Add more juice, if necessary. If you would like, tint the icing yellow with food coloring.

Drizzle icing over each cube of cake, making sure to cover the sides. Coat the cake only once, then let it cool for a minute. If desired, garnish with a piece of candied orange peel, a pomegranate seed, or decorative sprinkles. Let the icing cool completely and set before moving or serving the cakes.

Iced Milk with Honey

“Would you care for refreshments? Some dates, perhaps? I have some very fine persimmons as well. Wine no longer agrees with my digestion, I fear, but I can offer you a cup of iced milk, sweetened with honey. I find it most refreshing in this heat.”
—A GAME OF THRONES

Serves 1
Prep: 5 minutes
Chilling: 1 hour at least

Pairs well with
Modern Honey Biscuits
,
Modern Cheese-and-Onion Pie

For many of us, pouring milk over ice is counterintuitive, but the addition of the honey makes this more than milk. It’s clean and refreshing, and if you use the spices,
you’ll find they lend it a subtle, exotic feel. Definitely a must for the hot, muggy weather of summer in King’s Landing.

1 cup part-skim or whole milk

2 tablespoons honey, or to taste

Pinch of saffron and/or cinnamon (optional)

Pour milk into a saucepan and warm it over low heat. Do not scald the milk! When steam begins to rise from the surface, add the honey and stir until combined. Place the sweetened milk in the fridge to cool off.

To serve, place either cubes or small chunks of ice (crushed ice dissolves too quickly) into a glass. Pour the sweetened milk over the ice, sprinkle with spices, if desired, and serve.

Breakfast in Dorne

[T]hey broke their fast on honeycakes baked with blackberries and nuts, gammon steaks, bacon, fingerfish crisped in breadcrumbs, autumn pears, and a Dornish dish of onions, cheese, and chopped eggs cooked up with fiery peppers
.
—A STORM OF SWORDS

Serves 3 to 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes

Pairs well with
Flatbread
,
Fingerfish
,
Lemonsweet

If you like spicy food, you will enjoy this breakfast. It is a warm scramble of eggs with onion, cheese, and pepper, served with a heap of sautéed onions and fiery peppers. The result is a mouthwatering medley of flavors that embodies the heat of the Dornish landscape and the fiery pride of the Dornish people. Although this dish is very spicy, the heat is not cumulative. It quickly becomes hot, but it maintains that same mouthwatering level of heat straight through to the end.

1 jalapeño pepper

1 green cubanelle pepper

1 orange bell pepper

2 cherry bell peppers, in different colors

2 poblano peppers, red and green

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

4 or 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed

1 ice cube

6 eggs

¼ cup grated cheddar cheese

3 pinches of salt

Ground black pepper