Nine Ladies Dancing

“The house-elf had come dashing back into the room carrying a tray of little cakes, which she set at her mistress‘s elbow.” Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince pg. 434

It took me a long time to figure this one out. In fact, it was the last of the 12 days that I finished. I had thought of doing another salad with Green Goddess Dressing, but then I remembered this bit of Harry Potter.

If you were to see my copies of the series you would notice that I had underlined certain passages. It had nothing to do with trying to solve any mysteries of Harry’s past. It was all about the food. J.K. Rowling was excellent in her use and description of food in her books. The best part, though is the fact that about 90% of the foods she mentions are real British dishes, including this one.

I had a hard time trying to think of what kind of little cakes she was talking about until I asked an English friend of mine that lives in our neighborhood. She told me about fairy cakes which she described as something like tiny muffins. Those English have such funny names for their food!

Nine Ladies Dancing

Assorted Fairy Cakes

1 ½ C flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 beaten egg
¾ C milk
¼ vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a mini-muffin tin, or use mini muffin paper cups. In one bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Combine the egg, milk and oil in another bowl. Gently whisk together by hand, being careful not to over-mix. The batter should be lumpy. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin tin up to about half to two-thirds full. Bake 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

There are endless variations to muffins. There’s cranberry, blueberry, chocolate, banana nut, oatmeal, lemon poppy, gummy worms…ok, sort of endless.

Banana Nut :
Reduce the milk to ½ C. Add ¾ cup mashed banana, the riper and browner the better, and ½ C chopped nuts to the eggs, milk and oil.

Blueberry :
Add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Cranberry :
Add 1 cup chopped cranberries and an extra 2 tablespoons sugar

Double Chocolate:
Add 1 cup chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and an extra 2 tablespoons sugar

Don't forget the gummy worms!