Saturnalia Cake, Baking Contrarium

Public domain image:  Saturn. Wikimedia Commons.

In researching Saturnalia to close out 2019 and...the decade (!), I stumbled upon lots of things to create the perfect "construct" for Saturnalia, the Roman/Pagan festival that helped birth Christmas. Saturn is described as a god of "generation, dissolution, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal [whatever that means? let me count the places my imagination goes] and liberation." Of course, dessert had to be the bridge, and there had to be a decent story. Shhh, I've been trying to get myself together to write for Saturnalia for a long time...

Io Saturnalia!
I found a Flourless Blackberry Cake from Nutrition Stripped that was unusual, dark and delicious, but I had hoped to repeat it (I renamed it Blackberry Saturnalia Cake) for a Saturnalia-timed party, but it was not to be.

• Yes, Saturnalia-timed, not themed. The ingredients partially align to what would have been the Roman diet. 
• Should you want to try it, you can do what I did:  use date molasses instead of dates--then compensate on consistency by adding more sweet potato (I don't know how much more I added, sorry).

Here are some fun facts (and not):

Roman Diet Recipe Wins

• The Romans ate very little sugar; only the chocolate chips in the recipe have sugar.
• Butter wasn't eaten either. the Blackberry Saturnalia recipe uses only coconut oil.
• The Romans did eat blackberries- lucky them!

Roman Diet Recipe Fails

• The Romans never knew chocolate. They never knew the New World (South America). But I know they would have loved the terrain, the people and the culture the same way they did every.other.part of Europe and Britain (till they got to the Picts). Guaranteed.
  [Dark humor pause]
• Sweet potatoes were also not something they would have known. Damn shame.

Contrarium (Latin for the Opposite)
I didn't make the vegan cake again. As the repeat performance became imminent, I ran out of time and I reversed.

Apparently among the all stoppage of work and merrymaking the Romans did for the Dec. 17 - 23rd festival, masters and slaves also swapped roles as part of the festivities. It was the atmosphere of carnival.

It's amazing how easily you can replicate that same kind of experience, right in your own kitchen too. Oops, too long on the timer.

Inversion of Social Roles, or Recipes
Not one to be left out of inverted social roles, I reached for the boxed cake mix. Mixes are sort of against my religion, except when I say they are not, like now. Your mix envelope please, Ms. Jones.

Baked, Dark and Handsome (Moist Too)
The cake mix added flour, butter, and eggs, but still maintained that "baked, dark and handsome" consistency the previous partygoers had enjoyed with the vegan cake. For taste flair, I added coconut to the mix and topped with sugared lemons from my tree.

<<  Here are my tart ladies bathing in sugar.

Whichever recipe/approach you choose, be sure to pair this blog post with a little Def Leppard, especially if you go with the sugared lemons.



Veganuary is Coming
If you're into veganism or are a "wanna be" like me, I've been reading about a delicious new trend that seems to have started in the UK:  Veganuary. Now you have all next month to give it a try.