I declined a lift from Mr. Gruffudd. He insisted. I declined again, but he near enough bundled me into his shiny silver Jaguar. To be honest, I welcomed the comfort of the short ride, barely ten minutes, back to my house. Plus, I had never been driven anywhere by a Voodoo Priest before. I half expected to find one of those dreadful shrunken heads swinging from the rear view mirror, but instead there was merely a tree shaped air freshener. He carried my bags to my door and shook my hand warmly, holding it with both hands.
"You will talk to her," he implored. I agreed, purely to get away from the man and allow my head to clear. I was exceptionally pleased to close the door and draw in a lung-full of the lavender in my hallway. I had missed Egg Heads, but with all the buzzing in my head after my hour of intrigue, I knew I would not have been able to concentrate on the questions, or on stopping Daphne or CeeJay from irritating me. As such, I went into the kitchen and baked.
Voodoo Priests indeed! No wonder poor old Betty was half-crazed with it all. I can't blame her for having her head turned by the man, he is rather excessively masculine, after all, though I didn't really know if I wanted to encourage a happy communion of the pair. How would I feel about having an old friend and a Voodoo Priest sitting in my window seat every morning? Perhaps I'd have to bake biscuits with crushed human bones in? No, I was getting hysterical. Voodoo is a religion isn't it? A real life one, like Catholicism, or Bingo. Anyway, the result of my mental fidgeting was a delicious carrot cake, complete with cream cheese fondant topping. It was large enough to serve at least twelve pieces from in the shop, but I have altered the quantities to make something more managable.
Carrot cake
DISCLAIMER: any improved vision (or lack thereof) as a result of this cake is purely co-incidental.
170g golden caster sugar
180g softened butter
3 eggs
250g self raising flour
250g grated carrot
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
20g grated fresh ginger
100g chopped walnuts
1 vanilla pod
For the topping
100g full fat soft cheese
150g icing sugar
50g chopped walnuts
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas 5) and grease and line a 8 in loaf tin
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and sieve flour, nutmeg and cinnamon together. Slice open the vanilla pod and add the seeds to the mix.
3. Add a third of the egg and a third of the flour, beating well and repeat until all combined. Add the ginger, walnuts and carrot. Mix until well incorporated. If the mix is looking a little too stiff, add some milk to loosen.
4. Pour batter into the tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until springy to touch.
5. Leave to cool for 15 mins before making the topping
6. Cream the cheese and icing sugar together until thick and soft. Spread generously on top of the cake with a palette knife. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top to decorate.
I had left Mr. Gruffudd with a sincere promise to help sway Betty's feelings, despite my better judgement. I have to admit, I hoped the cake to act as a sweetener, to make the job a little easier.
Little did I know at that moment that my horrid clandestine tea and lift had been witnessed.
