If you're anything like me, you flail around the kitchen at the last minute looking for something to use in your rituals for the 'Cake and Ale' rite. Sadly, my last ritual incorporated a left-over Bisquick biscuit and jam. Hardly a meal worthy of a Goddess.
So to rectify this last minute flailing, I have decided to bake up some 'Crescent Cakes' to have on hand. They're easy to make and I can pop them into freezer bags to go into the freezer and grab at a moment's notice.
I found this recipe in Scott Cunningham's book 'Wicca-A Guide for the Solitary Practioner' (an excellent read by the way).
Crescent Cakes
1 cup finely ground almonds
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 drops almond extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk
Combine almonds, flour, sugar, and extract until thoroughly mixed. With the hands, work in butter and egg yolk until well blended. Chill dough. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of walnuts and shape into crescents. Place on greased sheets and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve during The Simple Feast, especially at esbats.*
*This is the best recipe I've (Scott) been able to find. Most of the other published ones taste foul. Purists who worry about the inclusion of sugar in this recipe needn't. It's ritually related to Venus and has a long magical history.
Note: After I had chilled the dough, I found that it was too dry to hold together so I added a bit of milk - just enough so that the dough would stick together (about 1-2 tablespoons).
So there you go! No more flailing in the kitchen at the last minute! Enjoy!
6 comments:
Teresa I love this recipe! I have been using this since I first came across it in Cunningham's work! I love Cunninghams stuff, totally me :) This recipe is really good as a sugar cookie recipe for the holidays too, less sugar more almond yum.
Thanks for sharing & Blessings!
The Goddess Crescent cakes look wonderful! I can't waitt o make my own. I also have this book by the late Scott Cunningham; it's a treasure in my book collection. Many wonderful Yule blessings dear daughter of the Goddess.
Blessed be! )O(
You are absolutely right! The cookies are terrific - I own quite a few of Scott Cunningham's books myself including, "Wicca: The Guide for the Solitary Practitioner." If fact, a couple of his books are on my reading list for my Wicca students - along with a couple of Silver Ravenwolf's books of course!
Have a very Blessed Yule and a great time at Circle Sanctuary!
Wow, sounds like a really super recipe!
So glad to see this recipe online to access. I've been making these for years (Goddes bless your spirit Scott)
So simple to make...and I've been making them GF for the last few years, and they're still great. I use Pamela's Artisan blend. I was lucky enough to meet Scott when he spoke at a metaphysical fair back in the 90's before his untimely death. What a great guy--genuine and funny. He left us many magical gifts.
Can this be made with vanilla extract instead of the almond flavoring and without nuts at all?
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