Books and chocolate
November 15, 2011
A chunk of 70% cocoa solids chocolate and chestnut cake is a very good way to beguile potential book buyers at a Waitrose book signing. Feeling rather exposed under the supermarket glare, but in a prime position by the checkout, I set out books and plates of the rich chocolate deliciousness that has set overnight in the fridge. I am soon attracting the chocoholics of who wolf down the samples, asking to take ‘an extra bit for so and so in the office’- a ruse I suspect. Mothers hand out pieces to children in buggies and a pair of schoolgirls plugged into i-pods eat theirs instead of lunch. Not everyone buys a book but the chocolate element is a useful 3d enticement to look at the other simple delicacies that lie in 2d between the pages.
The only disappointment is not to be able to say to the man in a fedora hat (maybe he likes my performance at the Pure Style side show) that I am related to actor Benedict Cumberbatch. But I have my own family drama, of Bajan Cumberbatch ancestors with slave trade roots. (I think the Sherlock Holmes star is from the Sugar plantation owner side ) and an intangible, shadowy grandfather, an Oxford student from Barbados, long wiped from the family map because, I suspect, of his colour. But I’m hoping for some substance, more detail about the man as I’ve recently got in touch with the Barbados records office, and in return for my ‘British postal order in the amount of six pounds to the Registrar of the Supreme Court’ will receive a certified copy of his birth certificate.
PS I made extra so that we could enjoy more chocolate chestnut cake for tea. As you can see the garden roses just keep blooming as if it were still summer.
Mother of mercy, how delicious that chocolaty bit of goodness looks. No recipe? Did you hear me moan? A search for a chocolate chestnut cake recipe has been added to my to-do list, but only after the move…THE MOVE…in 4 days. All is in disarray. Still packing. Can’t wait. Thanks, as always.
Comment by Jean Prescott | November 15, 2011 @ 4:39 pmStill loving your new book, Jane. My father scored fresh chestnuts and I plan to make this cake and other chestnut delights as soon as I pilfer some from him. He is planning to root some of the chestnuts to grow into trees. He started some last year and they are doing well planted in the meadow above their house.
Comment by Sue Schlabach | November 15, 2011 @ 5:10 pmDitto what Jean said, good grief that choc-chestnut cake looks divine! And how fascinating and exotic your family history sounds, looking forward to the saga story here as you dig for clues in Barbados, maybe a trip will do the trick? Best of luck in the search!
Comment by tinder | November 15, 2011 @ 8:58 pmLove that supermarket scene. The reality of it is just uncanny. The supermarkets are all the same, regardless where in the world. I, too, bemoan the recipe that hadn’t followed. A mental note: must by the book!
Comment by Gosia | November 17, 2011 @ 3:04 amHi Jane:
I just stumbled onto your site. As you can see, I am also a Cumberbatch, with my ancestral family roots in Barbados. I was born in England, but have resided in Canada for many years. I am also researching my family tree, opposite end to yours, my family is Black, although mixed along the way, and my great grandfather was white.
I love that your approach to living style is so simple yet elegant. I love to cook but I am messy, I’m afraid, and am not much good at decorating.
Good luck with your family search. Barbados holds a lot of family secrets.
Ingrid
Comment by Ingrid Cumberbatch | May 8, 2012 @ 9:47 pm