In his iconic book, ‘Swallows and Amazons’, Arthur Ransome mentions that the Swallows eat seed cake on Wild Cat Island. It was made at Holly Howe by Mrs Jackson and eaten by Titty when she was guarding the camp before Man Friday, in the form of her mother, arrived to help cook pemmican.
Virginia McKenna with Sophie Neville playing Robinson Crusoe in Swallows and Amazons 1974
We baked a seed cake of our own using caraway seeds and almonds. These are good for you. Caraway seeds are high in antioxidants, benefit the digestive system and even support respiratory health.
You will need:
4 large eggs
160g dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or good quality vanilla extract
80ml buttermilk
100g almond flour
180g soft butter
4 tablespoons of carraway seeds
160g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon salt
Topping:
Almond flakes
Caster sugar
Method:
Grease a springform cake tin and preheat the oven to 180 degrees centrigrade
Melt the butter a little and cream it with the dark brown sugar until smooth
3. Add the eggs and mix until combined
4. Add the vanilla bean paste, almond flour, self-raising flour, salt, carraway seeds, and buttermilk and mix until combined
5. Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin and spread it out evenly
6. Sprinkle the almond flakes and caster sugar over the cake
7. Bake until risen and golden brown. A fork inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean
We ate it while it was still hot from the oven. It was delicious. Childhood memories came flooding back, taking me to Wild Cat Island and the day Man Friday arrived.
Carraway seed cake baked by Lucy Calcott, using her own recipe
You can read a bit about other food and drink featured in the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on an earlier post here.
Stir up Sunday falls on 23rd November this year. I thought it would be lovely to share ideas for literary Christmas cakes. Do send in photos of yours.
We made a ‘Swallows and Amazons’ seed cake with caraway seeds and almonds, which reminded me of being on Peel Island.
Not so long ago, Miranda Gore Brown brought her version of Mrs Dixon’s traditional fruit cake to The Arthur Ransome Society pirate feast, along with her book Bake Me A Cake As Fast As You Can, which has ideas on how to ice cakes.
Miranda has all sort of ideas for baking here. She made this cake for her son’s birthday, described in detail here, but does anyone have a recipe for ‘Cook’s black cake’ or bun loaf fried up after being dropped in the lake?
This amazing cake was made to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’. I love the fact that it is in the shape of a storybook.
Celebrating 50th Anniversary of the movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 2024
This cake illustrates Arthur Ransome’s novel ‘Great Northern?’ set on the Isle of Lewis where filming took place for the DVD ‘Encountering the Ransomes’ released by The Arthur Ransome Society
We would love to see your ideas for literary decorations. Here are a few more to inspire you:
~Winner of The Susan Prize~
It was my privilege to award The Susan Prize to the girls who baked this cake. It proved they must have loved Arthur Ransome’s book ‘Winter Holiday’. The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are obviously contemplating whether or not to skate on the tarn that I understand was made by melting sweets and ‘took absolutely ages.’ You can see two of the characters approaching the ice.
Dorothea, the aspiring novelist, is skating around this cake, which tasted so delicious it almost transported me to the banks of the tarn itself.
~Winner of the Crumbly Creations~
A number of crumbly creations, using biscuits and chocolate, gave us a good idea of what the igloo in ‘Winter Holiday’ must have looked like, while this birthday cake was inspired by the Puffin cover of ‘Swallows and Amazons’.
Detail of a Swallows and Amazons cake based on the Puffin cover
Swallowy dodgers with slices of cake claimed by Amazon pirates were on offer at Lakeland Arts to accompany their Swallows and Amazons exhibition:
“There was an enormous gooseberry tart” recipe published in Signals:
Elizabeth Rondthaler Jolley sent this photo from America:
Adam Quinan has written from Canada: ‘I made this for an Arthur Ransome Birthday party event in Toronto back in January 2004. We went skating on an outdoor rink and ate Igloo hotpot and then came inside and listened to some storytellers retelling some of ‘Old Peter’s Russian Tales’ with the ‘Winter Holiday’ cake and tea.’
Lucy Bailey-Wright of The Arthur Ransome Society wrote:
‘After a wonderful weekend at Swallowdale my girls have been full of love for all things Swallows and Amazons. So I had a go at a Swallows & Amazons themed cake! Had to be a number 5 too! Candles were in the camp fire!’
Arthur Herbertson designed this Birthday cake, which celebrates ‘Secret Water’ published eighty years ago.
The Swallows, Amazons and Ds seem to be sailing around Wild Cat Island in this Birthday cake made by Mae Fuller
Another igloo has been sent in by AusTARS –
This cake depicting Wild Cat Island was made for a special birthday that included the lantern in the lighthouse tree and leading lights.
This cake of Potter Heigham Bridge in Norfolk with the Teasel passing beneath that was also made by AusTARS in celebration of Arthur Ransome’s birthday.
I love this gingerbread cake featuring the adder who lived in the charcoal burner’s tobacco box. ‘Is it safe to touch?’ made by Arwen Seccombe of The Arthur Ransome Society
We would love to see your photographs of any cakes inspired by Arthur Ransome’s books. Please contact me via the comments below.
You can see other examples of Swallows and Amazons cakes as well as ideas for parties here.
To find ideas for Swallows, Amazons and Coots Birthday presents, please click here.
I didn’t bake this lovely cake – below- I spotted it on Pinterest, but they have made bunting out of the Swallows and Amazons flags I drew:
Original artwork on the bunting drawn by Sophie Neville, having been inspired by Arthur Ransome
Here is a bunloaf baked to celebrate Arthur Ransome’s Birthday in 2022
Wild Cat Island makes a good cake. Here’s one made in January 2022:
Swallow, the tents and Wild Cat Island
There are also some great savory ideas including this eel made by Annie Warwick:
Look at these fabulous macaroons decorating this cake:
