Apart from Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, The Sittaford Mystery is perhaps Agatha Christie’s most wintry detective novel, where a wicked blizzard provides a convenient alibi for guests sheltered together during a deadly seance...
However, the real headline here is that having started with Sleeping Murder in 1978 and finally reading The Sittaford Mystery, I have now completed all 66 books in the Agatha Christie canon!
Herman Melville once spouted that profound things, and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence, but I think this particular moment calls for—cake!
Herman Melville once spouted that profound things, and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence, but I think this particular moment calls for—cake!
In an effort to help catch the killer lurking around Sittaford, Caroline Percehouse requests a recipe for British Coffee Cake to assist in the investigation: “I hear you had the most delicious coffee cake for tea yesterday afternoon. Will you be so kind as to give me the recipe for it?”
Happy to oblige, Caroline. Here it is, thanks again to Karen Pierce, author of the wonderful Recipes for Murder: 66 Dishes That Celebrate the Mysteries of Agatha Christie.
Do enjoy!
British Coffee Cake
Yields two 9-inch (22-centimetre) round cakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (270 grams) all-purpose white flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 cups (255 grams) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
3/8 cup (85 grams) vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar five large eggs
5 cups (1.2 litres) whole milk, plus 2 tablespoons
5 1/2 tablespoons Camp Coffee (Scottish coffee syrup) or Coffee Time coffee syrup, plus 2-3 tablespoons
4 cups (520 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a medium bowl, cream 3/8 cup (85 grams) of the butter, the shortening, and the sugar.
4. Add the eggs and beat well.
5. Add the milk and mix well.
6. Add 5 1/2 tablespoons Camp Coffee or Coffee Time
7. Grease two 9-inch (22-centimetre) round pans, divide the batter between them, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. While the cakes are baking, make the icing. With a hand mixer in a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the remaining Camp Coffee and the remaining 3/4 cup (170 grams) of butter. If the icing seems too thick, add the remaining milk and mix well. To runny, add a little more confectioner sugar. Mix until you achieve the desired consistency.
9. When the cakes have finished baking, toothpick tested them for doneness and let them cool to room temperature.
10. After the cakes cooled, ice them in layers with all the icing.
British Coffee Cake
Yields two 9-inch (22-centimetre) round cakes
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (270 grams) all-purpose white flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 cups (255 grams) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
3/8 cup (85 grams) vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar five large eggs
5 cups (1.2 litres) whole milk, plus 2 tablespoons
5 1/2 tablespoons Camp Coffee (Scottish coffee syrup) or Coffee Time coffee syrup, plus 2-3 tablespoons
4 cups (520 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a medium bowl, cream 3/8 cup (85 grams) of the butter, the shortening, and the sugar.
4. Add the eggs and beat well.
5. Add the milk and mix well.
6. Add 5 1/2 tablespoons Camp Coffee or Coffee Time
7. Grease two 9-inch (22-centimetre) round pans, divide the batter between them, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. While the cakes are baking, make the icing. With a hand mixer in a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the remaining Camp Coffee and the remaining 3/4 cup (170 grams) of butter. If the icing seems too thick, add the remaining milk and mix well. To runny, add a little more confectioner sugar. Mix until you achieve the desired consistency.
9. When the cakes have finished baking, toothpick tested them for doneness and let them cool to room temperature.
10. After the cakes cooled, ice them in layers with all the icing.
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