A new version of Wuthering Heights is fast upon us in time for Valentine’s Day. I hear the movie is ‘loosely-based’ on Emily Brontë’s novel, focusing rather more on the love affair between Cathy and Heathcliff as adults, as depicted by its stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
I’ll see it of course, but in the meantime, I’d like to bring up a little-discussed aspect of Miss Brontë’s romances—namely, her love affair with books! In Chapter 17 of Wuthering Heights, she writes via the character of Mr. Lockwood:
“No books!” I exclaimed. “How do you contrive to live here
without them? If I may take the liberty to inquire—Though provided with a large
library, I’m frequently very dull at the Grange—take my books away, and I
should be desperate!”
Yes, where would we be without books, without love? Desperate!
I love that Wuthering Heights exists in the world because Emily Brontë dared to imagine it. This post is a love letter to her, then, flung across the moors of which she dreamed long ago. But I will always keep this gentle, final paragraph from Wuthering Heights close to my heart:
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the
moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind
breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine
unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”
Enjoy this remarkably simple chocolate raspberry clafoutis, mostly done in a blender, and meant to inspire romance in every heart! (The heart-shaped cocotte from Le Creuset may be found here.)
Adapted from Gourmet
Ingredients
12 oz fresh raspberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter (melted)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3-3.5 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
Method
Preheat to 400°F. Toss berries with sugar. Blend milk, butter, eggs, brown sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt. Pour batter over berries in a baking dish and bake for about 35 minutes, then top with chopped chocolate.
P.S. I recently ordered this gorgeously painted, gilt-edged deluxe edition of Wuthering Heights from Harper Muse! Other titles include The Secret Garden, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and The Great Gatsby.
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