There are so many uplifting aromatic scents that go along with the Yule Holiday. One of the best smells to come out of winter by far is evergreen, like the wondrous pine trees. Many big companies try to come out with candles, perfumes, incense etc that replicate that comforting pine smell and many fail. Don’t get me wrong, I have found smaller companies that get it right but there is nothing better than strolling through a pine forest and experiencing the real thing while rubbing the oils of the needles in your hands.
When I was a pre-teen my family bought a small lake cottage in Montana. I’m going to be frank with you, although I did love nature very much, I could not understand why two lesbians and a weird goth kid from Oakland would own property in Montana. Every winter we would venture to that house outside a very small town called Eureka. When we arrived, my mom and her former partner had to pretend that they were sisters in some situations in order to feel safe from persecution. As well, due to my conspicuous aesthetic I became the talk of the town. I have many stories that are funny, ridiculous, scary and beautiful from that place. What I did understand, even then, was that my family felt they needed to get away from the bustle of city life and get back to Mother Nature.
I think we accomplished that by grounding ourselves in that town surrounded by big sky country, and one of my favorite parts of this Montana Winter ritual was going into a forest and cutting down our own tree. We would carry it back in the falling snow with our galloping dogs. There is something about snow, nature’s silencer, that brings a bed of peace, always creating a calm stillness in my anxious beating heart.
When we arrived home with the tree, we decorated it from head to toe while listening to“Winter” by George Winston, an album I still listen to every year throughout December. The smell of spruce would fill the whole house as we made Russian cookies to eat around the newly decorated tree. That new Yule tree smell and the sweet dessert is forever ingrained in my being and I knew I wanted to celebrate that for our upcoming feast. Though the Yule tree has always been a Christian tradition, it’s something that really symbolizes winter for me and has such an enchanting scent. I’ll take any opportunity to bring the natural world indoors. What seems to be unanimous between Pagans and Christians is using evergreens in rituals for their winter celebrations, so why not go for it right? I brought out my freeze-dried spruce tips that we had foraged last spring and went to work on ideas. I decided in the end that I wanted to make a majestic Bundt cake celebrating all the gods and goddesses that represent the Yule festivities.
Goddesses: Freyja, The Great Mother and Earth Goddess, Gaia, Diana, Bona-Dea, Isis, Demeter
Gods: The Sun God, The Oak King, The Holly King, Mabon, The Green Man, The Red Man, The Horned One, Odin, Lugh, Apollo, Ra
When you look up yule desserts the most common sweet is the “Yule Log” and honestly I don’t think I could compete with the visual splendor that so many creative bakers have accomplished. So with that in mind I thought a Bundt cake had a very royal flare to it and I have the perfect evergreen tree bundt mold from Nordic Ware. Some might say it’s a tad on the nose for my conifer cake…but it’s too fun not to use! I knew the flavors of stout and chocolate would blend with the spruce tips but might also overpower the rich sweet melon and grapefruit notes that spruce tips have to offer, so I had to go further. Bundt cakes can be dense and one of the best things to help that is an alluring Creme Anglaise. Adding this free-flowing custard sauce afforded another opportunity to infuse flavors into the dish. I went ahead and infused more of my spruce tips and added some orange zest to bring out the spruce’s citrus notes, creating that perfect Winter Solstice dessert.
What are the Health Benefits of Spruce Tips?
Spruce tips provide high levels of Vitamin A and C, as well as oils rich in terpenes that have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Its very good to boost your immune system.
New spruce tips are soft and chewy and may be eaten raw, but are best cooked or pickled. As the tips mature they become bitter and too hard to consume. The Spruce tips’ lemony quality compliment seafood nicely in a sauce or stuffing. They are also used to add a fresh citrus note to beer. In sweet applications, Spruce tips add balance to cookies, sorbets and syrups. When steeped, Spruce tip tea is excellent for soothing sore throats and other respiratory ailments. A salve may also be made for topical uses on rashes, bug bites and joint aches. The best season to pick them is early spring.
The Koyukon People of Alaska used the White Spruce from root to tip for medicine, shelter, firewood, waterproofing, and ceremonial purposes. In their native language every part of the tree has a unique name thus illustrating its multifaceted importance. Fossil records from the Paleocene Era trace the origin of spruce to Montana. Spruce trees grow in the boreal forests of temperate climates in the Northern hemisphere. Today they may be found growing across Scandinavia, Russia, China, Japan and North America.1
What are the Health Benefits of Chocolate?
In moderation dark chocolate with a high cocoa content is actually quite nutritious. It contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals.
A 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70–85% cocoa contains
- 11 grams of fiber
- 67% of the RDI for iron
- 58% of the RDI for magnesium
- 89% of the RDI for copper
- 98% of the RDI for manganese
- It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium
The fatty acid profile of cocoa and dark chocolate is also excellent. The fats are mostly saturated and monounsaturated, with small amounts of polyunsaturated fat. Dark chocolate is loaded with organic compounds that are biologically active and function as antioxidants. These include polyphenols, flavanols and catechins, among others. One study showed that cocoa and dark chocolate had more antioxidant activity, polyphenols and flavanols than any other fruits tested, which included blueberries and acai berries. It can stimulate the endothelium, the lining of arteries, to produce nitric oxide. One of the functions of nitric oxide is to send signals to the arteries to relax, which lowers the resistance to blood flow and therefore reduces blood pressure. It also may reduce Heart Disease risk, may protect your skin from the sun for example, the bioactive compounds in dark chocolate may also be great for your skin. The flavonols can protect against sun damage, improve blood flow to the skin and increase skin density and hydration. The last amazing thing is Dark chocolate may also improve the function of your brain. Wow, the cocoa plant is absolutely wonderful.2
As many have probably experienced, bundt cakes can be very tricky. There is a constant fear of getting your cake stuck in the bundt pan mold. A frequently asked question by home bakers is “how do I properly grease a bundt pan?”. The best trick I have picked up, especially for a more intricate design is using a non-stick spray that has flour in it. Something like “PAM Perfect Release” is absolutely essential for getting your cake out in one piece. After spraying, you take a pastry brush and make sure all the small crevasses are coated evenly so your bundt cake keeps all the detail and does not get stuck. Then you can either sprinkle more flour or cocoa powder if you want but it should work either way. I also grease the pan right before pouring the batter into it, so it doesn’t sit and pool up. Since I was using my Nordic Ware Pine Forest Bundt Pan, this was a perfect time to try this fully nonstick method and it came out beautifully.
Once the cake was done I knew this was about to become a new Yule tradition because it smelled and looked so seductive. It’s a winter sweet that brings the same satisfaction and pleasure as chopping down your own Yule tree. If you love an earthy and rich dessert for the cold season, this is the recipe for you.
I hope you relish the flavors of this special dessert and remember, bake with intention that nature is love and love is food.
Happy Winter Solstice!
-Drew Johanna
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Woodsy Chocolate Stout Bundt Cake w/ Spruce Tip Crème Anglaise
Ingredients
Chocolate Stout Cake:
- 3/4 cup (60g) Spruce Tips
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour
- 5oz (142g) Dark Chocolate
- 1 1/4 C (284g) Unsalted Butter, Cubed
- 1 cup (240g) Stout or Porter
- 3/4 cup (75g) Natural Cocoa Powder (plus more for sprinkling)
- 3 Large Eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup (100g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) Dark Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
- 1/3 cup (73g) Plain Yogurt (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp (5g) Salt
- Nonstick Baking Spray with Flour
- Powdered sugar (optional, for decoration)
Spruce Tip Crème Anglaise:
- 1/3–1/2 C (26g-40g) Spruce Tips (to taste)
- 1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise or 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 1 Cup Cream
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Orange Zest
Instructions
For the Chocolate Stout Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. In large saucepan, add cubed Butter and Spruce Tips. Melt over medium-low while constantly stirring. Within 1-2 minutes the butter should get frothy. Lower the heat to maintain a bare simmer. Stir frequently and cook until highly aromatic 4-5 minutes. Take off heat, cover and rest until saucepan is cool to the touch. Strain butter through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and discard spruce tips.
- Return saucepan to the stove and add Chocolate. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Whisk in the spruce infused butter, then the Stout, then Cocoa Powder and beat to combine. Remove from heat and continue to whisk until cooled and well mixed. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and cool to room temperature.
- Add Eggs to the cooled chocolate mixture and beat with the paddle attachment on medium-low speed (gear 3-4) until smooth and fluffy (around 3 minutes). Then beat in the Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar
- Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the Yogurt with a rubber spatula until well combined.
- Carefully stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Set mix next to your cake pan and spray nonstick flour spray. Grease pan and brush in more detailed areas with a pastry brush. Then sprinkle with cocoa powder.
- Pour the batter into the greased bundt cake pan and smooth out the batter so its nice and even.
- Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the internal temperature cake reads 210F on an instant read thermometer.
- Once fully baked, remove from oven and set on a cooling rack. Cool cake in its pan for 10 minutes.
- Tap all around the sides of the pan, then carefully turn the cake right-side up onto the cooling rack and carefully life the cake mold. Leave the bundt to cool completely to room temperature.
For The Crème Anglaise:
- In a medium sauce pan add Vanilla, Spruce Tips, Cream and Milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat then immediately take off heat, cover and let it steep for 15 minutes
- While the dairy is steeping, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Nest a smaller bowl (minimum 3 cup capacity, preferably metal) in the middle of the ice bath.
- Then whisk the Eggs Yolks, Sugar, and Orange Zest together in a heavy bottomed sauce pan.
- Whisking constantly, slowly pour 1/4 of the warm cream into the egg mixture. When the yolks are warm, slowly and constantly pour the rest of the cream while continuing to whisk.
- Put this saucepan over medium heat while constantly and vigorously whisking. Cook cream until it thickens slightly and reaches 180F. Do not let simmer. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer, you can determine doneness by dipping in a spoon and drawing a line with your finger through the cream on the back of the spoon. If the cream doesn’t run into the line and holds, your creme anglaise is done cooking.
- Remove from heat and strain cream into the nested bowl set in the ice bath. Whisk cream in the bowl until completely cooled. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.
Notes
The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 6-7 days. Creme Anglaise can be made ahead and will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
