A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire) (40 page)

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Authors: Chelsea Monroe-Cassel,Sariann Lehrer

BOOK: A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (A Song of Ice and Fire)
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In a medium saucepan, whisk the ⅔ cup flour a little at a time into the cold milk so that there are no lumps. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and the sherry, and cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until a thick porridge forms. Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir briskly to cool the mixture.
When the porridge is lukewarm, add the egg and stir briskly until it is blended. Stir in the pine nuts and a dash of cinnamon and pepper. Stir in the remaining ¾ cup flour to make a dough that is sticky but can still be handled.
On a floured board with floured hands, press the dough out to a ½-inch-thick rectangle; cut it into finger-size strips.
Cover the bottom of a frying pan with a layer of olive oil about ½ inch deep. Heat the oil and fry the strips of dough until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove the fried strips to a plate covered with paper towels to drain. Dip them in honey and sprinkle them with cinnamon and pine nuts.

Modern Honeyfingers
Makes 15 to 18 honeyfingers
Syrup: 3 hours to overnight
Dough: 2 hours
Frying: 20 minutes
Delighted with the spiced sauce and the incredibly luscious texture, you will find yourself gobbling up these pastries and shamelessly licking your fingers. The braided fritters are impressive in presentation, yet reminiscent of fried dough from country fairs.
For the Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 stick cinnamon
For the Dough:
2 cups cake flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Oil for frying
Cook all the ingredients for the syrup in a pan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring the syrup to a boil, then cover it with the lid and allow it to boil for 1 minute.
Uncover the pan, then turn down the heat to medium high and let the syrup simmer for about 5 minutes. Chill the syrup in the fridge for several hours, or overnight. It should be ice cold when you make the honeyfingers.
To make the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Make a well in the middle of the bowl and pour in the remaining ingredients, except for the oil. Mix thoroughly, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until it is soft and elastic, but not sticky. It should be of a consistency that it can be rolled out easily. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 2 hours.
Roll the dough out to a ¼-inch-thick rectangle, then cut it into strips about ½-inch wide. You can decide your desired length. Braid 3 strips of the same length together, pinching the ends well to prevent them from unraveling. Do this with all the dough. The braids should be 6 to 8 inches long.
Place the chilled syrup in a larger bowl of ice water to help keep it cold and set it near your stove. Heat about 1 inch oil over medium heat until it is very hot. Carefully drop the braided fingers a couple at a time into the oil and fry them for just a few minutes until they’re golden on both sides. Remove the honeyfingers from the oil and plunge them into the cold syrup. Leave them in the syrup until they have stopped cooking, about 30 seconds.
Pull the finished honeyfingers from the syrup mixture and set on a cooling rack with parchment paper or a cookie sheet underneath to catch the dripping syrup. Serve immediately once all the honeyfingers have been fried and cooled in syrup.

Wintercakes

He could still recall the sounds of the three bells, the way that Noom’s deep peals set his very bones to shuddering, the proud strong voice of Narrah, sweet Nyel’s silvery laughter. The taste of wintercake filled his mouth again, rich with ginger and pine nuts and bits of cherry …

—A FEAST FOR CROWS

These Elizabethan cakes are dense and heavy, yet addictive. The overall taste is one of pleasant, homey shortbread, but when you get a bite with cherry or ginger, the flavor shifts from familiar to foreign and fantastic. Consider eating them with your afternoon tea or coffee while lounging in a large armchair.
Elizabethan Wintercakes

Take three pound and a half of very fine flower well dryed by the fire, and put to it a pound and half of loaf Sugar sifted in a very fine sieve and dryed; Three pounds of Currants well washed and dryed in a cloth and set by the fire; When your flower is well mixed with the Sugar and Currants, you must put in it a pound and half of unmelted butter, ten spoonfuls of Cream, with the yolks of three new-laid Eggs beat with it, one Nutmeg; and if you please, three spoonfuls of Sack. When you have wrought your paste well, you must put it in a cloth, and set it in a dish before the fire, till it be through warm. Then make them up in little Cakes, and prick them full of holes; you must bake them in a quick oven unclosed. Afterwards Ice them over with Sugar
.

—THE CLOSET OF SIR KENELM DIGBY KNIGHT OPENED, 1669

Makes 12 to 14 cakes
Prep: 15 minutes
Baking: 25 minutes
Pairs well with
Cold Fruit Soup
,
Mulled Wine
or tea
We added dried cherries, pine nuts, and ginger to comply with our chosen historical recipe, but we decided to omit the icing. We found that it wasn’t really needed when all was said and baked—but you are more than welcome to give it a go!
3½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup dried cherries, diced
¼ cup candied ginger, diced
⅓ cup pine nuts
5 tablespoons double cream (or heavy cream)
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons sweet white wine, such as marsala or sherry, plus more if needed
Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a baking sheet.
Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Rub in the butter, then add the dried cherries, ginger, and pine nuts. In a separate bowl, mix the cream and egg yolks, then pour
this over the dry mixture. Stir in the nutmeg and wine, combining everything thoroughly until the dough holds together and forms one big ball (add a little more wine if needed).
Form the dough into disks about 4 inches across and ¾ inch thick and place them on the baking sheet, giving each cake room to spread a little. Bake the cakes for about 25 minutes, or until they are slightly golden on top.

Modern Wintercake
Serves 10 to 12
Prep: 30 minutes
Baking: 30 to 40 minutes

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