The Giver's Angel Food Cupcakes

“Dumbfounded, he stared at it. This time it was not a fleeting impression. This time the sled had—and continued to have, as he blinked, and stared at it again—that same mysterious quality that the apple had had so briefly. And Fiona’s hair. The sled did not change. It simply was—whatever the thing was.
...
’I’m right then,’ The Giver said. ‘You’re beginning to see the color red.’
’The what?’”

— Lois Lowry, The Giver, pages 93-94

I think most people read this book in school, reluctantly, because it's just another assignment. Rereading it as an adult, you see so much more than you did. You see so many more details and terrible truths about the society everyone in the book lives in. You definitely get sucked into the story much more than you did when you were younger, whether you devoured it in one sitting back then, like I did, or you dragged your feet while reading it between math and history homework. 

Normally, I pick out mentions of food to base my recipes off of, but the only real detail we get about food in the community is just the fact that the meals are all very punctual. The Giver mentions growing food briefly. "Snow made growing difficult, limited the agricultural period. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness," (83-84). We're never told what kind of food they grew. 

(They don't even have sunshine. Climate Control got rid of that too.)

I wanted to make a dessert that had a bland, but neat, appearance. Something white.

The way Jonas gets the memories from the Giver, soaking them in, memory by memory, made me think of angel food cupcakes. They're so soft and squishy, and they're the lightest cake I know how to make.

One of my favorite things to pair with angel food cake is whipped cream. Homemade whipped cream is silky and smooth, and the pure white color reminds me of the first memory Jonas received from the Giver—snow.

But there's so much going on in this book. So much darkness hidden beneath the clean Sameness.

Naturally, I wanted to stuff this cupcake with something that wasn't white.

Have you ever cut a cherry in half, removed the pit, and just looked at the hole where it used to be? It reminds me of the people in this book, away from other societies. Isolated and surrounded. Staining your hands red. 

People don't die of old age in this book. They're "released" before they die naturally and when they're no longer useful. Children, adults, anyone who threatens the naiveté of the people in the community, are all killed when others decide that they should be. 

It's also fitting that the first color Jonas sees is the color red.

The weather, if you can call it that, is always warm. So I wanted to add some summer flavors to the cherries.

Lime, like so much in this book, is unexpected and surprising. It adds a sharpness to the cherries.

And mint, meant to calm (like the pills the people in the book take), balances it all out.

Angel Food Cupcakes

- 1/2 c  cake four

-1/3 tsp  salt

-3/4 c  white sugar, mounded (don't level it off... you want an extra 2-ish tbsp in the recipe)

-6 egg whites, room temperature

-2 1/2 tbsp  warm water

-1 tsp  vanilla extract

-3/4 tsp  cream of tartar

1. Throw the sugar in a food processor, and pulse until the sugar is really fine.
2. Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a bowl, and mix together.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and water. You're going to need to whisk it until stiff peaks form, so it's easiest if you use a mixer. I've done it without, and it's more of a workout than you want (especially since you're going to be doing the same with the whipped cream later). Trust me.
4. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture a little at a time, and FOLD them together. Don't whisk, don't stir. You can't cheat this—it'll deflate the egg whites and the cupcakes won't be light and fluffy. Take your time and fold until it's all incorporated.
5. Scoop the batter into lined cupcake pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. (The tops should be a light gold.)
7. Let them cool.
8. Cut a circle into the middle of each cupcake, then gently press the circle down into the cupcake. I actually bought one of those fancy cupcake corers, but it didn't work. This cake is a bit too sticky for that.

Mint, Lime, and Cherry Filling

-2 c  pitted and diced cherries (I used Bing cherries)

-1 c  white sugar

-1 tsp  lime zest

-1 1/2 tbsp  lime juice

-5 sprigs of mint

-pinch of salt

-1 tbsp  cold water

- 1/4 tsp  cornstarch

1. Combine the lime, sugar, mint, and cherries in a small saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until boiling.
3. Reduce to a simmer, and continue cooking for another 10-20 minutes.
4. In a small glass, whisk together the cold water and cornstarch, creating a slurry. This is going to thicken the cherry mixture a little, so it doesn't run everywhere.
5. Add the cold slurry into the saucepan, and stir until the cherry sauce gets a bit thicker.
6. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool.

Homemade Whipped Cream (This is going to change your life—it's so ridiculously easy)

-3 c  heavy cream, cold

-6 tbsp  confectioner's sugar

1. Whisk the confectioner's sugar and heavy cream in a large bowl (you want the bowl to be cold too, so a metal one works best), until stiff peaks begin to form. 
2. That's it. It's pretty much just that one step. Try not to eat it all before you put the cupcakes together. I guess that's the second step?

You want to assemble these right before you plan on serving them, to prevent the whipped cream from falling and to save the angel food cake from getting soggy. When you are ready to serve them, fill the holes you created with the cherry filling, then cover the whole thing with the whipped cream.

I mentioned earlier that I wanted the cupcake to look neat and put together, like the Sameness everyone in the novel has creates. Because of that, I decided to use a decorative piping tip. It's simple enough that it doesn't call an excessive amount of attention to it, but it still looks put together and clean.

And because angel food cake has barely any fat or cholesterol, and cherries are good for you, you don't have to feel bad about eating five of them. Right? That's how that works?