021 - It's Either Death or Drowning in "The Great River"

Sam has a "crappy" time on the boat, Pat can't tell what color his shirt is, and Boromir gaslights the fellowship. This week we discuss book 2, chapter 9, "The Great River", from The Fellowship of the Ring. 

Today's "Food For Thought": Mini Swiss Rolls with Eyes (What Sam Saw)

The Cake: 6 large eggs, separated, room temp 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray an 18x13 rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray,  line the bottom with sprayed parchment paper. Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar slowly, and increase the speed and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Mix egg yolks with the other wet ingredients and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. In another bowl, sift/whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Whisk dry mixture into the egg yolk mixture until smooth. 

Add about 1/3 of egg whites into the batter and mix in well. Then add another 1/3 and FOLD. Add the last 1/3 and FOLD into the batter. Spread out the batter in the baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake from the baking sheet and sift a layer of cocoa powder on top of the cake in the sheet. Lay a kitchen towel over and invert to free the cake. Remove the baking sheet / parchment paper, and sift a layer of cocoa powder onto the other side of the cake. Using the towel, roll the cake into a log starting at the long end. Place the log seam-side down on a cooling rack and fully cool. 

The Filling: 1 cup heavy cream 1/3 cup light corn syrup 1/2 tsp vanilla. Whip the ingredients together until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to assemble. 

Outer Coating: 8 oz semisweet chocolate (chips or chopped) Candy eyeballs I deviated from the recipe here because I didn't have any coconut oil, which would have helped the chocolate glaze harden. I simply melted some chocolate. Unroll the cake and spread your filling on top. Slice the cake into 6 strips parallel to the short edge. Then slice it in half vertically for 12 strips. Roll into logs. Chill for 15 minutes. Place the logs onto a cooling rack and pour/spoon the melted chocolate/glaze over them until fully covered. After chocolate coating has had a few minutes to set, place the candy eyeballs on top. Chill for 15 minutes. Use a fork or toothpick to scratch some bark-like lines into each log. 

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Welcome to the Fool of a Took Podcast — the show where deep lore meets even deeper nonsense! Here's the catch - 2 of the 4 hosts have never read the books before! Join Chris, RJ, Pat and Laura as they dive headfirst into the world of Tolkien.

With chapter snacks, fresh grog, and plenty of tongue wagging, Fool of a Took Podcast is like sitting in a pub in Bree, if everyone in the pub had ADHD and a microphone.

Content Warning: Explicit

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