Hello,
Well well, what a month it has been! Busy, yes, but in the most fun and exciting way, and we had such a laugh. This is exactly why I look forward to autumn every year.
The best of it was the swap evening. Now, we share what we need all year round anyway (nobody keeps count), but a swap evening is something else. Everyone brings their spare jars and little bits, puts them in the middle, and the whole joy is not knowing what you will go home with. This time the exchange went round and round so many times that one of us went home with their own jar back. Nobody could say who had taken it, or where it had been. And by “one of us” I mean my dearest Mr. Dandelion, who, as always, took no notice and announced that his jars had the best contents anyway. We laughed until the tea went cold.
So yes, autumn is the season for foraging and preserving. Everyone goes out with baskets and everyone comes back with something: berries, apples, nuts, roots, a stone with an interesting face. What we find goes into jars, the jars go onto shelves, and when the shelves are full we are ready to hibernate.
Now, I know what you may have heard. That we sleep all the way through winter until spring. This is not true! For us hibernation only means getting ready for the slower months. Besides, the winter forest is the most magical season of all, and I would not miss it for a long sleep.
It is true that we do not go out much. We stay indoors, in our tree barks and crannies, layered in furry clothing that we make from all sorts of materials. My favourite is forest creature fur, which sometimes gets tangled with the branches (a small price). We drink herbal teas and plant root drinks that are a little like your coffee. Come to think of it, they might be tastier than your coffee. I will not apologise for this.
But we do not stay indoors all the time. On some sunny days, when the earth is covered with a soft white snow blanket, we come out to play. Mostly we play hide and seek, and this is when white woolly clothing is very useful. I make sure the fur I collect is mostly white for exactly this reason. We play snowball fights too, which I enjoy a little less, but I know many Nettlekind love them.
And then we make things. Crafts, mending, creating, reading, and writing stories too. I look forward to this so much that there is a whole room in my tree trunk house just for it. This is where I am now, writing to you at my desk on lovely Mossy. I might ask Mrs. Mint to come and take a picture of the place, so I can attach it to this letter.
You will see there is cake. It is the last bits of a sourdough apple cake, and I am enjoying every crumb. It was made with Fernkin, my sourdough starter, who is at his liveliest right now, bubbling away in the pantry. These are his last days awake. Soon he will be fed one final time and put to sleep for the winter, and he will wake again in spring. He is the only one of us who truly hibernates, and I think he has earned it.
So before he goes quiet, here is the recipe.
Sourdough Apple and Forest Berry Cake
I have adjusted this recipe for human kitchens, so everything can be found in your shops, in sizes you will recognise.
You will need:
115g unsalted butter
180g brown sugar
60g honey (dandelion honey if you have it)
3 medium eggs
150g unfed sourdough starter
250g sweet dessert apples, grated with the skin on (about 2 medium)
240g plain flour
3 level teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
a pinch of fine sea salt
150g forest berries, fresh or frozen (blueberries work well too)
a handful of chopped almonds or hazelnuts, if you like
Use apples that taste sweet when you bite them raw. If yours are on the sharp side, add a spoonful more sugar.
Melt the butter and let it cool a little. Heat the oven to 175°C fan (about 195°C without a fan) and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
Put everything except the berries and nuts into one large bowl and give it a good mix, until no dry flour is left. Do not squeeze the apple first, as its juice is part of the cake. Taste the batter. It should be sweet enough to enjoy as it is.
Spoon the batter into the tin and level the top. Scatter the berries over, then the nuts, and press them in lightly.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, testing with a skewer from 40. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil. Leave the cake in its tin for 15 minutes before lifting it out.
This is lovely still warm with a little butter and a cup of root drink.
Until next time,
Mrs. Nettle
A little more of Mrs Nettle…
You can find Mrs Nettle’s paper dolls in the Friendly Nettle shop https://payhip.com/FriendlyNettleStudios
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