Marja Viitahuhta (FI): Cakes for thought Recipe Book

Cakes for thought is a project led by artist Marja Viitahuhta, where cakes and pastries are designed and made in honor of prominent feminist thinkers. The recipes are inspired by their ideas and work.

We arrange Cakes for thought workshops during the ANTI Festival 2020. You may also bake the cakes at home; below the Cakes for thought Recipe Book!

The Recipe Book includes the following cake recipes:

Alexandra Cake
The cake is dedicated to Alexandra Kollontai, love and bodily self-determination.

Minna Cake
The cake is dedicated to Minna Canth, equality and dismantling class division.

PUF Cake
The cake is dedicated to The Public Universal Friend and gender diversity.

Greta Cake
The cake is dedicated to Greta Thunberg, activism and climate movement.

Qamar Cake
The cake is dedicated to Qamar-al-Moluk Vaziri, courage and revolutionary music.

Alexandra Cake

The cake is dedicated to Alexandra Kollontai, love and bodily self-determination.

V, L, G.

Alexandra Kollontai (31.3.1872 – 9.3.1952) was a Russian politician, author, speaker and diplomat and a socialist feminist. Among other things, Kollontai wrote about the connection between politics and sexuality and love, and outlined a future of equality, free of old norms, for the “new woman”. Kollontai also served as a public welfare commissioner, influencing, for example, the legalization of abortion in the Soviet Union as the first country in the world. She wrote critically about the institution of marriage, and did not accept the idea of ​​owning another person. She also pushed for mothers’ right to work and livelihood by demanding access to childcare and state-provided financial support.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

1 dl dried apricot (approx. 12 piece)
1 dl sunflower seeds, not salted or fried
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp lemon juice
½ dl oat milk (gluten free)
1 dl coconut flakes
(coconut oil)

FILLING

500 g frozen strawberries or raspberries (if not domestic, make sure to first preheat to boiling temperature, then refreeze, to avoid listeriosis contamination)
3 bags vegegel
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
2 dl caster sugar
2,5 dl whippable oat cream or soy cream

DECORATION

Alt. 1:

100 g vegan chocolate (to keep your cake gluten free, make sure your chocolate is gluten free too, or use the alternative decoration with berries and meringue)
4-5 tsp oat milk

Alt 2:

Red berries, such as raspberries, redcurrants or strawberries, vegan meringues, pink vegan whipped cream

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. There are two alternative versions for the decoration of the cake. The reason for this is to be able to create a cake with red berries and meringues for a more festive look but also to be able to decorate it without berries when they are harder to get by chocolate marbling. The chocolate marbling also is a reference to the Alexander pastry – commonly known and sold in Finland. This cake however is not dedicated to the Tsar but a revolutionary woman.

  2. Take the frozen berries to melt well in advance.

  3. Prepare a spring form (24 cm) by placing a baking paper on its bottom and tighten it with the form to keep it in place. Cut the extra paper if you wish. Spread coconut oil to the edges if you want to make sure your cake is easily detached from the form. Many forms have a stick-free surface but I still oil them.

  4. Prepare the crust. Pour the apricots and the seeds in a blender and mix until they are small crumbs. Add the rest of the crust ingredients and squash them all smooth with the blender. Scoop the crust to your cake form and press it with your hands and fingers evenly and put the form in the freezer to wait for the filling to be prepared.

  5. Prepare the filling. Poor the juice of the melted berries (approx. 2 dl) into a kettle and add 3 bags of vegegel. Whi the vegegel powder so it becomes well mixed with the juice. At this point you can take aside a few teaspoons of berry juice to color the vegan whipped cream that you might want to use for decoration later on (alternative 2).

  6. Mush the sugar and the berries with a stavmixer.

  7. Whip the oat whip / oat cream until it’s airy and thick. Make sure you use the kind suitable for vegan whipped cream, not the one meant for cooking. Mix well with the berry mush.

  8. Now heat the vegegel-juice stirring it occasionally, until it is shiny and almost boiling. Cool it briefly by whipping it, but don’t let the mixture cool down completely. Blend in with the berry cream mixture and mix all together well.

  9. Pour the filling on top of the crust. Even it with a spatula.

  10. Decoration alternative 1: Melt the chocolate either in a microwave or  in a cup placed in hot water. Stir the chocolate during melting process, be careful not to burn it! Add oat milk to the melted chocolate, mixing it well, and taking care not to let it cool down and get lumpy. Now pour the chocolate on top of the cake in circles placed one inside the other. The marbled effect is made with a swizzle stick or a toothpick: pull and push the stick lightly through the chocolate circles several times, from outer circles to inner ones and back. Place the cake in a fridge for about 1-2 hours. Before detaching the spring form, you can bring a knife in between the form and the cake and turn it full circle until the cake becomes loose.

  11. Decoration alternative 2: Decorate the cake with pink vegan whipped oat cream, vegan meringues and red berries (recipes for both the pink cream and the meringues below).

  12. Enjoy your cake with black organic tea, for example darjeeling or assam. In Russia tea is sometimes served and sweetened with a teaspoon of berry jam, sugar or seasoned with a splash of lemon.

VEGAN MERINGUES

INGREDIENTS

1 dl aquafaba (the liquid in a can of preserved chickpeas)
1 dl caster sugar
1 tl vanilla sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. If you wish to use meringues for your cake decoration, you can prepare them already the day before. Vegan meringues can be purchased nowadays from supermarkets too, but they are easier to make than you might think.

  2. Preheat the oven to 80-100 (celsius). Spread a baking paper on a baking sheet.

  3. Whip the aquafaba and the sugar with a mixer in a high-brimmed bowl. Continue whipping until the foam becomes stiff and will not run or flow when you tilt the bowl. Squeeze small buns on the baking paper. Use a piping tube or put the froth inside a plastic bag and cut one of its cornes out. Another way of doing this is to just use a spoon and place spoonfuls of the foam on the paper. Leave each meringue some space around them.

  4. Dry the meringues in the oven first for 90 minutes. You can then turn the heat off and leave the meringues to dry in the oven for a few hours more or even overnight.

  5. Take notice that the meringues are vulnerable to moisture and easily become sticky. If you use them as decoration for your cake, add them just before serving.

PINK WHIPPED CREAM (VEGAN)


INGREDIENTS

1 dl oat whip (whippable oat cream)
½ dl caster sugar
0,5 tsp berry juice
1 bag cream fix powder (or 4 tsp potato flour)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Whip the cream with sugar. Add a dash of berry juice. Mix the cream fix powder in. Test the sweetness and the thickness of the cream. Put the cream in a piping tube and use it to decorate the surface of the cake.

Minna Cake

The cake is dedicated to Minna Canth, equality and dismantling class division.

V, L, nut free

Minna Canth (19.3.1844 – 12.5.1897) was a Finnish writer, entrepreneur, journalist and prominent social figure. In her plays and stories she spoke out for the equality between men and women and against social inequality as well as class stratification. Canth was also a mother of seven children and became a single parent early on in her life, at the age of 35, when her husband passed away. She wanted to change injustices and faults in the society, felt strongly about them and wrote for example about the poor state of social welfare and women’s education. She advanced the possibilities of broader education for girls by arranging fundraising events and via public opinion forming.

INGREDIENTS


CAKE BATTER

Part 1

2,5 dl finely grated carrot (approx. 4 pieces)
2 dl syrup
1 dl caster sugar
1,5 dl vegan spread / margarine
2 dl applesauce (mashed apples)
1,5 dl oat milk

Part 2

1 dl cornstarch
5 dl wheat flour
1 tsp bitter orange peel
2 tsp cinnamon
1,5 tsp baking soda (sodium carbonate)
1,5 tl baking powder (sodium bicarbonate)
(coconut oil)

APPLE TOPPING

2 apples
50 g vegan spread / margarine
1 tbsp caster sugar

DECORATION

3 tsp caster sugar
5 tsp water
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp cinnamon

FILLING / FROSTING

200 g vegan cream cheese
1 dl powdered sugar
1 tl vanilla extract

ALSO

vegan whipped cream

INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (celsius).
    2. Line the bottoms of two spring forms (24 cm wide) with baking paper and optionally also oil their inside surfaces with coconut oil.
    3. Grate the carrots.
    4. In a bowl mix the syrup, the sugar, oat milk applesauce and margarine. If you lack margarine you can use coconut oil instead or in addition.
    5. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients (part 2).
    6. Blend all carefully together, but do not whip or knead.
    7. Pour half of the batter inside one of the forms, half to the other.
    8. Peel the apples, slice them lengthwise, remove the stems and scoop the core with the seeds out with a teaspoon. Slice the apple from “navel to navel”. Keep the slices even, moderately slim, not too thin so they won’t break. Decorate the top of one of the cakes with the apples. Begin by placing them in the formation of a circle, circulating the outer edge of the top of the cake, one slice slightly on top of another. Once you have finished the first round, begin a new circle in the middle part of the cake, this time turning over the direction where the apple slices are “facing”. Finally do a third round in the middle with the smallest slices. With a teaspoon drop small lumps of margarine every here and there on top of the apple topping.
    9. Bake the cakes in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes. The cakes are ready when you can stick the wooden end of a matchstick in the middle of the cake, pick it up and see that the cake batter is no longer sticking to it. Take the cake without the apples out of the oven but move the apple version to the top shelf of the oven. If your oven has a grill option, use it. Bake for 5 minutes more or until the apples turn slightly golden brown.
    10. Remove both cakes carefully from their spring forms. Turn the one without apples upside down to be used as the base of the cake.
    11. Mix a quick syrup from caster sugar and water and brush the apples with it to keep them looking moist. Leave the cakes to cool thoroughly. Do not start filling your cake too soon or your frosting will melt.
    12. When the cakes are ready to be filled, take a cup and a fork and mix the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract into a bendy paste. Spread the paste with a knife or a spatula on the cake without the apples.
    13. Carefully place the cake with the apples on top. With the help of a sieve sprinkle cinnamon and powdered sugar on top as decoration. Serve with vegan whipped cream.
    14. The cake can be served with vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan whipped cream, but it is nice even without them. I recommend enjoying your cake with a cup or two of strong fair trade coffee: Minna Canth also loved coffee!

PUF Cake

The cake is dedicated to The Public Universal Friend and gender diversity.

V, L, G

The Public Universal Friend (29.11.1752 – 1.6.1819) was an American preacher born to a Quaker family. At the age of 24 The Friend suffered a severe illness with high fever, most probably typhus. After several days, the fever broke out and The Friend reported having died and been resurrected as a genderless person. From then on they wanted to be known as an evangelist named The Public Universal Friend and not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. To questions about their gender they replied, “I am what I am”. They dressed themselves wearing garments of the attires of both men and women. They gathered around them a group of followers, “The Society of Friends” and performed as a public preacher. Alike the Quakers, they opposed predestination and slavery. They persuaded their followers to release their slaves, and the Society also included black members who witnessed the liberation events, the manumissions. The Friend preached about sexual abstinence, and did not favor marriage, but did neither see celibacy as a mandatory for their followers. However, several women who followed them abandoned their traditional roles of women as wives and mothers and rose to prominent positions in their communes.

While operating in Pennsylvania, The Friend appeared to the public just two days after their apartment was attacked and stoned. They then wanted to establish a kind of settlement of their own in western New York. The settlement ran into legal difficulties, due in part to power struggles over land ownership. Critics of The Friend pointed out, among other things, that they could not own land without using their birth name in documents. The Friend became threatened and accused. Despite the criticism, however, The Friend kept using their genderless name until their death.

INGREDIENTS


CRUST

165 g gluten free digestive biscuits
1 dl vegan margarine (for example naturli-spread, which is also gluten free and palm oil free)
1 tsp psyllium
1 dl coconut flour
0,5 dl oat milk (gluten free)
(coconut oil)

 

FILLING

2 medium sized sweet potatoes (approx.  4,5 dl peeled, chopped, steamed, cooled and mushed)
1,5 dl agave syrup
1 dl caster sugar (alternatively 1 banana)
1 tsp fresh ginger finely grated
1 organic orange, juice squeezed
1 tsp bitter orange peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
0,5 tsp – 1 tsp turmeric
4 dl sunflower seeds (peeled, not fried, unsalted, soaked in water overnight)
100 g coconut butter melted and cooled

 

TOPPING

3 dl mango purée
1 bag of vegegel powder

 

DECORATION

colored coconut flakes
sea-buckwheat berries

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Soak the sunflower seeds in water overnight or begin soaking them by latest as the first thing you do when you start preparing your cake.
  2. Line the bottom of a spring form (24 cm wide) with baking paper and optionally also oil the inside surface with coconut oil.
  3. Peel and chop the sweet potato into small cubes. Steam the sweet potato cubes in a sieve inside a kettle with boiling water until they are soft. Blend the softened cubes with a mixer, make sure your sweet potatoes are thoroughly mushed. Pour cold water in a sink, place your bowl of sweet potato mush inside it and let it cool while you prepare the crust of the cake.
  4. Crush the biscuits by hand (gluten free cookies crumble easily) or using a potato pestle in another bowl. Or you can optionally put the biscuits in a minigrip bag and beat the bag until the biscuits are smashed. Mix the crumble with softened margarine (either room temperature or melted in a microwave), psyllium powder and coconut flour. Press the crust on the bottom of the cake form evenly. (If you wish, you can leave the psyllium out of your crust, its purpose is to better the consistency of the crust. Coconut flour can be replaced by almond flour. If you need a nut free cake, skip the flours and leave out the oat milk too. The crust will then be just more flaky and crumbly. In the filling you can leave the coconut butter out too, it will just make the filling softer.)
  5. Prepare the filling. Melt the coconut butter in the microwave in a cup or a small bowl. After it has melted, place it in the sink to cool in the cold water with the sweet potato bowl.
  6. Grate fresh ginger with the smaller blades of a grater or rub it against a grating plate. Do not squeeze it dry.
  7. Cut your orange in two and squeeze its juice with a reamer.
  8. Pour the soaked seeds in a sieve and drain the water out of them. Put the seeds in a blender and blend them as smooth as you can. If the paste is sticky and hard to blend, pour the orange juice in.
  9. Blend and mix all ingredients of the filling together: the sweet potato mush, the seeds, juice, coconut butter, syrup and sugar and spices. Turmeric gives a nice color to your mixture, bitter orange peel makes the aroma of your orange stronger. Check the sweetness by tasting the filling and then scoop it onto your crust. Even the filling out with a spatula. Freeze for several hours or until completely frozen.
  10. When you want to decorate the cake, let it adjust to room temperature, for about 30 minutes. Prepare the mango topping. Pour the mango purée into a saucepan and whip a bag of vegegel powder into it. Heat the mixture, stirring it every now and then until you see bubbles popping up to the surface, i.e. nearly boiling. Whisk the mixture slightly to cool it down just slightly – but not too much, don’t let it turn solid. Pour the topping on your cake and quickly even it with a spatula. If your cake is still very cold, you need to do this fast to avoid a lumpy result. Sprinkle buckwheat berries and colored coconut flakes on top. (Recipe for coconut flakes below.) Cool the cake in a refrigerator for an additional 10 to 30 minutes. During this time your topping will harden and not run when you cut your cake.

 

COLORED COCONUT FLAKES


INGREDIENTS

1-2 dl roasted coconut flakes, unseasoned
1 tsp ground turmeric + 1-2 tsp tap water / 1-2 tsp berry juice concentrate
2 tsp powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. The coconut decorations can be prepared a few days in advance, especially if you wish to get them dried up. To make yellow flakes, mix a small amount of turmeric, a little bit of powdered sugar and a splash of water in a freeze box or a small bowl.
  2. To make purple flakes, in another box mix berry juice concentrate and powdered sugar. Stir in about 1 dl / 50 g coconut flakes to both mixtures and keep stirring until the color sticks to all of the flakes. Spread the flakes on a baking paper to dry. If you let them dry properly, for a few days and nights, you can then store them in an airtight box to be used in your next baking session.

Greta Cake

The cake is dedicated to Greta Thunberg, activism and climate movement.

V, G, no grains, no sugar

Greta Thunberg (s. 3.1.2003) is a swedish climate activist and the founder of the international climate strike movement. She has turned down the Nordic Council Environment Prize because “the climate movement does not need any more awards”, when instead it needs political commitment, emission reductions and “politicians and  the people in power need to listen to the current, best-available science”. Thunberg took part in the World Economic Forum in Davos in january 2019, where she travelled by train and the UN Climate Action Summit, for which she crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a sailboat. Thunberg is the youngest paragon of the Cakes for thought -project and the only contemporary one.

INGREDIENTS


CRUST

1 dl walnuts (preferably organic / fair trade)
1 dl peanuts
1 dl pitted soft dates (organic)
¼ tsp salt
0,5 dl coconut flour (organic)
0,5 dl oat cream, oat milk or coconut milk

FILLING

1 dl fresh lemon balm leaves tightly squeezed (buy 1 jar and leave the rest to the topping)
5,5 dl sunflower seeds (with no shell, unsalted) soaked in water overnight
4 organic lemons freshly squeezed or 2 dl lemon juice
1 ripe banana (fair trade)
1,5 dl coconut oil (fair trade), melted in the microwave or softened in room temperature

TOPPING

1,5 dl pitted soft dates (organic)
1 jar of fresh mint and the rest of the lemon balm leaves
1 tsp lemon peel finely grated
a dash of water

DECORATION

(agave syrup)
leaves of mint and lemon balm and edible flowers, for example calendula, anise hyssop, thyme, mint, heather) freshly picked (when season permits).
when the summer is gone use salted peanuts for decoration

INSTRUCTION

  1. Line the bottom of a spring form (24 cm wide) with baking paper and optionally also oil the inside surface with coconut oil.
  2. Soak the sunflower seeds in water, if you haven’t already done so the previous evening.
  3. Chop the walnuts with a sharp knife and put them and the peanuts in a blender. terävällä veitsellä saksanpähkinät ja parapähkinät siivuiksi tai paloiksi ja laita ne blenderiin. If your blender is strong and does not get stuck easily, you can just add all ingredients without pre-chopping them.
  4. Add salt and the (chopped) dates. Blend until the ingredients become a paste. You might have to occasionally turn down the machine and stir the mixture from the bottom with a spoon, then continue blending and repeat if necessary. Add coconut flour and veggie milk and mix.
  5. Scoop the mixture in the cake form, and press it evenly on the bottom with a spoon or with your balm.
  6. You don’t need to wash the blender before continuing to use it for the filling. Handy!  Prepare the lemon balm for your filling, i.e. pick the leaves from the stems. Do the same for the mints at the same time since you will be using them later on for the topping.
  7. Wash the lemons by brushing them under running water. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze their juice with a reamer. If you forgot to buy enough lemons, you may use lemon juice concentrate in addition to the freshly squeezed lemon juice or even substitute some of it with water. Do not throw away the lemons yet. You’ll grate their peels for the topping.
  8. Mix all of the ingredients of the filling in the blender: the lemon balm leaves, the strained and drained seeds, the peeled banana and the coconut oil melted in the microwave or in a cup in hot water. Leave the lemon juice last. Blend the filling, adding the juice into the mix, until it is smooth but thick. Pour the filling into the cake form, even it with a spatula and place in a freezer for about 30 minutes.
  9. Prepare the topping. Again, you may use your blender without washing it, but if you really want to clean it before mixing the topping with it, make sure to dry it out properly.
  10. Grate lemon peel of 1 or 2 of the lemons you used for filling. Use the fine blades of your grater, do not grate the white inner layer. Take some of the herb leaves aside for decoration.
  11. Put the dates, the herbs and some of the lemon peel in the blender and run it until the consistency is smooth. If you put more dates in, you will get a more sweet topping but the color will turn from green more to brown. If the topping is very thick, you can carefully add, a teaspoon at a time, cold water into the mix. Take your cake out of the freezer and spread the filling on it. Put the cake back in the freezer for several hours (1-3 hours). The duration of freezing depends on both the freezer and the thickness of the cake. When the cake is ready it detaches easily from the spring form.
  12. Take the cake to room temperature to melt about a half an hour before serving it. If you wish to add sweetness to your cake, pour agave syrup on top and spread it with a pastry brush. Decorate with edible flowers or alternatively with salted peanuts.

Qamar Cake

The cake is dedicated to Qamar-al-Moluk Vaziri, courage and revolutionary music.

V, L, G

Qamar-ol-Moluk Vaziri (1905-5.8.1959) was an Iranian pioneering and prominent mezzo-soprano respected and appreciated for her mastery of the repertoire of Persian vocal music and as the first woman of her time, performed in public without a veil. Her act of resistance signalled an immensely significant development in Persian music in its norm critical nature. It was an event that affected history and opened the way for future generations of Iranian women vocalists prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Qamar was an influential, skilful and charismatic performer, and dared to perform, for example, chapters of an anti-Shah revolutionary song that others would not have been allowed to perform. During her performances, various gifts and valuables were often thrown on stage. Qamar used the gifts she received for charity and helped the poor with their value: she bought homes for the homeless, paid off debts for the indebted, arranged dowries for poor girls, and donated beds to hospitals. She is known as the “Queen of Persian Music”.

INGREDIENTS


BASE

300 g vegan margarine (and gluten free if necessary)
4 dl caster sugar
4 tsp No egg -powder
1 (organic) lemon, juice squeezed + 4 tbsp water
2 tsp lemon peel finely grated
4 tbsp rose water
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 dl gluten free flour mix
2 dl coconut flour (or almond flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp psyllium powder
1 tsp salt
4 tsp ground cardamom
50 g almond flakes
(coconut oil)

FROSTING

4 dl powdered sugar
1 tbsp rose water
1,5 tbsp oat milk or coconut milk

DECORATION

0,5-1 dl peeled and ground pistachio nuts (not salted)
(dried rose petals)
finely grated lemon peel
(pomegranate seeds)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Carefully wash the lemon. Grate the peel finely. Do not grate the white part. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice with a reamer.
  3. Whip the margarine, sugar and no egg -powder with an electric mixer in a bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy (approx. 2 min).
  4. Add the lemon juice and lemon peel, cardamom, rose water, vanilla extract and salt. Leave some lemon peel also for the decoration.
  5. Take another bowl and mix the dry ingredients in it. Combine the mixtures, do not whisk more than to get all ingredients well mixed together.
  6. Prepare a spring cake form (24 cm) with baking paper and coconut oil: place a paper at the bottom and spread oil on the other inside surfaces. Pour enough batter on in the form to be able to flatten it evenly on the bottom. Then sprinkle it with almond flakes, covering the batter thoroughly, but leaving a bit of the flakes aside for decoration. Scoop the rest of batter on the flakes and even it well with a spatula.
  7. Using the middle oven rack, bake the cake for 40 minutes. The cake is ready when the surface is just slightly light brown. You can also check if the cake is raw by sticking a match in the middle of the cake and pulling it up: if the match comes about almost clean, the cake is ready and if it looks sticky with batter, your cake needs more time in the oven.
  8. Cool your cake and take it out of the spring form. While the cake cools down, prepare the topping and the decorations. Peel the pistachios and crush them slightly in a mortar. Roast the almond flakes lightly either in the oven with the cake or on a pan. 
  9. Next mix the powdered sugar, rose water and oat milk into a paste. The frosting should not be too liquid. The cake needs to cool properly before frosting, otherwise it will start running and dripping and end up looking melted and uneven.
  10. Spread the frosting on the cake and use a knife or a spatula to make it sleek and even. Decorate with roasted almonds, ground pistachios and a pinch of grated lemon peel. You may additionally use pomegranate seeds.
  11. The cake is very sweet. If you want it to be less sugary you can replace the frosting by sieving just a bit of powdered sugar on top of the cake and decorate it with nuts.