Secret Recipe: Night Woods Cake

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The Calling of The Night Woods: A Cake 

Every now and then in the cozy depths of fall and winter, I feel a calling in the middle of the night. It seems to tug at my very bones as I quietly climb out of bed, slide into my jacket or wrap myself in a blanket and slip out the door as softly but insistently as the whispers that are coaxing me. My wild heart can only slumber for so long before I must get out into the dark woods again, amongst the moonbeams and shadows and glittering frost. 

This tug is an irresistible force, one that cannot be ignored. If I do manage to fall asleep, it is a restless sleep filled with blue shadowy depths and little footprints and the crisp smell of pine needles and soon I am awake again, a slave to the moon and her spells. So I leave my loved ones slumbering deeply, snuggled into a peace I know I won’t feel until my hair smells of winter air and my feet feel the crunch of snow. 

I’ve been like this as long as I can remember. Even as a small child, I’d find myself standing outside wrapped in my blanket in the middle of a winter night, just listening to the woods in a bath of moonbeams. It’s never felt like “sneaking out” because it’s never felt shameful; it’s an answer to a call far more important and ancient than I can possibly recognize. I belong to the moon and the trees and the darkness. When they call, I must answer. 

And so I wander into the dark wonderland of the woods. Frozen water droplets on pine branches make the whole tree sparkle in the moonlight, as if it was carved of emeralds. The blue-green swirls of juniper berries are echoed in the night sky, with flashes of the aurora borealis. The air smells fresh and clear as you move between illuminated blue snow and long black shadows. I find myself once again wading through blue-tinted snow, my boots adding soft “crunches” to the soundscape that surrounds me: the whistle of the night breeze, the rustling of feathers up above, the patter of small paws on the sparkling crust. I am not afraid of what lurks in the shadows. I know that night woods magic is different; there is no need for words to feel the push and pull of awareness traveling back and forth, to sense the heartbeat of a fox watching me closely from the shadow to my left. My body will tell me if there is a reason to turn back; I trust the senses I do not understand to signal my adventure’s end with a prickling on the back of my neck - rare, but always obeyed. 

Are the cold nights a siren song to you, too? Do you listen to the moon making glittering rainbows out of floating frost crystals when her milky light falls across your cozy bed? Have you ever snuck out at night simply to melt into the wilderness, to dissolve into yet another long dark shadow wrapped in nothing but a downy comforter? Are you, too, a critter of the night, temporarily nocturnal when under this spell? If so, I believe you are lucky, for there is no richer flavor in life than the deliciousness of being spellbound, transfixed, completely connected. 

Time blows away with the quickening breezes as I sit, and feel, and listen. I can’t tell if I’ve been out for minutes or lifetimes, but eventually the wildness in my heart curls up once again and I notice the cold soaking into my feet. Soon I am thinking of my soft and cozy bed, kept warm by the one I love, waiting for me. As quietly as I slipped out, I return, kicking off snow-caked boots and crawling back into bed as gently as I can. “Mmm, you smell like snow,” she mumbles, still mostly asleep. I just smile and close my eyes and sink into a deep, rich slumber, my soul satisfied and my imagination swirling. 

Dark Forest Cake 

Like a dark forest at night, this cake is full of secrets. It has a rich blue interior with swirls of emerald, thanks to some magical baking chemistry. A sumptuous coating of homemade, fully edible dark green glitter makes it sparkle, and black buttercream really sets off the colors of the whole thing. It’s not just about appearance, though - each one of these components adds another layer of rich forest flavor to the cake itself. A blueberry-rich batter infused with juniper, cardamom, and pine is light and refreshing, while the mascarpone black cocoa buttercream is rich without being overly sweet. Even the edible glitter has a pleasant minty flavor to compliment the entire experience. 

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