Working with Sid over the
years was always a joy. Scholars worldwide value his incisive intellect, but
those of us who worked closely with Sid got the gift of his humor, too. When I
began putting together The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, I knew
Sid had to be part of it. By then he was already into his nineties. His essay,
his last major publication, was a wonderfully resonant piece that encapsulated
the power of sweetness in shaping civilization even as it related a personal
story of “sugar and me.”
Our email exchanges often
went far beyond the scope of the essay. Sid was thinking deeply about the
meaning of modernity, something he wanted to write more extensively about.
“I’ve never tried to bring off anything like that, and I am intimidated by it,”
he confessed. “But what the hell — as I keep telling people, I’ve already got
tenure.” Elsewhere he told me about a recent talk he’d given at Stanford,
quipping that “Crowds of defenseless listeners are my best medicine for
senescence.”
Senescence never descended
upon Sid—he remained vibrant and vital to the end. In his honor I attach a
recipe I developed for one of my favorite sweets, buttery Swedish cakes filled
with raspberry jam. I think Sid would have enjoyed them. I only wish I could
share these treats with him over a cup of coffee, as we ponder the ultimate
meaning of sweetness, for power and for life.
Raspberry Grottoes (Hallongrottor)
1
cup butter, at room temperature
1
cup sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
2 ¼
cups flour
1 ½
teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup thick raspberry jam
Preheat
the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter with the sugar. Stir in the vanilla.
In
a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Pour the flour mixture
into the creamed butter mixture and stir until a stiff, dry dough forms. With
your hands, gently knead the dough until smooth, adding a few drops of heavy
cream, if necessary.
Line
twenty 2-inch paper muffin cups on a baking sheet. Divide the dough into 20
pieces by first cutting into quarters, and then shaping 5 balls from each
quarter. Place each ball in a muffin cup. With your thumb, make an indentation
on the top of each ball, pinching any cracked edges together. Fill with about ½
teaspoon of jam. Bake until just golden, about
18 minutes. Let the cakes cool on the baking
sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
Makes 20 small cakes.
Reprinted from Fire + Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2015)
