It's Our Fourth Anniversary!: Queen Cakes and a Giveaway!

Kicking off Year Five with a treat!

Hard to believe it’s really been four years, hasn’t it? I know it is for me! When I first started this blog, I had no idea how long I’d keep up with it, or if anyone would even be interested in what I was doing. I was worried about getting a job after college, and really starting to wonder if getting a history degree was a big mistake. 

Four years and over two hundred posts later, I think it’s safe to say this experiment has been pretty successful! Plus, I’m halfway through getting my MA in Public History and have a job I really enjoy, so that’s pretty cool too. 

As a special way of saying thanks to all my loyal readers, I’m hosting a giveaway of something that will hopefully inspire you to take a peek into the pantry too! Read on to find out how to enter.

As a special thank you, I’m going to be giving away an excellent used condition copy of Felicity’s Cooking Studio! The Cooking Studios were a set of books published by American Girl in the mid/late 00’s which included a spiral bound cookbook, plastic cookie cutter, table talkers, and place settings themed around a historical character’s time period. Felicity’s includes recipes from the original Felicity’s Cook Book and The American Girl Party Book, along with suggestions for colonial themed parties and crafts. 

One of the treats you can learn to make with this book are queen cakes! Queen cakes are featured prominently in Felicity Learns a Lesson, and a doll sized one was included in Felicity’s tea lesson set. This was one of my favorite sets when I was a kid, and I always wondered what queen cakes actually tasted like.

The recipe in Felicity’s Cooking Studio (and Cook Book, if you have the older edition) creates twelve delicious little cakes filled with currants and flavored with rosewater or vanilla depending on your preference. (Or what your grocery store carries!) 

To make it, you cream 1/2 of a cup of softened butter with 1/2 cup of sugar and add two eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Next, add either two tablespoons of rosewater or a teaspoon of vanilla and two teaspoons of water, as well as 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt and mace. Mace is a spice that’s fairly similar to nutmeg, but it’s worth buying the real thing if you can find it – it’s extremely fragrant and tasty! 

After gradually adding in one cup of flour, 1/4 of a cup of currants gets mixed in, and you’re good to go! Make sure the currants are dusted with flour so they don’t all sink to the bottom. 

Fill greased muffin tins until they’re about half full, and bake the cakes in the oven for 40 or so minutes at 325 degrees.

They’re fairly dense little cakes, but they’re very good with tea, whether it be black, green, or herbal. I honestly like the vanilla flavored cakes a little better than the rosewater, but rosewater is probably more authentic.

So, wondering how you can enter to win your own copy of this fun cookbook?

OFFICIAL GIVEAWAY RULES

- One winner will win an excellent used condition copy of Felicity’s Cooking Studio complete with cookie cutter, table talkers, and place settings. 
- Must be 18 years or older to enter. If you're under the age of 18, please have an adult enter for you. 
- Entrants must provide an email address or an Instagram account so I can contact them for shipping information. 
- Entrants can enter the giveaway up to three times using the methods stated below. 
- The winner will be randomly selected. 
- The giveaway ends at midnight on September 30. 
- The winner will be contacted within 24 hours via email. If I do not hear back from the winner by October 7, 2017, a new winner will be selected from the remaining applicants using random.org. If, for whatever reason, you no longer want the e-gift card and wish to forfeit your entry, a second winner will be chosen from the remaining entrants using random.org. 

HOW TO ENTER 

1. Leave a comment below saying you'd like to enter and what email address would be best to contact you with 

2. Send us an email at intothepantry@gmail.com. 

AND/OR 

3. Repost the image above on your Instagram using the hashtag #peekintothepantrygiveaway

If you want to include a note with your comment or email about things you'd like to see us talk about in this upcoming year - whether they be new ideas for Nanea or any other character - or want to let us know you've tried out a recipe we've featured here, or anything else, please feel free! It's not necessary for entry, but I like getting feedback so I know everyone's enjoying the content we produce, or if there are ways I can improve. 

Good luck! Here’s to year five!

With lots more fun historical recipes to enjoy!