Many of you know I chat with Matt Swain on the Sonrise Morning Show/Sacred Heart radio each Thursday. Today we talked about St. Michael and the traditions and foods associated with him. Here’s how the show went and I have 2 fun recipes, one easy and one traditional for Angel food cakes.
THERE SO MANY SIGNIFICANT FEAST DAYS IN THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER AND EARLY OCTOBER – FOR OUR PURPOSES, IT IS A WEEK OF ANGELS. SEPTEMBER 29TH IS THE FEAST OF THE ARCHANGELS, AND THEN OCTOBER 2ND IS THE FEAST OF OUR GUARDIAN ANGELS. AND THERE ARE A TON OF FOOD TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH ST MICHAEL’S DAY SPECIFICALLY.
That’s right – for our Jane Austen fans, September 29th is referred to as Michaelmas (mickle-mas) for the Feast of St Michael. And like so much of the liturgical year, the Church celebrates spiritual feast days in accord with the natural year.
YES – THIS IS A TRADITION THAT GOES BACK TO THE FEASTS OF THE JEWS, AS WELL. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE IN THE MIDST OF SUKKOT RIGHT NOW, WHICH HAS THE SPIRITUAL LEVEL OF CELEBRATING GOD AMONG HIS PEOPLE…. BUT ON THE NATURAL LEVEL, IT’S A HARVEST FEAST. SO IT’S THE SAME KIND OF DEAL WITH MICHAELMAS…
And there are all kinds of food traditions in that regard – because this IS the time of the autumn harvest. So, for example, eating carrots is a major tradition, as people would harvest the rest of their carrots to use for the Feast of St Michael. Apples, which are just starting up, are also a popular food to use.
One really neat tradition involves blackberries… there’s a tradition that when St Michael was battling Satan, he threw him out of heaven, and he landed in a prickly blackberry bush. There’s an Irish proverb about it, which says, “On Michaelmas Day the devil puts his foot on the blackberries.”
So people would harvest the last of their blackberries and make a dessert for the feast.
SOME GREAT IDEAS THERE TO CELEBRATE THE ANGELIC FEAST, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’VE GOT YOUR OWN GARDEN. BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO BUY OUR FOOD, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FOODS THAT REFER TO THE ANGELS THAT YOU CAN BUY AT THE GROCERY STORE – OR MIGHT ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR PANTRY.
Speed Scratch Angel Food Cake with Fruit
Ingredients
1 can (20 ounces) fruit packed in juice or water, not syrup (crushed pineapple, peaches, fruit cocktail, etc)
1 package (16 ounces) angel food cake mix – buy one that says mix with water
Whipped cream or cool whip
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, beat angel food cake mix and fruit with juices over medium-low speed until well-combined, 2-3 minutes.
Pour into an ungreased 13×9 pan. Bake on middle rack until lightly brown, 25-30 minutes or so.
Cool completely. Cake sometimes turns out a bit sticky, but that’s OK.
Classic Angel Food Cake
Baking in a tube pan helps the fragile batter rise up sides and center.
Ingredients
1 cup sifted cake flour (whisk before measuring) – see tip
1-1/2 cups sugar
12 large egg whites (1-3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Have ready a large tube pan, preferably with a removable bottom. If the pan bottom is not removable, line it with parchment paper. Do not grease the pan.
Whisk flour with 3/4 cup sugar. Set aside remaining 3/4 cup sugar.
Beat egg whites at low speed in mixer until just broken up and beginning to look frothy.
Add cream of tartar and salt and beat at medium speed until whites form very soft, billowy mounds. Don’t over beat as this will result in a flatter cake.
Beat in 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all sugar is added and whites are shiny and form soft peaks.
Add vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix until blended.
Now add flour/sugar mixture.Fold it into whites about 3 tablespoons at a time. You can do this by hand or with the mixer on very low speed.
Gently scrape batter into pan, smooth the top, and give pan a couple of raps on the counter to release any large air bubbles.
Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top springs back when pressed firmly, 50 to 60 minutes.
If cake pan has prongs around the rim for elevating the cake, invert pan onto them. If not, invert pan over the neck of a bottle or funnel so that air can circulate all around it. Let cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.
To unmold, run knife around edges, being careful not to separate crust from cake. Slide cake out of pan and cut the same way around removable bottom to release, or peel off parchment paper, if used.
Place on platter. (Some folks like to put it bottom side up).
Cut slices by sawing gently with serrated knife.
Tip: No cake flour? Make your own
Remove 2 tablespoons from 1 cup all-purpose flour.
Whisk in 2 tablespoons cornstarch and blend well. Rita Nader Heikenfeld, CCP, CMH
