One Cake a Day – Brighton Edition

My stay in Brighton was only two days long, but it was literally as sweet as the four days cake olympics in Dublin. The motto is “more chocolate, less boredom”, and will soon be followed by “more sport, less heart and weight related problems”. This post brings me back to my childhood dreams of Hänsel and Gretel's marzipan house. I strongly believe the Grimm Brothers inspired dark beauties such as the Schwarzwald and the Sachertorte.

Choccywoccydoodah

How much chocolate can you imagine in the same plate? Well, they'll give you more! Sit on a heart-shaped couch, listen to catchy Disney classics, from the Jungle Books swing to the Aristocats's jazz, and forget calories count. A lavish portion of chocolate surrounded by chocolate and topped with chocolate is at the basis of the menu. And if raspberry finishings and cream are the guests of honour at this cocoa feast, just indulge in epicureism for a, alas too brief, moment. Then visit the shop at 24 Duke Strret to admire the chocolate sculptures (as seen on TV) or buy some edible souvenirs.

Not to miss: Choccywoccy cake.

Where: 27 Middle Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1AL 

Angel Food Bakery

The name refers to the fact that their cupcakes probably come from Heaven. And they sell the ingredients and the materials to realize them, and also teach you how to bake them... real pro guardian angels! The place isn't big, but once you're lost into tasting, nothing else matters. Take the cooky and cream cupcake for example: you start with an Oreo on top, and who doesn't love Oreos? The cream is consistent but not heavy, delicious but not too sugary, and if you think the base is the most boring part, you'll be surprised by a chocolate touch. Looks like the staircase to Heaven is paved with cupcakes!

Not to miss: Cooky and cream cupcake.

Where: 20 Meeting House Lane, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1HB

A Curious Invitation

The Last Tuesday Society's two day Halloween mask ball will launch A Curious Invitation by Suzette Fields. Contents: the forty greatest parties in literature.

How fun would it be to sneak into a novel right when the party starts, to leave after a few pages and enter another one, and then another, and another one more. I suppose we could at least try a few, starting from some Classics… shall we?

Still from Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby (2013)

The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald
"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

The Twenties were pretty much about partying: Charleston, embedded dress, no financial crash on sight and Prohibition Laws, which just made drinking even more fun. Gatsby embraces all of this by throwing all night long parties in his luxurious villa. I honestly think this is what makes the book: who the hell cares about the fact that he did all of this to get close to his beloved Daisy, that she doesn’t leave her cheating husband and that he dies more or less as a consequence of protecting her? Nobody really, but we all remember the champagne, the tux and the Rolls-Royce as if we were there.

The Master and Margarita by Mihail Bulgakov

“ 'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!’ ”

The most fascinating host in the history of literature is the Devil, here disguised as Professor Woland; which counts as a costume and makes him even cooler. The guests are all deceased sinners, they don’t show up before midnight and the orchestra is directed by Strauss. What is very very wicked is the fact that this scene was inspired by a real Spring Festival held at the residence of the US Ambassador in Moscow. Literally a hell of a party.

Illustration by Lynn Hatzius

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thakeray

"I have heard from ladies who were in the town at the period, that the talk and interest of persons of their own sex regarding the ball was much greater even than in respect of the enemy in their front."

What should you do if you live in Brussels and it is the eve of the battle of Waterloo? Get wasted and dance! This is what the Duchess of Richmond thought, and Thackeray can’t but tailoring this to the story of socialite Becky Sharp. Too bad the party was crashed by news of battle.

Macbeth by Shakespeare

“Fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Showed like a rebel's whore.”

It could be written a whole article only mentioning parties in Shakespeare. It is quite logic, since he wrote more than the average person could possibly read in a lifetime. My all times Shakespeare’s favourite is Macbeth and I’d like to call this episode ‘dinner with the murderer’. What is worse than an uninvited guest? A dead uninvited guest, whose assassination you ordered. So when Macbeth joins the banquet, he finds sitting at his place Banquo’s ghost. The play also constitutes the first written record of the word ‘assassination’ in the English language. The devil’s in the detail.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

“It’s always tea time!”

Madness, a nice hat and nonsense conversations: the Mad Tea Party is the party. Timeless is the best of times.

Counter-lobotomy

Author Charlaine Harris posted on her Facebook page the cover of the last novel of the Southern Vampires Mysteries, Dead Ever After, to be published in May 2013. 

The books are better known as the Sookie Stackhouse series, and for seven years they were known only to fantasy porn geeks. Then in 2008 HBO made them into a TV series called True Blood, which at the moment has covered the first six books and aired the fifth season last summer. Today True Blood is a most seen on the channel, and it is watched not only by fantasy porn geeks. How the hell did this happen?

Still from True Blood credits

The Southern Vampires Mysteries portrays a society very similar to ours and implicitly criticises it through the literary strategy of dislocation, in this case reached through the fantastic element. Since the first chapters of the first novel Dead Until Dark, the casual observations of the narrator protagonist hint at drug, sexual disease, the power of media and religion, violence, conscience and ignorance. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The setting in the small fictional town of Bon Temps, Lousiana, implies terrible accent, square minded people devoted to bar talks, affected religious prissiness and scorn of anything a bit out of the ordinary. Vampires coexist with humans thanks to the invention of a synthetic liquid called Tru Blood. This doesn’t mean the undead completely stopped feeding on people, or that the latter consider vampires their equals: they either despise them as nature abominations, (illegally) sell their blood as drug or aim at their überhuman sexual skills.

Discrimination is a constant towards vampires, and it is further explored when other supernatural creatures are introduced. Werewolves and other wereanimals, fairies and witches disguise their identity for fear of human judgement, and after a while you start wondering if there are ‘normal’ people at all and what normal is. Sookie herself is considered crazy because she can read people’s mind, and not acceptance makes her see her gift as a disability. Also, all the characters, the main ones as the minor ones, have secrets to hide, which makes the whole scenario a big fat lie. There’s no such thing as a simple trouble-free life, even for rural Southern flowers.

Still from True Blood credits

The concept of authority comes up in many different variants, from the influence of religious and political institutions, to the monarchic order of the vampire world, more similar to feudal Middle Ages than 2012 America. Or, is it there any difference? Fear, control of the masses, manipulation of laws make men miserable, not fantastic creatures.

Vampires’ lack of conscience and cruelty are driven by nature, yet some of them oppose to this nonsense. Werewolves embody mob mentality, with the pack master ruling and expecting loyalty from his pack members. Fairies symbolise the evil rotting the insides of a beautiful creature. There are no heroes, many villains, and a lot of shades inbetween.

During all this turmoil and the unhappy incidents, all the characters deal with family, love and friendships, showing the hypocrisy but also the strength of bonds. These types of relationships are almost unified in that between a vampire and his maker, also implying that procreation is an act of love and not of selfishness. The human side of humans and not humans is as prominent as their dishuman side.

Between the end of a love and the start of a new war there is also time for a laugh. And when you don’t laugh with the characters you laugh at them: sometimes they are so silly, it is too easy to mock them. And probably this is how clever critique attracts the average reader through light-hearted adventurous stories you dedicate yourself to non to think too much. Charlaine Harris sweetened the medicine of social criticism with the honey of sex, thriller and fantasy.

But maybe I’m overthinking this, I see conspiracy where there is only food for the masses, this is just entertaining fantasy to distract people’s mind from real life. To quote the fifth book of the series, Dead as a Doornail, “Fiction just makes it all more interesting. Truth is so boring.”

The thirteenth and last book of the Sookie Stackhouse series

One Cake a Day – Dublin Edition

Avoca, we all agree.

Eating cake everyday is extremely unhealthy and addictive, so don't try this at home!

...Try this in Dublin! If you get the chance to spend four days in Temple Bar, I mean in the Irish capital city, you MUST try one lovely café per day. (Not) only for girls. Sweet up your to-do-list with these four names.

Picture by Laura McKee

The Queen of Tarts

The name is mouthwatering, the cake display is lavish, old style and absolutely stunning. The cakes are bakery royals, proud on their high thrones, in your plate, and until the last chocolate crumble. You might as well feel like bowing at it before eating it.

Not to miss: carrot cake. A giant slice of bliss covered in icing.

Where: Cork Hill, Dame Street, Dublin 2

In front of Dublin Castle; a coincidence?

Picture by Laura McKee

Foam

My friend defined the place “hippy”, I would rather say LSDesque. Bright colours, artsy patterns and an eccentric mix of sofas, table cloths and decorations welcome you to this picturesque café in an improbable street. The shades make you feel like you had too much sugar the very second you walk past the threshold. The bathroom is as amazing as the rest of the place!

Not to miss: tea selection (to accompany the cake). Try the smoky lapsang: absolutely inhebriant!

Where: 24 Strand Street Great, Dublin 1

Near the Ha' Penny Bridge, north side.

Café Irie

Cosy café ideal for breakfast, lunch or dreamy escapes. Follow the butterflies upstairs and read about arts events in the city. I don't know if it's because it's on the first floor, it feels a bit like being in the tower of a fairy castle. And it might be the case, considering Dublin mythical heritage.

Not to miss: hot chocolate with marshmallows and chocolate flakes. Perfect for those rainy Irish afternoons.

Where: 11 Fownes Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Near Temple Bar and the Institute of Photography, upstairs a vintage clothing shop (loved that too!)

Avoca

They started out weaving in 1723, and now they have a shop full of clothing, stationary, books, homeware, topped with a café. All the cakes look so breathtaking, it was really difficult for me to choose only one. The waiters are friendly, the service is perfect in the detail, and what's better than shopping and eating in the same place?

Not to miss: variety of chocolate cakes and carrot cakes. I went for the almond and pear one. As I said, everything is delicious!

Where: 11-13 Suffolk Street, Dublin 2

Near Trinity College and Molly Malone's statue.

A tiny spoiler of the bathroom foyer at Foam Café. 

Just one last note. If you are Italian and want to order cappuccino in Dublin, get ready to thin foam indiscriminately covered with cocoa. Alas, Italians do it better!