SPRING SCAVENGER HUNT

Welcome to Stop 25 in the Spring Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you've happened upon this stop out of order, you may want to go back to Stop 1 at http://www.robinleehatcher.com/scavenger-hunt-stop-1 to begin. That's also where the hunt will end. If you get lost along the way, check in at http://www.robinleehatcher.com/scavenger-hunt-participating-authors-stops/


At each stop, you'll collect a clue, printed in red. Write them down as you go. The hunt ends on April 6th at Midnight, Mountain Time, so you have all weekend to finish. No need to race!

First prize is a Kindle Fire HDX plus $100 gift certificate. Two runners-up will receive all 31 of the books featured in the Scavenger Hunt. Individual authors will also be giving prizes at their stops, so don't forget to look for that at the bottom of each post.

It's my great pleasure to introduce Judy Miller to you. Judy and I first met at a Christian Writers Retreat many years ago, and we had great fun brainstorming together. I'm honored to have her guest on my site. Judith Miller is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than 30 historical romance novels. She is known for her unique settings and love of history. Learn more at www.judithmccoymiller.com.

You won't want to miss Judith's latest book. Here's a bit about it: A Shining Light is the third book in the Home to Amana historical series. A young widow returns home to Iowa after the devastating loss of her husband, but when she arrives, she finds the family farm destroyed. She finds refuge with the kind people of the Amana village, where she is drawn to tinsmith, Dirk Knefler. But is the simple, cloistered life what she wants for herself and her son?

 

You can purchase A Shining Light at  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-shining-light-judith-miller/1115664287?ean=9781441263599&itm=1&usri=9781441263599&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-GwEz7vxblVU-_-10:1&r=1,%201, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DWA6BD0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1A46EWNSQ0SFWA3KABZX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846
or at http://www.christianbook.com/a-shining-light-home-to-amana/judith-miller/9780764210020/pd/210025?product_redirect=1&Ntt=210025&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Judy has sent me a mouth-watering exclusive post to share with you!

 

The Amana Wedding Cake by Judith Miller:

 In A Shining Light, I feature a tinsmith, a craftsman who made everything from buckets and kitchen utensils to rain gutters for the Amana homes. One of the very special items made by the tinsmith was what has become known as the Amana Wedding Cake Tin. Sternkutchen, a marble cake, was baked in the large star-shaped tin.

 

As you can see from the pictures, the cake is very large which would allow for thin, yet filling slices of cake. The cake recipe used for weddings was made in four different colors, yellow, pink, white, and chocolate, but today there is disagreement in the Colonies whether the Sternkutchen should be frosted. While some prefer no frosting, others dust it with powdered sugar and still others prefer to drizzle the cake with a simple sugar glaze. There are even a few who frost the Stern with a butter-cream frosting. The cake may be baked in a large bundt pan (half the recipe) if you don’t have a prized Amana star-shaped tin.

 

The recipe and directions follow:

 

Sternkuchen (Marbled Star Cake)

 

If using a bundt pan instead of star pan, cut recipe in half.

For white cake batter                                                            For pink cake batter

½ cup butter                                                                 1/2 white cake batter

2 cups sugar                                                                 2 to 4 drops red food coloring

3 cups flour

1 cup milk

2 tsp. baking powder

8 egg whites, beaten stiff

 

For yellow cake batter                                               For chocolate cake batter

½ cup butter                                                                 ½ yellow cake batter

1 ½ cups sugar                                                             ½ cup cocoa

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ cup milk

8 egg yolks

2 tsps. Vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 325º.

For the white cake, cream first two ingredients of white cake recipe. Stir in flour alternately with milk. Add baking powder. Mix well then fold in stiff-beaten egg whites.

            For pink batter, take ½ of white cake batter and pour into a bowl. Add 2 to 4 drops red food coloring. Set aside white and pink batters.

            For yellow batter, cream butter and sugar for yellow cake batter. Stir in flour, baking powder, and milk. Add egg yolks, and beat well. Blend in vanilla.

            For chocolate batter, take ½ of yellow cake batter and pour into a bowl—beat in cocoa.

            If using the star-shaped cake tin, trace form on waxed or parchment paper, and line tin. Then grease and flour tin. Carefully pour yellow batter into pan, then add white batter, chocolate batter, and finally the pink batter. Do not fill pan to the top—leave one inch headroom. Excess batter may be poured into a greased and floured cake pan or cupcake pan.

            Bake 40-50 minutes. Remember, less time is required for a smaller pan. When cool, carefully remove the cake from pan and frost or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Note: I had to bake this an additional 15 minutes, so be sure to test before removing from the oven!!

 

 

THE SCAVENGER HUNT SKINNY

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Before you move onto Stop 26, http://judithmccoymiller.com/scavenger-hunt-stop-26/ , be sure to write down this Stop 25 clue: "but a bad".

 

BONUS PRIZE! Enter to win an additional prize--a complete set of three of my Amish Romantic Suspense novels. Just send your name and e-mail address to me at marta@martaperry.com.