‘Gone with the Wind’ and mocha muffins
The book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Genre: Historical fiction
Published: 1936
The bake: Monster mocha muffins with a coffee-cinnamon crumb
What’s the story?
Gone with the Wind has been described as “the classic love story”. But, to me, it’s more the story of a very selfish and willful young woman, Scarlett O’Hara. Love comes secondary, her will comes first. The story is set in the American South, mostly in Georgia with the city of Atlanta featuring prominently. It’s the time of the American Civil War (1860’s). The O’Hara family lives on a beautiful plantation called Tara. Scarlett’s father, Gerald, is an Irish immigrant, and she has two sisters. Scarlett is extremely charming, and the focus of her charms is Ashley Wilkes. However, he only has eyes for Melanie Hamilton. Ashley’s indifference is one of the main forces driving Scarlett’s actions and decisions in the novel.
The plot follows Scarlett as the war rages on, and she has to endure loss and deprivation as a result. In spite of her fixation on Ashley, Scarlett marries three times. Melanie also remains one of her truest friends, in spite of how Scarlett treats her. Anyone familiar with the story will know that Rhett Butler is the one man almost immune to her charms, but by his own choice totally enamored of her. These two strong characters, Scarlett and Rhett, are probably one of literature’s most memorable couples. The conclusion of the novel (and their love story), is guaranteed to have you in tears.
Gone with the Wind is an epic novel (my edition has almost 1000 pages). But, it reads easily and is totally engrossing. At times you feel like you want to slap sense into Scarlett (and Rhett), other times you are in awe of Scarlett’s determination and drive to have her way.
Why read it?
There are so many reasons to read Gone with the Wind. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide. And, apparently, it’s the second favorite book of American readers (just behind the Bible!). It’s part of American pop culture, and Mitchell even won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel in 1937. And of course, it was made into one of the greatest movies of all time in 1939. Vivien Leigh is unforgettable as Scarlett O’Hara in this film, which won an Oscar for best picture.
These are some of the ‘official’ reasons, but they shouldn’t be the only ones inspiring you to read Gone with the Wind. I found it totally mesmerizing and easy to read. The characters are well developed and the creation of their world during the American Civil War absolutely captivating. I’ve watched the film only once (it’s almost four hours long, after all). And, although I enjoyed it, it’s not high on my list of movies to re-watch. The novel, however, I will certainly read again in a few years’ time. It’s so sad that Mitchell only wrote this one book in her lifetime. I would have had all her books had there been more!
Pair it with: Monster mocha muffins
Although the novel is set in the American South, Scarlett’s roots lie in Ireland. Tara, the O’Hara family plantation, is named after the Hill of Tara. This is an ancient ceremonial burial site in County Meath, Ireland. I also have Irish ancestry, and Ireland is my favorite country in the world. I was privileged to visit Ireland with my husband in 2014. We took a road trip and explored the Emerald Isle for two fabulous weeks.
One of the places we visited, was Kylemore Abbey in Connemara, County Galway. The day was gray and cold. Although we loved exploring this beautiful place, we were soon extremely hungry and ready for something delicious. The hunger wasn’t as bad as Scarlett’s when she says: “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again”. But, it is this line that inspired today’s recipe. Because, in the coffee shop at Kylemore Abbey that day, we feasted on huge chocolate muffins and big mugs of coffee. I will never forget sitting there looking out at the stunning surroundings, devouring that muffin…
The muffins I share today are guaranteed to satisfy even the most ravenous hunger, especially when enjoyed with your favorite hot drink. The crumb topping adds some extra texture, and the chopped chocolate is a lovely surprise when you bite into the muffin. The fancy muffin cases I used even reminded me of some of the dresses worn by Scarlett and the other ladies in the novel! You can make the muffins really big like I did, or make smaller ones and you should get about 16-20 muffins from the recipe.
The crumb-topping I adapted from an idea in the recipe book Huisgenoot Wenresepte 2, and the muffin recipe is adapted from Bak vir pret & profyt by Christine Capendale.
Monster mocha muffins with a coffee-cinnamon crumb
10
servings20
minutes20
minutesIngredients
- For the muffins:
500 ml cake flour
50 ml cocoa powder
2 ml salt
20 ml baking powder
150 ml brown sugar
1 slab chocolate of your choice, chopped (I used Cadbury’s Dairy Milk)
2 eggs
30 ml instant coffee granules (I used Douwe Egberts Mocha Kenya style coffee)
270 ml evaporated milk
125 ml melted butter
- For the coffee-cinnamon crumb:
60 ml sugar
50 ml cake flour
30 ml soft butter
5 ml cinnamon
5 ml instant coffee granules
Directions
- To make the crumb, mix the sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and coffee granules in a small bowl until crumbly. Put aside until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line a big muffin pan with paper cups.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and chopped chocolate.
- Mix the eggs, evaporated milk, coffee granules and butter together in a separate bowl.
- Stir the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined (don’t over stir it),
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle a spoonful of the crumb mixture over each muffin. Press it in gently to ensure it sticks. Bake 15-20 minutes until well risen.
