The holidays are a busy time for hosting company and an abundance of baking.
But for legendary poet Emily Dickinson, only the latter served true.
The cozy and creative Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, is paying stage tribute to the life of Dickinson, while also sharing some nods to her recipes during the fascinating story that unfolds for "The Belle of Amherst" by William Luce. It is wonderfully directed by Sean Graney and features the dynamic Kate Fry as the enigmatic Dickinson in this two-hour, one-woman show continuing through Dec. 3.
The play was launched on Broadway in 1976 with actress Julie Harris in the title role and winning her fifth Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The work was created by Luce using Emily Dickinson's own original poems, diary entries, letters, and yes, recipes, as the talented Fry as Emily welcomes audiences to the Dickinson Family home in Amherst, Mass.
The play opens with Emily cradling a large stone pottery mixing bowl and aggressively mixing the stiff batter within, using a wooden paddle.
She explains to the audience she is making one of her most well-known and favorite signature recipes for Black Cake, which by today's definition would translate as a type of spiced fruit cake. And then Fry, as Emily, shares the recipe, which has been taken word-for-word from the original handwritten recipe now carefully preserved at the Houghton Library at Harvard. This cake recipe was especially popular at the time of Dickinson because of the Caribbean ingredients used, and considering spices were a prized treasure, since shipping trade with the islands was increasing for the availability of rum and other in-demand rare luxury commodities.
The recipe, which dates back to the late 1880, calls for 2 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of butter, 19 eggs, 3 pounds of currants and citron all mixed in a batter of assorted spices and generous amounts molasses and brandy. As explained to the audience, Emily's preference was to pour the batter into a large milk pail before baking it the required "several hours."
By the end of the play, Fry as Emily is beaming as she removes the fully baked gigantic cake from her kitchen oven, which tips the scales at 20 pounds!
What I find interesting is the eccentric and wispy thin Dickinson, who preferred to dress in white and loved to talk to her flowers and potted plants, was very reclusive in her later years. So who was eating all of this cake when she baked the recipe?
Since she was never married and lived with her also never-wed younger sister Lavinia, I suppose she could have shared some of it with her house servants. And since the sisters were close with their brother Austin and his wife and child, some of the cake quantity could have been divided with them as well.
As explained in the play, Emily was never seen in public during the final years of her life before her death at age 55 in 1886. However, she did like to leave notes with her poems as well as bouquets of flowers from her garden on the doorsteps of her neighbors, which could be another likelihood with how excessive amounts of baked goods might have also been mysteriously distributed.
Around town, the reclusive Emily was a curiosity and topic of gossip, including her neighbors. Even when a visitor would come the door of her home, she would not open it, preferring to only speak through the door to the puzzled individual awaiting at the doorstep.
Today, Dickinson is forever remembered for her poems, rather than her recipes. But during her lifetime, she only saw fewer than a dozen of her written prose published. It was after her death that her sister found more than 1,800 poems hidden away in the house which would then be published and shared with the world.
The creative team for "The Belle of Amherst" share the applause for helping tell this glimpse into the life of one of the great writers of verse. Arnel Sancianco's scenic design recreates the Dickinson home in great detail. Samantha C. Jones's costume design transforms Fry into the poet with the stage experience further highlighted by Mike Durst's lighting design and Christopher M. LaPorte and Andre Pluess providing the sound design. Tickets for the play are $50 to $68 and available at www.CourtTheatre.org or at (773) 753-4472.
During the play's run, The Court Theatre is serving free samples of Dickinson's black cake recipe to patrons during the show's intermission. The cakes have been prepared and donated by Chicago's legendary Roeser's Bakery, which opened in 1911. The cake is moist, delicious and enjoyed by even those who have a disdain for traditional holiday fruitcake.
At the final moment of the play, before Emily bids the audience farewell, she hints that during a future visit, she might be willing to share her recipe for gingerbread. Knowing Emily's dislike for hosting company, it's not likely the promised recipe awaits audiences, so I'm sharing it with readers in today's columns, adapted courtesy of The Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Mass., based at the Dickinson Family house, which is open for tours. This recipe, which was written in Emily's handwriting with exact measurements for the ingredients, was preserved by her brother Austin's wife, Susan.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published three cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. Mail your questions to From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Emily Dickinson's Gingerbread Cake
Makes 12 servings
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger (or less for desired taste)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup molasses
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 9-inch square cake pan.
3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and ginger.
4. With an electric mixer, beat the cream until thick but not stiff and transfer it to a bowl.
5. In the mixer, cream the butter until light. Beat in the cream just until blended.
6. With mixer set on its lowest speed, add the flour mixture. Add the molasses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice, until blended.
7. Transfer the batter to the pan.
8. Bake the cake for 35 minutes or until the top is firm and springs back when pressed lightly with a fingertip.
9. Serve warm with whipped cream.