The teensy tiniest little bit of additional sun party

November 20, 2014 4:12 AM

I'm looking to explore developing a no-pressure easy-going family tradition of celebrating winter solstice. The main thing I'm trying to figure out is how to do a sunny yellow/orange cake to represent the sun, but am looking for other solstice-y 'let there be [more] light' ideas as well.

We have never celebrated it before, but I'd like to. I've done some reading on this and talked to Little Llama who is six and my main collaborator.

With regard to the cake: I know I could just do a white cake with yellow frosting or something, but I would like it to be a little bit special as it's a once a year celebratory type of thing. Little Llama isn't going to be into anything overly creative, however, so if it features a tablespoon of nutmeg or something it will be viewed quite critically. Any ideas for a cheerful sunshine-y cake that is special-but-not-too-"special" or other dessert that somehow represents light and sun? The appearance of 'fancy' is a good thing.

I would consider flambe'-ing something actually--there might be something mainly focused on vanilla that fits the bill.

We are thinking of doing decorations and food that represent the sun, so we'd have candles, orange lights, yellow and orange flowers maybe, maybe wear orange and yellow, build a fire outside...I don't know yet. I found an old AskMe that asked about Scandinavian music so we may do that. Little Llama wants to make a big sun out of citrus pieces, so we will definitely do that.

So: looking for savory or sweet foods, decorations, and appropriate grown up cocktails for me and Mr. Llama and any grown ups around.

posted by A Terrible Llama to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Best answer: I actually have a book with ideas for winter celebrations, and the solstice is one thing they address; in terms of something to do, first, they suggest at some point everyone talking a little bit about "imagine what it would have been like in the olden days, when people hadn't really figured out yet that the sun would start coming back - what would that have felt like?" or "imagine before we had electricity and heat and stuff, when everyone was farming, and had to deal with the sun going away for a long time - how do you think they felt when it started coming back like this? What do you think they did when it started coming back?" and then just have a conversation about that.

As for food - a big sun out of citrus is perfect. Sugar cookies decorated like suns would also be fun, or stained glass cookies because you can look through them like windows and they let light through.

Some kind of citrus-based cocktail for the adults would be lovely - a lemon drop if you want something cold, or just hot cocoa spiked with an orange liqueur like Cointreau or Grand Marinier if you want something hot.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:28 AM on November 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

Ooh, and along the citrus theme - there is a DELICIOUS fruit salad I've made in the past that is made of nothing more than pink grapefruit and pomegranate. You need two pink grapefruits and two pomegranates; segment both grapefruits into a bowl, then juice one of the pomegranates and extract the seeds from the other one, and mix the juice and the seeds with the grapefruit segments. Add a little sugar if you think it needs it, and maybe a little chopped mint, and let sit in the fridge for an hour to let the flavors all meld. That's it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:32 AM on November 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I have a family recipe for my mom's aunt Betty's "Orange Chiffon Cake." It's a light white cake with a lot of orange juice and orange zest in the cake and the buttercream frosting, and it's just lovely stuff. The frosting is subtly yellow-orange by nature, but you could easily make it brighter with artificial coloring if you wanted. Drop me a note if you'd like a copy.
posted by jon1270 at 4:35 AM on November 20, 2014 [3 favorites]

For savory, what about golden beets? Roast them whole and peel them after they've cooled, slice into pretty gold discs and toss with herbs, some peppery greens, and a citrusy vinaigrette.

You could also do round polenta cakes or corn bread. You could cut it into wedges and arrange in a big sun, too. Cornbread is great with melty cheese, which is also yellow.

If you folks like spicy and have a wide array of spices lying around, do chili-spiked hot chocolate with cinnamon, vanilla, cayenne (just a bit, adjust per mug.) Dash of brandy (or whatever you like in boozey hot drinks like this) for the grownups.
posted by Mizu at 4:45 AM on November 20, 2014

Maybe make lemon bars, but make them in a springform pan? Add a few drops of food color to the filling, and you'll have a gorgeous, delicious, bright yellow circle. Serve it on a round tray with paper sunrays behind it.
posted by MeghanC at 4:59 AM on November 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

As to the cake, my Mom made a delicious cake like the one described by jon1270, except it was yellow cake with orange zest and orange juice in both cake and icing. You can use cake mix, but my mom made it from scratch.

All your sun decorations sound great, but you can also go with some traditional Christmas decorations that were originally from ancient Solstice festivals, holly and ivy, Yule log, wreaths,round Christmas puddings etc. How about making a Wheel of the Year mandala-like decoration with all the ancient holidays represented including the Solstices?
posted by mermayd at 5:32 AM on November 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

my Mom made a delicious cake like the one described by jon1270, except it was yellow cake...

I just checked the recipe, and I was wrong; my family's version is a yellow cake, too.
posted by jon1270 at 5:38 AM on November 20, 2014

A bombe glacee could make for a lovely sun, filled with lemon sherbet or the like. Also, a colorful trifle can be quite festive. You could include the little Llama's idea of a citrus sun as the top layer!
posted by Gneisskate at 5:40 AM on November 20, 2014

flambé something, or maybe make a baked alaska and stick sparklers into the top
posted by runincircles at 6:20 AM on November 20, 2014

Don't forget that the winter solstice is the longest night of the year. In your decorations, celebrate night, too. Owls, cats, moths, bats, wolves. The stars.

And have a rip-roaring all-night party -- everyone has to learn and perform all the dances? or go sledding and skating? get frostbite and break limbs? -- with a toast to the sun at dawn.
posted by pracowity at 7:06 AM on November 20, 2014

This is the springiest cake I know, it's called a daffodil cake, with swirled white and yellow batters with citrus zest and lemony frosting. It's kind-of a pain in the ass but it is very delicious.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:32 AM on November 20, 2014

For decoration: Our solstice celebration includes a large white candle decorated with evergreens, which we light just before sundown and let burn through the night till we see the sun rise again. (By way of encouraging it to return, you see.) We keep the candle around, lit every evening till bedtime, till it runs out -- usually a couple weeks, as a reminder.
posted by Quasirandom at 8:34 AM on November 20, 2014

For decorations, you would make some paper lanterns in sun colors.
posted by BibiRose at 8:56 AM on November 20, 2014

I think it would be super awesome to make a surprise-inside style cake, with just a simple golden orb of cake in the middle as the sun. I imagine the outside being nighttime, and the inside as a bright, sunny day. Like this.
posted by vytae at 11:36 AM on November 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Make whatever cake you like and take red, orange and yellow m&ms and make a sun pattern. Kind of like this.
posted by biscuits at 1:03 PM on November 20, 2014

Best answer: Moomintroll tied gold ribbons on his ears to welcome the sun back.
posted by nonane at 1:17 PM on November 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

I have a feeling that the kids' book Frederick (translated from the original German) would be perfect for little and big Lllamas.

"While the other field mice work to gather grain and nuts for winter, Frederick sits on a sunny rock by himself. “I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days,” he tells them. Another day he gathers “colors,” and then “words.” And when the food runs out, it is Frederick, the dreamer and poet, whose endless store of supplies warms the hearts of his fellow mice, and feeds their spirits during the darkest winter days. "

Also vytae's suggestion of a surprise sunshine cake is wonderful.
posted by pipstar at 7:40 AM on November 27, 2014