Thunder Cake Book

Loved it! As opposed to the usual perpetual heat and sunshine of our Septembers, we actually had some overcast weather this week and a few (mild) thunderstorms last weekend, so I felt perfectly in the mood for this book and that might have bumped this up to the five star rating ;-)

This is a fun, sweet (true) story about young Patricia who is afraid of thunderstorms when she visits her Babushka's (grandmother's) farm during the summer. Her grandma comes up with the idea to make a Thunder Cake, and distracts Tricia from her worries as they set about collecting the ingredients for the cake. The best part is why it's called "Thunder Cake" and how it has to be baked and served ;-) I loved the creativity and wisdom of the grandma in helping her granddaughter feel brave. I especially loved the illustrations (especially the calico cat! and all the Russian elements) and wanted to eat a big piece of Thunder Cake right away. The expression on Tricia's face as she is about to eat that cake is just priceless ;-)

I wondered how to do the recipe without eggs and thought about just adapting a vegan white cake recipe and adding the tomatoes. I found this one online which looks promising: