Last weekend (Saturday 23rd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and I usually make something ginger themed. This year I baked these frosted gingerbread muffins: https://simplytaralynn.com/2021/12/02/frosted-gingerbread-muffins-so-easy-to-make/
The recipe is from Simply Taralynn. I've previously made her pumpkin spice bars for Madron last year and her gingerbread cookie bars in January.
The muffins were quite nice. The recipe requires molasses but I used treacle, which I tend to use as a substitution because it's easier to get in the UK and is similar. Sometimes the treacle can be a bit strong but these were fine. I last made gingerbread muffins for Madron 2021 and those were kind of like ones I made in 2019, since both have banana in. I used applesace for those though, because I don't like banana!
These muffins don't have any banana in, so I didn't make any other substitutions apart from using mixed spice instead of all allspice. They aren't the same but mixed spice seems to be more common over here, so I usually use it in ginger recipes. It already has nutmeg and cloves in it, so it's good if you don't have those individual spices (which I didn't). Mixed spice is similar to pumpkin spice though and I used it for the pumpkin spice bars I baked last year.
If you're looking for a substitute that is similar to allspice, here is a useful post: https://thekitchencommunity.org/substitute-for-allspice/
And if you want to make your own mixed spice, visit this post: https://fromthelarder.co.uk/mixed-spice/
The gingerbread muffin recipe has a frosting recipe made with powdered sugar (icing sugar), vanilla and milk but I decided to use my favourite cream cheese frosting from the James Martin white chocolate Easter cake I like to make. It goes well with ginger things.
Here's a direct link to the cake and frosting recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake
So, although the muffins would taste a bit different to the original recipe, I still liked them. Here's a picture:
I also baked bread. I sometimes make it for the first two harvest sabbats Lammas and Madron (Samhain is the final harvest festival but I don't tend to bake bread for it). I don't make it a lot though because it can be a hassle, lol. I last baked bread from scratch for Madron in 2020, when I made maple oatmeal bread. The past couple of years I used mixes.
Since I didn't bake bread for Lammas this year, I wanted to make some for Madron. I considered soaked wholewheat bread from Don't Waste the Crumbs but then thought I'd prefer something a bit easier, lol. Rather than use a bread mix this time, I decided to make this Irish soda bread: https://www.joskitchenlarder.com/irish-soda-bread/
I've made soda bread before, for Imbolg 2018. It is simpler because it doesn't use any yeast, so you don't need to wait for it to rise or knead it. This recipe only requires yoghurt (I used some plain Greek yoghurt), plain (all purpose) and wholemeal flour, baking soda and sea salt.
I was quite pleased with it. I had some after I'd baked it and more as part of a Ploughman's for lunch the next day (along with cheese and pickle, chicken, crisps and dip). Here's a pic of the bread:
I also had some Old Jamaica ginger beer to drink.
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| Sunset on Mill Hill, Shoreham-by-sea. |
So now we're "officially" in autumn! After a summer that was mostly colder and rainy, we had a heatwave during September, although it wasn't as hot as last year. In Sussex (at least my part) the hottest it got was about 27C (80F). It's about 19C (66F) during the day now and down to about 14C (56F at night, more typical autumn. Similar to last year but a bit warmer.
The next sabbat will be Samhain (also Hallowe'en), one of my faves! I'll do a post about my celebrations. I'll also write my summer-autumn update soon. :)
Hope you had a good Madron and Happy Autumn! (Or hope you had a good Oestara/Ostara and Happy Spring!) :)
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