World Goth Day

May 22nd is World Goth Day. World what day? World Goth Day! That’s right, there is a World Goth Day and it has been around since 2009.

During a BBC Radio 6 exploration of musical subcultures, two goth DJs thought it would be great to get an event going that celebrated the goth scene. They chose May 22nd as the day. Initially a British celebration, World Goth Day spread and is now celebrated all over the world. You can check out the offical page to learn more and to see if there is an event near you.

World Goth Day celebrates the cultural heritage of the goth scene. It is a day for goths to be proud of who and what they are. I have been a proud goth since I was young, openly exploring the darker side of life through books, films, television and music.

When I entered the world of punk rock music I found my clan – punk goths. Not surprisingly two of the bands that influenced me the most were The Damned and The Cure. Both bands were punk goth hybrids and difficult to pigeonhole into one category. They were, to borrow a term from the awesome Billy Bragg, genre fluid – much like me 🙂 Also like me, both bands have lasted the distance and continue to embrace the soul of punk goth culture. In honour of World Goth Day’s musical roots, I have made a recipe based on one of my favourite songs.

In my post Neat Neat Neat I created a recipe for Smashed Potatoes in tribute to The Damned song Smash It Up. I also answered questions by Bob T. Panda including these two:
If you could be an animal, which one would you be?
“A Giant Panda like Clint Recession.”

Who is Clint Recession? Well he is a creation by David O’Doherty, Claudia O’Doherty and Mike Ahern in the book 100 Facts About Pandas. According to this book of fun fake facts, Clint is a founding member of The Cure and the inspiration for their goth look – he’s also a giant panda.

Which leads me to the next question:
What kind of cuppycake are you, and why?
“A Black Forest Cuppycake because I like black and I like The Cure song A Forest.”

Naturally I couldn’t resist creating a Black Forest Cupcake combining both goth and panda culture. My cupcakes are decorated with black liquorice which reminds me of black bamboo. And if there is one species of bamboo a goth panda would love it’s black!

Don’t forget, the original Black Forest Cake is named for Germany’s Black Forest – the setting for many of Grimm’s fairytales – and home to some spooky folklore. Wow, that’s a lot of goth to pack into one cupcake 🙂

Have a Happy World Goth Day!

Black Forest Cupcakes 

Ingredients
for the black forest cupcakes
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 + 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
125g (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
425g (15oz) canned pitted black cherries, drained and chopped, reserving the juice
1/2 cup juice, reserved from canned cherries

for the whipped cream
2 cups double cream
4 teaspoons powdered buttermilk or powdered milk
2 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar
black liquorice for decoration
grated chocolate for sprinkling
fresh cherries for garnish – optional

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 12 paper cases.
In a small bowl, sift together the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and pale.
Add egg yolk, one of the eggs and half the sour cream and beat well.
Add remaining egg and sour cream and beat until combined.
Add the milk and mix until combined.
Using a wooden spoon, fold through the cocoa mix 1/3 third at a time until combined.
Add the cherries and juice and gently mix through.
Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon the batter evenly into paper cases.
Bake for 10 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While cupcakes are cooling make the whipped cream by whipping together the cream, powdered sugar and milk powder with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add the vanilla extract and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Spoon whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes.
Decorate with black liquorice.
Sprinkle with chocolate and garnish with fresh cherries if desired.