The Christmas Cake Waltz

This year I reluctantly signed up to a Creative Writing module on my course at University, and recently we were set a task to write a piece to submit and have our classmates read and evaluate.

As you'd expect, upon hearing that I had to do this I went into panic mode, wondering how in the hell I was ever going to pull this off.

However, I've somehow managed to produce this and thought I'd might as well post it on here as well before it gets ripped apart by my tutor and fellow Creative Writing students.

Enjoy!

Sugar, eggs, butter, flour and spice

Blended together with smells to entice

And tantalise the tongues of the hungry and needy,

The famished and ravenous, so eager and greedy.

The sugar, a temptress and so sweet a dame,

Seducing one’s lips like a moth to a flame,

Crystalline capsules of charm and allure

White in their colour, exquisite and pure

Glistening like jewels in a chest full of treasure

In jumps the salt, a pinch for good measure.

A sly Casanova, a sleaze of a soul,

The butter is next to flop into the bowl,

Oily in looks, slick and sebaceous

Wooing the sugar, his nature flirtatious

Ever so charmed by his flavoursome taste

The two are combined in a velvety paste.

Erupting with envy, the covetous flour

Emits its full rage in a powdery shower,

In true disbelief that her heart seems to flutter

At the unsightly view of this devious butter

The texture turns thick as the powder is blended

With wishes and hopes that the feud can be ended.

The batter takes shape but growing in density

Hostility reaches new heights of intensity,

In need of appeasement, four eggs are invited

And in the spoon’s dance their fuse is ignited,

Conjoining components, on fingers so runny

On eyes golden yellow and dripping like honey.

Yet lacking in zest and sweet Christmas savour

This cake yearns for sparkle, a sharp pungent flavour,

Dates, nuts, sultanas and scarlet red cherries

With currants and raisins, a helping of berries

Soaking in brandy and poured with a splatter

Into the bowl and then mixed with the batter.

Spooned from the bowl and laid into a tin,

Ready and waiting, the bake can begin,

Into the oven, so torrid and steamy,

The mixture rests quietly, its texture so creamy

Transforming from dough to sponge light and fluffy,

An afternoon cooking, the oven now stuffy.

Five hours pass and the timer is sounded,

The scent overwhelming, the cake is abounded

With spices from heaven and perfumes galore,

Aromas so gorgeous that guests cry for more,

Cooling completed, the icing placed gently

And each decoration laid down so intently

Holly leaves carved with meticulous flair,

Lettering piped with precision and care

With wishes of bliss and such bright festive cheer,

Raise a large glass to a happy new year,

The guests take a slice and bite into their treat

With the cake now completed and ready to eat.