Practical Magic and a Tipsy Cake for Halloween
CeCe’s Musings over books and baking
“This is how you begin in this world. These are the lessons to be learned. Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit. Feed a cold and starve a fever. Read as many books as you can. Always choose courage. Never watch another woman burn. Know that love is the only answer.” Alice Hoffman, Magic Lessons
If you have seen the 1998 classic Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, you are familiar with the story of two sisters who were orphaned and brought to live with their great aunts, Francis and Jet. It is a movie I try to revisit every year. I love the blend of magic and sisterhood and true love that permeates throughout the film.
Alice Hoffman wrote Practical Magic in 1995, and the movie came out three years later. There are similarities to both, yet the movie deviated from the novel in a myriad of ways. Like many book to film adaptations, major plot lines were changed, reworked, or cut. I happen to enjoy both, though. My favorite scene in the movie happens toward the end when the women are trying to exorcise evil from Gillian, Kidman’s character. They grab hands, and with their connections the curse is broken. It grabs my heart every time I see it, feeling the power women possess if we hang onto to one another with love and conviction.
Hoffman went on to write three more books in the series: Magic Lessons (2020), The Rules of Magic (2017), and The Book of Magic (2021). Magic Lessons is the story of Maria, the first Owens woman whose curse followed the family for over 350 years. The Rules of Magic is the backstory of the aunts, Frannie and Jet, and their brother Vincent. The Book of Magic ends the saga with Sally and Gillian, along with the rest of their family, on a quest to end Maria’s curse.
During the month of October I reread the series in chronological order, following the story throughout the years. Hoffman’s characters are well-drawn and fascinating. From Maria to Kylie Owens, each possesses her own unique magic. I was drawn into the stories of these strong women (and one beguiling man). Hoffman’s writing is a beautiful work of art that makes me want to plant herbs and learn spells and always always fall in love whenever possible.
Throughout the books, the characters concoct magic, often through their baking: an apple pie to bring a lost daughter home, and a tipsy chocolate cake to delight anyone who is served it.
After finishing the series, I decided I needed to bake. My pie dough recipe does have a bit of magic in it, but I wanted to attempt the tipsy chocolate cake. I researched recipes and decided on Aunt Isabelle’s Chocolate Tipsy Cake. Replacing layers for a bundt pan, reducing the baking time, adding Jameson Irish Whiskey instead of rum, and using a chocolate buttercream frosting, a delightfully sweet and tipsy cake was created.
I will be sharing this magical cake with my husband and friends on Halloween evening. Baking is alchemy, a spell brought together through sugar and flour and spices, and often chocolate. Recipes connect us. They tell our stories. They heal our pain.
What magic do you share with the world, my loves?
“The rules of magic: Do as you will, but harm no one. What you give will be returned to you threefold. Fall in love whenever you can.” Alice Hoffman, The Rules of Magic
My kitchen witch and books watch over my attempt at a tipsy chocolate cake. Magic.