Frankenstein’s Berry Bites—A Gothic Cookbook Recipe Test

As you may remember, a few weeks ago I hosted a guest post by Ella Buchan, one of the co-authors of A Gothic Cookbook, on the role of food in Gothic literature. A Gothic Cookbook, by Ella Buchan and Alessandra Pino, with illustrations by Lee Henry, is currently in development and being crowdfunded on Unbound (read to the end of this post for a discount code you can use on your pledge!). The book will feature dozens of illustrated recipes inspired by thirteen different works of classic and contemporary Gothic literature. Recently, the creators were kind enough to give me a sneak-peek at one of their recipes to try it out for myself and share with all of you!

The Recipe

These Berry Bite Squares are a delicious dessert pastry made with fresh fruit, inspired by the creature’s adventures in nature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein:

Our creature spends his first few days of existence subsisting on berries and the occasional acorn. He was happy (or, at least, willing) to do so, but we wonder if he would have enjoyed these crumbly, moreish fruit crumble squares a little better? Most probably. You can make these with pretty much any in-season fruit, from apples to rhubarbs. Eat for breakfast, afternoon tea, as a snack, on a picnic…

Here are the ingredients you will need:

For the crumble:

• 175g unsalted butter, melted
• 180g plain flour
• 125g soft brown sugar
• 150g rolled oats
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch salt

For the filling:

• 1 large egg
• 150g caster sugar
• 30g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 400g berries (blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants etc)

And the instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 6). Grease a 20cm (8in) square tin with butter and line with parchment paper.
2. Combine the dry ingredients for the crumble in a bowl, pour in the melted butter and mix well.
3. Tip around two-thirds of the crumble mixture into the tin and press down firmly to make a base.
4. For the filling, whisk together the egg and sugar, then slowly add the flour, orange zest and vanilla. Stir in the berries so each is coated.
5. Pour this over the base, then loosely sprinkle over the remaining crumble mix. (Don’t worry if some of the berries are still peeping out.)
6. Bake for around 40-45 minutes until golden. Allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares. The bites should keep for a few days in an airtight container.

Recipe Review

I’m not much of a cook myself, but I do love to bake. And these Berry Bite Squares are exceedingly simple and very quick to make! The recipe is quite versatile, as you can make these with essentially any fruit. But in keeping with the spirit of the creature’s foraging, I decided to go with whatever locally grown berries I could find at my neighborhood farmers market, which wound up being blueberries, raspberries, and black raspberries. I’d love to make these again next summer and see if I can get even more in the spirit by including some foraged mulberries while they’re still in season! As you’ll notice above, the ingredients are listed by weight (in grams), given that the creators of the cookbook are based in the UK, which may throw some American bakers for a loop. But thanks to hopping on the pandemic sourdough bandwagon, I now have a kitchen scale on-hand! As for other measurements, the recipe helpfully translates Celsius into Fahrenheit for cooking temp and provides the size of the baking pan in both centimeters and inches. I’ll also note that I substituted granulated sugar for the caster sugar, since the latter is not a common ingredient in the U.S.

There is plenty of room to play around with this recipe, and the end result is sure to still come out delicious. Mine certainly did! My roommates and I all loved these, and I will definitely break this recipe out for small gatherings in the future. Each square has the perfect ratio of sweet berries to crunchy crumble, making it perfect as a hearty dessert, tasty snack, or breakfast treat.

For more recipes like these Frankenstein-inspired Berry Bites Squares, check out A Gothic Cookbook.  You can get yourself a copy, as well as various exciting add-ons, by supporting the crowdfunding campaign on Unbound. And if you pledge now, you can use the code FRANK10 to get 10% off of pledges up to £100. The discount code is valid now through August 1. Let me know in the comments below if you’ve backed the campaign, and what work of Gothic literature you’d be most excited to see recipes from. And if you make these Berry Bite Squares for yourself, let me know how it goes!