Sunday, July 13, 2014

In Cake Batter, There Is No Law!

Bolt Thrower are my favorite bad ass nerds. They're into kinda dorky stuff, but don't take that as a sign of weakness. If their songs are any indication, they're well-versed in battle, and will surely defeat any and all of their enemies.
They're from Coventry, England. This is the same town where Lady Godiva famously rode nude through the streets, to protest the excessive taxes put in place by her husband. Hotchie Motchie!

They've been around since 1986, and their name comes from a weapon used in the game Warhammer. It's a D&D-type game where you have armies made up of elves, dwarfs, orcs and a bunch of other geeky fantasy characters. I've never played it myself, but it seems to be quite popular.

And for the record, I'm not above geeky fantasy anything. I love Lord of the Rings and would hang out with Treebeard any day.

Bolt Thrower have yet to release a follow up to 2005's Those Once Loyal. Apparently they did write a new record, but weren't very happy with it, so they scrapped the entire thing. They released a statement explaining that they weren't going to put out an album unless they felt it was at least on par with it's predecessor. I can definitely respect that. Although I am curious to hear what they scrapped. I bet it's good, and they were just being too harsh on themselves!
However, plans to record a new record are "postponed indefinitely." I'm not that upset about this, because the records they have released are AWESOME. Their songs provide the perfect soundtrack to any all-encompassing battle. Each one is a mighty battle cry, drenched in an angry resonance that can only be described as genius.

This recipe was inspired by the song "In Battle There Is No Law!" They're Strongbow cupcakes. I'm not sure if the members of Bolt Thrower are fans of Strongbow cider (or cupcakes for that matter), but it's English and hard- just like them!

Bolt Thrower:
In Cake Batter, There Is No Law!

Makes 24






Metal Constituents:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups Strongbow
For the frosting:
  • 1/2 package cream cheese (4oz), room temperature
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 Tablespoons Strongbow
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
For the caramel drizzle:
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • Pinch of salt

 
Merciless Instructions:


  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with baking cups and set aside.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Add egg and vanilla, beat until well combined.
  5. Add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with Strongbow. Beat until just combined.
  6. Fill each baking cup about 2/3 full with batter.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
  8. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until well combined.
  10. Add cinnamon and cider, and continue beating.
  11. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, and beat until light and fluffy.
  12. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.
  13. To make the caramel drizzle: Mix all ingredients together with a whisk in a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat.
  14. Once the butter is melted, continue to whisk constantly for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.
  15. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, or place in the fridge for 5 minutes.
  16. Once the caramel is cooled, but still liquidy, drizzle over each frosted cake.
  17. No turning back, in cake batter there is no law!
Here's some live footage of Bolt Thrower playing "In Battle There Is No Law!" Enjoy!


5 comments:

Sigivald said...

Nitpick:

Bolt Thrower take their name from Warhammer:40,000 ["40k"], set in the far, far future - 40,000 AD.

Warhammer Fantasy is the one with fantasy races.

Warhammer 40k is the one with thinly disguised fantasy races that are aliens. Also, guns and spaceships.

Kathy Bejma said...


@Sigivald
Sorry... You're wrong. I don't really play the game, but all the information (including interviews with the band) that I've read confirm that they take their name from Warhammer Fantasy Battle. There is no Bolt Thrower in Warhammer 40K.
There are Bolt Throwers for High Elves, Dwarfs, Gondors, and Reapers.

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/search/searchResults.jsp?qty=com.gamesworkshop.endeca.EndecaUserContext@3c730dee&sorting=srl&view=table&searchTerm=bolt+thrower#searchResults.jsp?qty=com.gamesworkshop.endeca.EndecaUserContext@3c730dee&sorting=srl&view=table&searchTerm=bolt+thrower&_suid=140560738469601434332607450921

From Encyclopedia Metallum:
"The band takes its name from a weapon in the popular tabletop strategy game Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
The lyrics and artwork of their second and third albums were based on Warhammer Fantasy Battles, as well as its futuristic companion Warhammer 40,000 with much of the art actually being provided by the game's publisher, Games Workshop."
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Bolt_Thrower/234

It doesn't matter that much, it's mostly the music I care about.
But I do a fair amount of research when I'm writing about a band, even though no one actually reads my blog.
Kathy

Sigivald said...

I think I see the issue.

"Bolt Thrower" as such is from WFB - but WH:40k has "bolters", which IIRC are often informally called "bolt throwers" (though God knows how much of that influence is due to the band).

The presence of WH:40k art on Realm of Chaos [which I got when it was the latest album, and thus had more lasting influence] always makes me, combined with more 40K than WFB themes, forget they're not just doing 40k.

To complicate things, various sources suggest the High Elves were introduced by 4E in ... 1993.

I think that WH:40k is where they got the name *even if it was via fanbase mangling of "Bolter"* (from their own interview record, they talk about being big 40k players), if I read that right.

Heck, I could also be completely wrong about that, too, for sure!

I just have the peculiar place of being a 1992-era BT fan *and* a WH:40k guy from the same era.

(I do apologize if my comment came off as critical - the "nitpick" tag was supposed to be self-deprecating and indicate that the pedantry really was a nit and unimportant,and not something I'd denigrate anyone for getting wrong ... including myself!)

Eric Kinkead said...

I actually found out about Bolt Thrower THROUGH the Games Workshop in 1988 in the White Dwarf magazine. (Magazine for nerds who collected Games Workshop stuff) That is when I got their CD for In Battle there is no Law, and The Realm of Chaos. Which GW got behind pretty hard. I still have their full page ad for Realm of Chaos release!

There is no issue with this article. It is fantastic. Kathy your cup cakes are fantastic. CHUFFED you made a Bolt Thrower cup cake!!!

Im a total 88-94 Death Metal Grind head, but my roots in gaming and nerdism are DEEEEEP. I am so glad you honored this!

Up the irons!
\m/

Kathy Bejma said...

@EricKinkead
Thank-you for such a lovely comment!
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, I was on vacation.

If you bake up a batch of these, let me know how they turn out!

Thanks again!!