 Thunder
Cake
by Patricia Polacco
Thunder Cake by Patricia
Polacco has always been a favorite book in our
house. Every time mother nature brewed a thunder storm
the children would run to the book shelf and a few
minutes later we would find ourselves making
"Thunder Cake". How clever of Patricia Polacco
to create a story around a Michigan thunderstorm and
connect it with a baking activity as a therapeutic tool
in calming the anxiousness and fears that the voice of
thunder so often produce in children. As the story
unfolds, Grandma Babushka successfully transfers her
grandchild’s focus on a slow approaching thunderstorm
to a strategic baking activity that will calm her fears.
While counting down the minutes between the lightning
and the thunder, they pick the tomatoes and
strawberries, gather the eggs, collect the dry
ingredients from the dry shed and hurry back to the
house to bake the cake. The cake is finished upon the
arrival of the thunderstorm and Babushka and
"Child", with a sense of accomplishment and
peace, finally sit down to enjoy their tea, their cake
and last but not least...the thunder. Her grandchild
will never fear thunderstorms again.
The recipe for Thunder Cake is found on the final
page of Ms. Polacco’s book, or you can use any
chocolate cake recipe, as you might not have fresh grown
tomatoes to pick. I recommend that you let the children
use their imaginations as they invade your pantry for
ingredients. Below is my Mother’s Sour Cream Chocolate
Cake that my children love to make. An additional
activity: Have your child send me an email with her or
his favorite chocolate cake recipe and tell me It’s
history and why it is their favorite cake.
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
11/4 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cups sour cream
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat
approximately 3 minutes until smooth. Pour batter into a
greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 for
40-45 minutes or until knife tests clean. Cool 15
minutes on wire rack. Remove cake from the pan and cool
completely.
Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until
smooth.
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