Welcome back to the Silk & Sinew edition of Delicious Horror! I’m making my way through Silk & Sinew (which is an absolute delight, by the way), and Priya’s story is so wonderfully rich in its descriptions!

A 2016 MBA graduate and published author, Priya Sridhar has been writing fantasy and science fiction for fifteen years, and counting. Capstone published the Powered series. Priya lives in Miami, Florida with her family. Find Priya on Medium, her website, and Patreon!

Priya notes: “The recipe enclosed will also go on my Patreon, and it would be great if readers could subscribe for more creative baked goods once a month.” 

Title of story in Silk and Sinew:

“Mohini’s Wrath”

Tell us briefly about your story and/or the inspiration behind it:

The inspiration — after being given the Air prompt.

What did you decide to make to pair with the story, and what from the story inspired your delicious food or drink?

I made chai gingerbread. The main conflict of the story is how a god haunts the main character and slowly steals her breath. When I feel sick, for some reason tea that my family makes helps me feel better. That and it’s the winter holidays, so I wanted to make something that would also fit in with the spirit of cold weather and meaningful joy.

Can you share the recipe or a link to the recipe?

It’s enclosed below! Special thanks to Meaningful Eats for providing the source recipe.

Notes: Do not try and grind the cardamom by hand. I learned this the hard way. 

Chai gingerbread

1/2 stick butter 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 lemon

1/2 cup molasses

1 ginger root about two inches long, grated

1 cup steeped boiling chai (you can use a chai leaf blend like I did, bags, or Celestial Seasonings’ Bengal Spice if you want to avoid caffeine)

1/2 teaspoon cardamom pods (5-6 cardamom pods)

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 by 9 inch square cake pan with parchment paper. Take out butter to soften at room temperature.

2. Cream butter with your sugar. Stir in your eggs.

3. Squeeze lemon into the wet ingredients. Add your molasses and grate in your ginger.

4. Using a mortar and pestle, open your cardamom pods and empty them into the bowl. Grind them with your cloves in a spice grinder.

5. Combine your ground cloves and cardamom with cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper. Mix with your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

6. Alternate adding your hot tea with the dry mixture to your wet ingredients, dividing each into three parts. Start with adding your flour, and finish with tea. Stir thoroughly and beat out lumps.

7. Pour into your prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a fork inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

8. Allow to cool for at least five minutes before serving.