This year I am baking an Election Cake, long distance, with Martha Baier , Sarah Black and Amy Halloran , inspired by Old World Levain Bakery recipe and story I first heard to on NPR in 2016. I have made elections cakes for every election since inspired by their recipe and the cake the history

I was specially moved by how women who could not vote found a way to participate in the process. I love this open recipe that invite us to use ingredients from each of our regions and use what we have in our homes. I also love that it is sourdough cake! We always took our children to vote with us, but with the pandemic we voted by mail. I started thinking about how we don’t have to go too far for democracy and civic lessons and actions. It can start in our own tables, with our families, breaking bread and eating election cake. And yes vote!

For my version of the cake, I used Maine Grains spelt flour. I soaked dried blueberries, dried foraged apple and dehydrated plums from our friend’s tree in local beer. I went with maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and sourdough starter!