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The Cake the Buddha Ate...a little story


I love a little mystery. Especially when it comes with a spiritual twist.

When I first read the story I'm about to share it put a happy smile on my face for the rest of the day. And then let's not even talk about how delicious the cake actually is! I've shared the recipe below if you feel the need to whip out your baking tins.

Enjoy...

“The Cake the Buddha ate

Daniel Jardim, our chef at the Buddhist Retreat Centre, had had a difficult day. So had Anthony Shapiro, the master potter who worked and lived there for about two years. It had been “one of those days”, so to console themselves Danie whipped up their favourite dessert, carrot cake, only to be faced with a power outage! When your kiln or oven goes dead in the middle of firing your bowls or baking your favourite cake, you too would get a little grumpy. Even at a meditation centre.

Carrot Cake

The cake took two hours to bake slowly in the remaining heat of the oven, but came out perfectly. It was iced in torch light. They took it to their kutis on the edge of the forest where they had a slice each. Carrot cake has never tasted better. In the failing light the remainder was cut into further wedges, to be offered to the rest of the staff in the morning. The cake was covered. They went to bed.

Upon waking, Daniel noticed that a slice of cake had gone missing during the night. The cake’s gauze cover had not been disturbed. Puzzled, he looked around his room. His gaze came to rest on the little shrine he had created which had a small bronze Buddha statue at its centre. The Buddha’s beautiful smile seemed a little coy in the early morning light. Looking closer, he noticed a smudge on the side of the Buddha’s mouth.

It was icing sugar.”

Shared with kind permission from “The Cake The Buddha Ate” Recipe book by Louis & Chrisi Van, Daniel Jardim, Angela Shaw, Dorian Haarhof, Stephen Coan and Claire Clark

And if you're craving some real peace and stillness, then maybe you need a little visit to the Buddhist Retreat Centre. Click the image to see more...

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