Best Picture Baking Project: Shakespeare in Love

I know that this win was/is controversial, because it’s the Oscar year when Miramax really started the era of the active Oscar campaign (which obviously has darker connotations now that we know the extent of Harvey’s misdeeds) but I honestly was glad to have this one on the list, because it didn’t feel like I had to emotionally prepare myself to view it. Dessert wise, I think I googled “Shakespeare dessert” and found rum cake. It turned out well I think!

Had I seen this one before?

Yep. My guess was approximately 19 times. As a theater obsessed high schooler into the Oscars, this was pretty aggressively for me. It had been a while though.

Top 3 observations on this viewing?

1. I love how this is basically just fanfiction about Shakespeare, or an exercise where Tom Stoppard tried to see how many tropes he could fit into one plot. I realize this sounds snarky, but I am being 100% sincere, I genuinely love this.
2. Obviously, the fact that Judi Dench got an Oscar for 12 minutes of screen time is much discussed, and she’s great! But, the whole ensemble, a murder’s row of “Hey That Guys” of British film, is delightful when given their moments, and allowed to shine by the script. I am particularly consistently charmed by how good Ben Affleck is in this as the arrogant leading player, he has to juggle comic relief with occasional gravitas and he totally pulls it off.

I feel like this picture captures the delightful goofiness of this whole project very well.

3. The production and costume design is all so great. It’s period, but stylized rather than aggressively accurate. It feels theatrical without veering fully into camp. Full of fun little details – I’m currently obsessed with Colin Firth’s villainous pearl drop earring:

What did it beat? Did it deserve to win?

Elizabeth – I remember even as a 9 year old thinking that it was funny that Elizabeth I was in multiple Best Picture nominees in a year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this, love Cate Blanchett though

Life Is Beautiful – Never saw it. Cringe at the premise the way it sometimes described, but kind of love that the image of Roberto Benigni climbing over the chairs will be in every Oscars history montage ever

Saving Private Ryan – A great film. Hard to watch. Spielberg in the mode that had worked so well for him before. I saw it once for a paper I wrote in high school about movies about WWII made at the turn of the millennium (look, I’ve always been this person OK?), but I don’t think I could myself through the opening sequence again.

The Thin Red Line – Watched this for the same paper, but kind of want to revisit it now that I have a greater appreciation for Terrance Malik’s whole deal.

Look, I know I’m supposed to say that Private Ryan was robbed, and maybe it was. I’m definitely swayed by a nostalgic attachment to Shakespeare and Shakespeare, and rewatchability and comfort should not be the metric that ultimately determines a Best Picture winner, but there really isn’t another movie like Shakespeare in Love on this list that I’ve encountered so far. And they gave Spielberg his second Best Director statue that night, and rightfully so in my opinion. So, fuck Harvey Weinstein, but I love this movie, and I love the fact that it won.

Bechdel test pass?

Yep, because of discussions of the power of poetry and the theatre.

Have I mentioned yet, that I love this stupid movie. Because, it is kind of a stupid movie, in the way that Shakespeare’s plays (I promise I’ll get to that project one day too) are really stupid if you think about the plots for even 5 minutes, but they are eternal for a reason, and I don’t think art has to be about death and destruction to matter, and maybe I am just trying to justify liking a frivolous thing more than the agreed upon Serious Classic, but I genuinely think a well crafted frivolous thing can have as much value and this one does.

OK, off my pop culture soap box and back to baking, this Orange Rum cake is probably not period appropriate for Elizabethan England, because it requires three pieces of fresh citrus, but it is wonderfully fluffy (and a bit boozy!)

Orange Rum Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons rum

Directions

1. Grate the oranges and lemon peels
2. Juice the oranges and lemon (It’s fine to combine the juices you will use them both at the same time)
3. Preheat oven to 350F
4. Line a bread pan with parchment paper, greased
5. Cream butter until light and fluffy
6. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar
7. Continue beating until light and fluffy
8. Add the orange and lemon zest
9. Add each egg, one at a time, beating well after each
10. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
11. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture, and 1/3 of the buttermilk
12. Mix until smooth, then repeat until no more flour or buttermilk remain
13. Pour into prepared pan
14. Bake for 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean
15. While it’s baking strain the citrus juice into a saucepan
16. Add remaining 1 cup of sugar
17. Add the rum
18. Bring mixture to a boil and then remove from heat
19. When cake is done, transfer it to a platter or deep dish
20. Pour rum mixture over the cake
21. Let sit for a bit (Note: original recipe said to let it sit for a day, but I missed that, and just waited like 10 minutes and it was delicious)

Best Picture Baking Project: Schindler’s List

Yes, I’m back to watching this month’s movie on the last possible day, but it’s hard to motivate to watch maybe the saddest Best Picture winner ever, especially when it is 3.25 hours long. But, I sacrificed a sunny Saturday to Schindler’s List and apple strudel, because this definitely falls into the “just make something generic from the region” category of trying to pair a dessert.

Has I seen this one before?

Yes, in high school, I assume in connection with a class? But, there was a lot that I had forgotten.

Top 3 observations on this viewing?

1. I feel like people always reference the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan as a test of endurance, but I think we need to be including the “Liquidation of the Ghetto” sequence in that conversation, because holy shit, it is unrelenting. I admire the way the Spielberg refused to pull punches or soften what Nazi brutality actually entailed, but damn, there is a lot of imagery in this that is really nightmarish.
2. It honestly feels like sacrilege to have critiques of this movie, but, it’s a little too long. Like, I remember it being long, but the entire first hour is basically back story – Ralph Fiennes doesn’t show up until 50min in! Could have maybe done without the third montage of Nazi party members drinking, and definitely didn’t need the multiple shots of women waking up topless in their lovers’ beds for seemingly no narrative purpose.

3. Editing isn’t the film craft that I tend to particularly notice, but the juxtapositions in this are truly arresting and elegant. The whole movie feels thoughtfully stylized without smoothing out the jaggedness of its subject matter.

Honestly, this sequence is a masterclass, and also one of the most truly terrifying things I’ve ever seen.

What did it beat? Did it deserve to win?

In the Name of the Father – Great Daniel Day-Lewis performance, always love to see Emma Thompson, tough watch

The Fugitive – Have only seen spurts on TNT

The Piano – Oomph. The origin story of why I’m hesitant to put myself through Jane Campion films.

The Remains of the Day – I love this book, but it makes me so sad that I haven’t been able to make myself watch the movie (despite even more Emma Thompson!)

The was also the year as Philadelphia, just in case you weren’t depressed yet reading this list. Schindler is the obvious, and I think correct, winner. But damn, what a bleak year to be an awards fan. Thank God, Harrison Ford got framed for murdering his wife or there wouldn’t have been anything fun.

Bechdel test pass?

Yes. Possibly gratuitous boob shots aside, the women’s stories are told as fully and sympathetically as the men’s.

Ok, I admit that when I made my plan for this dessert, I had forgotten that the movie takes place in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and just googled generic German desserts, and then the easiest version of the one that came up. So, the link here may be tenuous, but seriously, you try to think of an appropriate feeling themed snack for this…

So, cut me some slack. These pastries were really easy, and taste simple but good. I reheated them for breakfast this morning, and the apples were even better after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Puff Pastry Apple Strudel

Ingredients

• 1 package frozen puff pastry cups, thawed to room temperature
• 2-3 baking apples
• 4 tablespoons white sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside
3. Peel, core, and chop apples into 1/2 inch cubes (should yield about 3 cups of apples)
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, 2 tablespoons of white sugar, flour, and cinnamon
5. Toss until apples are coated and set aside for 15 minutes
6. In a small bowl mix brown sugar, breadcrumbs, and remaining white sugar
7. Beat egg and water together to form egg wash
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry cup
9. When thin and even place a spoonfull of sugar mixture in center
10. Top with a spoonful of apple filling
11. Use egg wash around edges and fold across filling to form cup
12. Place on prepared baking sheet
13. Repeat with remaining cup dough
14. Place in oven and bake for 20-30 minutes (Until puffed and golden brown