This is my absolute favourite kind of snow. It’s sweet and warm and charming and flecked with silver dust. You can be comfortably indoors with it, and then when you’re ready, you can savour its moist deliciousness.
As soon as December rolls around, Jerusalemites everywhere start rhapsodizing and fantasizing about the possibility of snow in the months ahead. They somehow blot out memories of being stuck on the highway for hours, huddling under piles of blankets because of an inefficient heating system, or falling on the ice and spraining an ankle.
I, at least partly, blame Hollywood. What’s more romantic – onscreen – than a crisp wintry day, an outing in a snowy wonderland, all accompanied by a lilting soundtrack? Just listen to this paean by Lorelai of Gilmore Girls fame:
Never mind that the show was filmed in California where it’s a balmy 77 degrees (25° C) every day of the year.
And who could forget Bing Crosby crooning about it?
Which brings us to this cake. In the movie, apparently a favourite of every little girl aged 3-9, it’s winter all year round. Fun fact: I actually visited the region in Norway that was the model for the kingdom in the film. Don’t worry, it was August. It was truly picturesque, isolated and delightful. I imagine it’s significantly less delightful in February. The roads are permanently closed come November and supplies have to be delivered by air. It will not surprise you to learn that our local tour guide chooses to winter in Spain.
The movie celebrates the bond between sisters, self-reliance, and girl power. Kept apart for years by a terrible curse, these sisters eventually overcome adversity and the ice and snow with courage and ingenuity. My sister and I lived apart for 27 years – so slightly longer than these two – but she has recently made Aliya. So now, when the winter storms threaten, we can set our shoulders to the wind….and go take shelter at her house in Modiin.
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