Black Isle author has write stuff to win Hugh Miller competition honouring legendary geologist
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A BLACK Isle author inspired by one of the peninsula's iconic figures had the right ingredients – quite literally – to come out tops in a writing competition.
Winners in a variety of categories in the annual Hugh Miller Writing Competition include Vee Walker from Fortrose whose short story Cinder Toffee tickled the literary taste buds of judges in the Adult Fiction category.
Her tale of an exciting discovery by two determined geologists is accompanied by a recipe for Knockan Crag Cinder Toffee – which plays a part in the story, which can now be read online alongside all the other winners.
The competition is organised by the Scottish Geodiversity Forum and The Friends of Hugh Miller.
A spokesman for the competition said: "We hope that these writing competitions, open to all ages, will encourage both a renewed interest in Miller’s work, and contribute to a catalogue of new writings inspired by one of Scotland’s greatest nature writers. We also aim to highlight the role that Scotland’s geology plays in our daily lives and foster greater awareness and appreciation of Scotland’s geodiversity."
For the 2019-2020 writing competition, poetry and prose entries were invited that were inspired by one or more of the “51 Best Places to See Scotland’s Geology.”
Friends of Hugh Miller were thrilled that nearly 20 of them came from young people attending Cromarty Primary and Fortrose Academy.
Other winners were: Under 18s poetry – Claire Rinterknecht; Under 18s prose – Kate Knight; Middleton-Miller Prize for Promising Young Writer – Jack Cooper; Adults poetry – Alison Cohen; Adults non-fiction – Anna Fleming;
Vee Walker’s prizewinning novel Major Tom’s War, inspired by the discovery within a family archive of a hidden document containing a dark secret, tells the the unlikely yet true love story of her grandparents, Evie and Tom Westmacott. Set during the Great War and spanning events in India, England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and France, the genre-defying epic weaves together a stirring and intricate plot full of memorable characters with intertwining destinies. It is available on Kindle and hardback. For as signed copy, contact the author at info@majortomswar.com
You can read all the winners on the website www.thefriendsofhughmiller.org.uk.
Vee Walker’s recipe for Knockan Crag Cinder Toffee
Equipment:
A shallow, square tin, buttered
The largest, deepest, heaviest saucepan you can find
A big wooden spoon and a metal tablespoon
Ingredients:
Four heaped tablespoonfuls of soft light brown sugar
Two tablespoonfuls of golden syrup
One tablespoonful of butter
One level teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda (make sure it’s a teaspoonful not a tablespoonful if you wish to avoid an authentic Pompeii experience all over your cooker)
A pinch of salt
Method:
(Parents – this is not one for the kids to do on their own.)
Melt the butter over a low heat and stir in the sugar. Add the golden
syrup (use a hot tablespoon to scoop it out, you will waste less). Stir
well. Now raise the heat to high and boil without stirring it for five
minutes (use a timer - and don’t leave the room!).
Add your bicarbonate of soda. There will be a sudden, huge change in the mixture. It will froth up high in the pan. Add the pinch of salt and stir like crazy, taking care not to splash yourself as nothing burns like hot sugar (you could even wear a pair of old gloves for this bit).
Pour out the frothing mixture into the buttered tin and allow to cool.
Resist the temptation to stick a finger in it to see what it tastes like as it is hotter than you can possibly imagine and it will burn you.
Place the tray containing the mixture somewhere cool and dry to harden.
Careful, even the tray itself will be very hot at first. Once cool and hard, turn it out on to a chopping board and bash it with the wooden spoon to crack it into pieces. It can be coated in chocolate to make a home-made crunchie. Keeps for a few days in an airtight container.
If you have enjoyed making this recipe, there are a few others on Vee’s quirky blog at
https://blog.majortomswar.com and on her Facebook page /veewalker. You can also follow her on Twitter at @veewalkerwrites.
