{"id":2297,"date":"2013-04-08T22:01:54","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T03:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/headofstatecakes.com\/?p=89"},"modified":"2013-04-08T22:01:54","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T03:01:54","slug":"the-delicate-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/04\/the-delicate-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Delicate Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"madison2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

James Madison<\/a> is one of those presidents best known for the work that he did before he became president. Most of us think of him as the “Father of the Constitution<\/a>,”\u00a0it’s author. He thought of himself as one of a team of people whose thoughts gave birth to the Constitution<\/a>. James Madison was also one of the main authors of The Federalist Papers<\/a>. The other authors were Alexander Hamilton<\/a>, and John Jay <\/a>(who was the answer to a quiz bowl question I answered correctly several years ago. This history thing runs deep!) \u00a0 The Federalist Papers were published in 1787 and 1788 as articles in New York Papers. The aim was order to convince New Yorkers to ratify the proposed constitution. Madison was very good at thinking through an issue from all sides to make sure that he understood it, to make sure that it stood up. This is what made him the right man for the job of drafting the Constitution. This very characteristic is also what \u00a0made me have a bit of a beef with James Madison. As a part \u00a0of a class called something like, “The Intellectual History of America,” I was reading parts of the Federalist Papers. What I hadn’t understood going into this reading is that, at times, the Federalist Papers contradicted themselves. So, without this understanding, I read, coffee in one hand, head in the other, not understanding why one thing seemed not to mesh with the other and blaming it all on poor James Madison.<\/p>\n

\"madison1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

James Madison was a small man, a trait that was often harped upon by his opponents. In addition to being called the \u00a0father of the constitution, he was at times called, “Little Jemmy.” He stood somewhere between 5’4″ and 5’6″; reports on his height vary. He weighed around 100 pounds. Also, he often complained of various ailments. Anyone who reads history with any frequency knows that sickness is just a part of things. Presidents are not immune to this. Some of what is written about Madison describes him as a bit of a hypochondriac. We do know, however, that when he was out campaigning for the first Congress in 1788, that his nose became frostbitten, and that he carried that scar for life. He suffered from seizures that modern historians believe to be \u00a0of a psychophysiological nature. He also suffered from bilious fever. Bilious fever<\/a> is a diagnosis that is no longer used. There are a host of modern problems that in Madison’s time would have been diagnosed as bilious fever. \u00a0Hypochondriac or not, Madison suffered all sorts of bodily discomfort. \u00a0This is, combined with his authorship and promotion of the Constitution is what told me that this cupcake would need to be called “The Delicate Constitution.”<\/p>\n

The cake:<\/p>\n

Originally, I wanted this cake to be composed all of elements and flavors that are known for their soothing properties. I had been thinking ginger, chamomile and mint. However, once I thought about that combination a bit more, I was starting to feel distinctly unwell. I decided to keep the ginger element, but decided that the cake needed something to combat the spiciness of the fresh ginger I intended to use. I went with pineapple. Pineapple sort of represents Dolley Madison<\/a>, described by even the White House website as “the toast of Washington.” (The White House website also describes her as buxom, for that matter, on James Madison’s biography page, but not her own.) Mrs. Madison complimented James Madison, giving him social cache that he wouldn’t have had otherwise.<\/p>\n

The cupcake, here, is flavored with pineapple puree. In the center is whipped cream flavored with (slightly overcooked) pineapple-ginger jam. For the frosting, is ginger buttercream flavored with juiced ginger. There is a piece of candied ginger on top of the cupcake to warn you that you’ll be tasting something spicy. The red sparkling sugar? That’s just there because I think Dolley would like it.<\/p>\n

\"madison3\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Madison is one of those presidents best known for the work that he did before he became president. Most of us think of him as the “Father of the Constitution,” it’s author. He thought of himself as one of a team of people whose thoughts gave birth to the Constitution. James Madison was also one
…read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[242,243,244,245,200,246],"class_list":["post-2297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-cakes","tag-ginger","tag-jam","tag-james-madison","tag-pineapple","tag-whipped-cream","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p33KTw-B3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4091,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2014\/11\/presidential-quote-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":0},"title":"Presidential Quote #5","author":"admin","date":"November 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Presidents"","block_context":{"text":"Presidents","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/presidents-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/presidentquote5.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":351,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2010\/02\/presidential-reading-aka-goal-26\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":1},"title":"Presidential Reading aka Goal 26","author":"admin","date":"February 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"So, one of the birthday goals is to read a biography of each US President. This goal came from writing a poem or two starring a few of our Presidents. Then someone asked me if I was going to write a poem about each US President. I thought that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"books\"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/uspresidents-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2309,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/04\/the-good-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":2},"title":"The Good Feelings","author":"sherlonya","date":"April 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"James Monroe was the final founders-generation president. He was also the fourth Virginian to hold the nation\u2019s highest office. Monroe is perhaps best known for the Monroe Doctrine. Back in 1823, Monroe made a speech where he said, \u201cthat the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"buttercream\"","block_context":{"text":"buttercream","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/buttercream\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monroe1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Monroe1.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4165,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2014\/12\/the-victor\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":3},"title":"The Victor","author":"admin","date":"December 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Even \u00a0before I became profoundly interested in the United States presidents, Gerald Ford stood out to me for one reason and one reason alone. He was from my home state, Michigan. As I learned more about President Ford, it struck me how much \u201cmidwestern\u201d was used to describe him, at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "baking"","block_context":{"text":"baking","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/baking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"fordcupcake1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/fordcupcake1.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4766,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2016\/06\/cocktail-coundown-founding-fathers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":4},"title":"Cocktail Coundown: Founding Fathers","author":"admin","date":"June 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If Election 2016 makes you feel like drinking, I can help. Here I\u2019ll make cocktails for each US President. By November, we can drink them all! One died in service to his county. Three died on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, two on the same day, one,\u00a0five years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "baking"","block_context":{"text":"baking","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/category\/baking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2599,"url":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/2013\/06\/the-dark-horse\/","url_meta":{"origin":2297,"position":5},"title":"The Dark Horse","author":"sherlonya","date":"June 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"James K. Polk is sometimes thought of as the last strong president until Abraham Lincoln. Other times he is called the first \u201cdark horse\u201d president. While he was watching election-related things unfold, he realized that the presidential candidates, Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay were avoiding the highly contentious issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Cakes\"","block_context":{"text":"Cakes","link":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/tag\/cakes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"polk1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/headofstatecakes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/polk1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sherlonya.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}