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"Wintersong" Book Discussion and Chocolate Cupcakes With Strawberry Frosting Themed Recipe




Discussion Questions:

  2. How was Liesl more herself, “whole and entire” when she was young, and how had life and responsibility “whittled her to a sliver of herself”? Was this part of what made her so ripe for the Goblin King’s plucking?
  3. Liesl’s grandmother was very knowledgeable about the Goblin King, including how to gain access to the underground and also wise enough to realize his loneliness and wonder about him “Does the king serve the crown or the crown serve the king?” Which is it?
  4. What did it mean that the goblin king wanted her soul along with her music, to truly sacrifice her music to him?
  5. What was the connection between the queen’s life (Liesl’s), the king’s life, the denizens of the Underground, and the earth and making things grow new every year?
  6. Why did the Goblin King choose Liesl instead of her more voluptuous and popularly desireable sister?
  7. What was the magic of the silver-backed mirrors in the underground? What was their power and limitation?
  8. Why was it especially hard for Liesl to live without her brother Joseph? How was it like “learning to live without a part of myself, like losing a limb or a hand”? And how did she “learn to live around it, to absorb its emptiness as a part of yourself”?
  9. According to Thistle, “Life is more than breath and blood. It is taste and touch and sight and sound and smell.” Which of them could Liesl bear to give up first, and which began first? Which would you prefer to lose first or last?
  10. When asked who she was, Liesl stated she was “a girl who loves strawberries, chocolate torte, songs in a minor key, moments stolen from chores, and childish games. I am short-tempered yet disciplined...self-indulgent, selfish yet selfless…” Why were these things vital to explaining and understanding for herself who she was? How did her name and this list make her a soul, and what then was Der Erlkonig without his name?

The Recipe:




Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Frosting



  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp molasses
  • (1 1/2 cups) 3 sticks salted butter, room temperature
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsps pure vanilla extract, divided
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 full dropper LorAnn chocolate candy flavoring oil
  • 1 cup hot coffee, (chocolate flavored)
  • 1/4 cup seedless strawberry puree, (from about one cup of fresh strawberries)
  • 2 tbsps vegetable shortening
  • 1 tsp LorAnn strawberry flavoring oil
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature


  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F and line two cupcake trays with paper liners. In the bowl of a mixer on medium speed, combine the sugars, molasses, and one stick of room temperature butter. Increase the speed to medium high for about 2 minutes or until the ingredients are fully combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Add these ingredients to the mixer slowly, with the mixer on medium-low speed. At the halfway point, set down the bowl of dry ingredients and add the vanilla extract to the mixer.
  2. Finish adding the dry ingredients and sour cream, then add the eggs to the mix one at a time, followed by the chocolate oil. Lastly, add the hot coffee and mix on low speed until fully combined. You may need to stop the mixer here to scrape down the bottom and sides of your mixer with a rubber spatula, to make sure no flour is left at the bottom of the mixing bowl. Scoop batter into lined cupcake baking trays about half-full each. Bake for 17-22 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake and it comes out free of any raw batter. Allow to cool for at least ten full minutes on a baking rack before frosting.
  3. For the frosting, puree about one cup of fresh, ripe strawberries (tops removed with leaves and stems) in a food processor or blender until it becomes a thick liquid (about 2 to 4 minutes) and there are no visible pieces. Pour this into a fine mesh strainer or sieve over a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, push the strawberry liquid through the strainer into the bowl, while leaving out the seeds. You will need 1/4 cup of seedless strawberry puree (any extra can be frozen into cubes and used for fruit smoothies later). In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together two sticks of room temperature salted butter and 2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening for one minute. Then drop the speed to medium-low and add one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, 1 drop of strawberry candy flavoring oil, and 2 cups of powdered sugar.
  4. When those ingredients are combined, add the strawberry puree and 2 more cups of powdered sugar, beginning on low speed, then increasing to medium when the layer of powdered sugar on top has moved into the bottom of the bowl, about one minute later. Stop the mixer after one more minute, and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula, making sure to fold in the ingredients from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Return the speed to low and add the last cup of powdered sugar, then put the speed to medium low after one minute. Mix just until fully combined. Refrigerate until ready to pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Frosting


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Similar Reads:

The sequel to this book is Shadowsong. It finishes the story of what becomes of the Goblin King.





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