Piggy Cakes

This summer, my friends of LTD Farm raised pigs. From all accounts, it was quite the adventure. Apparently, pigs really enjoy escaping and cavorting around the farm, and have a great reluctance to be caught. I can't say that I blame them--really, what could be more fun than racing around, harassing ducks and goats, and seeing how many humans you can get to play a game of high speed tag?

The time has come for the good-though-slightly-naughty pigs to fulfill their purposes of becoming delicious ham, pork chops, and sausages. (Yes, I am rather excited. I heart pork.) While I didn't raise these guys myself, I am very grateful to them in their mission to become many meals that will be served at my little farm-lette. So today, I delivered a box of homemade piggy cakes to the gang. The cakes are my own creation, involving fresh eggs from the girls and homemade apple sauce. Of course, they had to be sufficiently "pig-ified" to meet the high standards for Gratitude Cakes According to Pigs.

They were a huge hit, as you can see from the photos. Trevor, who is my particular pig, had a fabulous time noshing on the cinnamon almonds that outlined the decorative pig shape on top of the cakes (the curly tail was made from a cashew). The pigs were arguing over who got to eat more cake. You wouldn't believe the squeals, chomps, slurps and rapidly waving tails. Really, they had a wonderful time nibbling and hoovering up the crumbs. It made my heart glad that I made these future dinners on the hoof cheerful. Pigs apparently adore cakes, perhaps more so when they are specifically decorated for the pig market. I don't think cake was a regular part of their diet as a general rule over the summer and fall...they might be considerably fatter if it had been! They also ate the box I carried the cakes in, which I don't think was a comment on the relative merits of cake versus cardboard. I think the box just smelled like cake. And it was, after all, fiber. Mmmm, roughage.

If you've never fed a pig by hand, I highly recommend it. Their little snouts are so strong and wiggly, and they take such dainty bites!