"Qu'ils Mangent de la Brioche"*

*"Let them eat cake". (Most likely not said by Marie Antoinette as I learned in grade school.)
My susceptibility to what I am reading has created a craving for cake. Not a box mix, run-of-the-mill, cake which is the only kind I ever make - but a real, made-from-scratch cake like the Hummingbird Cake pictured on the right.
This is the second book I've read lately that talks about Hummingbird Cake. Until the first book, I'd never heard of Hummingbird Cake. It is a moist, southern cake containing chopped pecans, crushed pineapple and mashed bananas, usually topped with a cream cheese frosting. The bananas would probably keep me from actually making this cake. (I wouldn't like it because of the bananas, Bud wouldn't like it because of the pineapple.)



One of the first books Kari reviewed in her Bookish Dark blog was "Eat Cake" by Jeanne Ray. It is a charming little book that reminded us both of Grandma Ruth and made me want to bake a cake - or at least have a slice of a very good cake -like the coconut cake shown here. If I ever do get so inspired as to baking a cake from scratch - it will be a coconut cake. Yum.
Possibly the best cake I ever ate was a strawberry cream cake at Ridnour (no relation) Antiques and Tea Shoppe in Mineral Point, WI. It is usually easy for me to pass when it comes to cake because most are too dry. The moist kinds and the filled ones are the ones I can't resist eating.



I wish I knew what kind of cake Mom made me for my fifth birthday. It almost looks like it was two different layers, or maybe that is just the way it was frosted.
What I remember about trying to make round layer cakes was that they were always uneven. If Mom knew (I didn't for a long time) you were supposed to cut off the raised part before putting the cake together, she never did it. She probably didn't consider wasting cake in lieu of attractive presentation an option.
I also wish I could remember the color of my dress. It must have been a mild November in '48 - either that or I was willing to pose in the cold for a couple pictures.
When we lived in West Des Moines, a Pink Champagne cake from Barbara's Bake Shoppe was my favourite birthday treat.
Writing about cake has taken away the craving for cake for awhile. I can go back to reading my book. I do think one of these days, I am going to be so inspired, I will actually make a cake from scratch. Maybe I should just make a point of doing that for my next birthday. M-m-m, coconut cake....