I’m wondering if Saturdays have always been cake-baking day. That seemed to have been the case when I was a child, and now, many years later, actually, even many decades later, it still seems so. I have baked a few cakes myself, but it’s been a while. While I am actually capable of baking a cake that is eatable, the truth is that the women in my life have always been the major-league bakers. I was raised by a great cake baker, I married one, and now our only daughter is one.
If you asked what my favorite cake is, I might say that it is red velvet with that white cream-cheese frosting, but I do love a good chocolate cake, or even white cake with fudge icing. Isn’t red velvet simply a chocolate cake with red food coloring added to it? German chocolate is not bad either, now that I think about it, but then neither is coconut cake. I have discovered in more recent years that I really love key lime cake, almost as much as I love lemon cake. By the way, is cheesecake really cake? It doesn’t look or taste like other cakes. Whatever it actually is, it actually is very good, especially with cherries or blueberries on top, or chocolate or caramel sauce. You may be thinking by now that I simply love all kinds of cake, and you may be 102% correct!
I walked in our house a few weeks ago, on a Saturday, and the smell of a cake baking in the oven hit my nose as soon as I opened the door. Jean said, “Come on in and sit down and you can sop the bowl.” I automatically was transported back in time to the Saturdays when Mama used to say the same thing to me, many moons ago. It has been said that the best part of waking up is Folger’s in your cup. Well, maybe so, but the best part of being up, in the middle of the day, is having two mixer beaters, one in each hand, dripping with icing or even cake batter, and knowing that as soon as you’ve licked each one completely clean, there is an almost empty bowl waiting for you. On really special days, they made a little too much icing and can’t spread it all on the cake without it running off onto the floor. For the really skilled bowl cleaner, like myself, that is not one iota of a problem whatsoever. No amount of leftover icing is beyond our capabilities to get the job done. The thoughtful thing to do, is to get as much of the icing or batter out of the bowl as possible so the one washing the dishes is not terribly overworked by the chore at hand. Sometimes I have been that dishwasher too, so I simply made things easier on myself. Sometimes eating the icing was my payment for washing the bowls and beaters. I always figured, and still do, that it was a pretty good trade.
I have often heard it said that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. I must confess that I have never completely understood that statement, but whatever it means, I do believe that you can lick the beaters and clean out the bowls, and then eat your cake, too. I’ve seen it done…in the mirror!
Sometimes, it is the simplest things in life that are some of the most enjoyable…especially when they are shared with the people we love. Isn’t life sweet?
Bill King can be reached at bkpreach@yahoo.com or 334-728-5514 (office).
