Remember when we were kids a chocolate cake could be layered
or not with either chocolate or vanilla frosting? It was all so simple. When it wasn’t simple it was because it was
shaped…maybe like a fire truck or Kermit the Frog. But it was still essentially the same.
Some time in my late teens or twenties things changed. I discovered flourless cakes and lava
cakes. Soft, sweet, rich, warm and gooey…right…back
to the cake… Restaurants started serving gigantic pieces. I remember one place served piece a flourless
cake that must have weighed two pounds.
A table of eight could share it and there would still be leftovers. I confess to falling for the chocolate
suicide cakes. Flourless cake, multiple
layers, dark chocolate frosting, chocolate chips, and a rich, warm chocolate
sauce poured over it. It was
overkill. And I don’t even have much of
a sweet tooth. But I loved these crazy
concoctions.
As a stepdad to two young kids I now seemingly have an occasion
each week for cake. But it’s no longer
the super-rich indulgences of younger adult days. Now I am back to the Duncan Hines/Betty
Crocker sheet cake with chocolate frosting.
And you know what? It’s
amazing! To sit and get cake all over
your face, licking frosting off spoons, letting ice cream mix with the last few
crumbs of cake…THAT is the wonder of a great piece of cake. Sure, some gourmet, gooey, rich confection is
yummy, but nothing compares to the joy and simplicity of eating a basic cake
with the eyes and tummy of a 7 year old.
This is where the fun in dessert is!
