One of my favorite childhood memories was returning home from school, walking into the kitchen to find a bowl with sticks of butter and some eggs. It was cake time. But what type would it be? Usually I wouldn’t be able to tell what type of cake it would be until it was frosted, if it was frosted. There were usually hints though. Was there a block of cream cheese or a cup of sour cream on the counter trying achieve room temperature status? Pound cake. A jar of apple jelly? Jelly cake. This was a favorite of my Grandpa Sidney.
The first cake I ever made was a 1-2-3-4 cake. Just like the name implies, a 1-2-3-4 cake is the actual measurements for the following:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups of flour
4 eggs
This recipe doesn’t account for leavening agents but it seems simple enough, right? Well, sometimes. Were the ingredients at room temperature? Oven preheated to 350 degrees? What flavorings? Vanilla? Lemon? Vanilla and lemon? Or perhaps almond flavoring. This could be complicated for a 8 year old. Were the pans sufficiently greased and floured? Would I be bested by that damn bundt pan again? To this day, I still find bare spots after greasing and flouring the pan. Conquering this cake paved the way for me to make the more complicated cakes made by Mother, my Grandmothers and the other important women in my family. Back in the day, my brothers and I would fight over the bowl and the beaters for leftover batter. Today, I have my 2 daughters watching over my shoulder, hoping that my silicone spatula doesn’t wipe the bowl clean. They have the opportunity to bake but for right now, baking remains a spectators sport. I don’t mind, though. I just make them grease and flour the bundt pan. Let them deal with it.