All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [86]
18. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve it chilled. Don’t forget to use that warm, wet knife to slice!
So, you’ve baked many a cake,
HUH?
I Hope You’re Feeling Proud of Yourself And Ready to Tackle Just About Any Cake Recipe You Come Across.
And now that you’ve baked fifty-plus cakes, I want you to pick up your favorite spatula in your left hand, hold it over your heart, raise your right hand in a victory sign, take a deep breath, and repeat after me:
“I hearby swear on Emma Rylander Lane’s booze bottle, on Paula Deen’s butter-coated ringed fingers, on Dorie Greenspan’s easy buttercream frosting, on Mr. Dalquist’s original Bundt pan, on Meemaw’s dried apples, and on all the original cakes from the great state of Texas, that I will never, EVER, bake from a cake mix again.”
Now go forth and collect your own recipes. Bake for your co-workers, your neighbors, your family, your friends. Keep notes and finesse as you see fit. Bring some homemade happiness into someone’s harried, modern life, and be not cowed by flour, butter, eggs, and sugar ever again.
Thanks for indulging me. No go forth and indulge yourself.
Happy Baking!
Acknowledgments
This here book, as rambling and kooky as it is, would not have been possible without help and encouragement from the following people:
Sudan Feeney, editor at All Things Considered, who, through simple repeated suggestion, pushed me to write this book. “This is Melissa. She bakes a cake every Monday. She’s writing a book. It’s called All Cakes Considered.” Say it enough times, and I actually had to do it! She also got me in touch with Christy Fletcher, my literary agent. Thank you, Susan!
Michele Norris, one of the hosts of All Things Considered, who, because she so wanted to learn how to bake, decided to do a year’s worth of occasional interviews with Dorie Greenspan, thus allowing me paid, professional time to learn even more about baking through working with Dorie.
Dorie Greenspan, baker extraordinaire and person extraordinaire, who cheered me, helped me problem solve, and otherwise worked her Evangelistic Baking Higher Power over me. Amen, sugar sister!
Ellen Silva, for all her proofreading, cake baking, cake eating, ego stroking, and constructive feedback.
My gal pals Julia Bailey, Dawn Benedetto, Kitty Eisele, and Marguerite Nutter for their encouragement and the occasional test baking.
The staff of All Things Considered, 2006 to the present: Jonathan “Smokey” Baer, Jesse Baker, Jonathan Blakely, Melissa Block, Brendan Banaszak, Julia Redpath Buckley, Neal Carruth, Franklyn Cater, Sonari Glinton, Jeremy Hobson, Andrea Hsu, Chelsea Jones, Carol Klinger, Viet Le, George Lyle, Alison Macadam, Raul Moreno, Quinn O’Toole, Bilal Qureshi, Rhonda Ray, Sara Sarasohn, Robert Siegel, Graham Smith, Elizabeth Tannen, Cory Turner, plus Krishnadev Calamur, Bill Deputy, Mary Glendenning, Robert Jackson, all of newscast, and some of Morning Edition’s staff, most of whom gamely eat the cake every Monday and none of whom blame me for their expanding waistlines. Except Smokey. Smokey eats the cake, then blames me for his expanding waistline, and then for his depression on Tuesdays, when there is no cake. You guys remain a pleasure to bake for and an even greater pleasure to work with!
Special thanks to All Things Considered executive producer Christopher Turpin, who never, ever saw Monday cake as a negative distraction, and was (and still is) most enthusiastic and supportive of all my baking endeavors. Especially when they involve steamed puddings.
And last, but not least, my long-suffering spouse, Jimmy Argroves, who, lacking a sweet tooth, still tries slice after slice of whatever I’m making whenever I’m in doubt. The man deserves fried pie every day for the many times he’s taken the cake out of the oven when I’ve had to go to bed, for the many times he’s run out to the store when I’ve run out of butter, and for the many times