The Cake – Take 2

Baking cakes is a talent that some possess and others don’t. Some cooks are the savoury kind and find that adding sugar can turn sweet delights to sh… Finding a recipe that works, has simple instructions and turns out scrumptious is usually worth sharing – even if it is just to boast.

Recipes come from any source. A magazine gifted from a friend fits with the idea of recycling, reuse or repurpose and magazines always have a cooking section. The reason to cook can be anything; come to think of it, who needs a reason. The best reason is to eat!

However, when you have been gifted a handcrafted cake plate, the reason is clear – to display a delicious cake.

This recipe is from The Australian Women’s Weekly November 2021. The Article’ Cooking and Conversation’ is about Belinda Jeffrey and is an Almond, coconut and raspberry cake. Belinda Jeffrey also happens to be another North Coast local.

There is a reason this is Take 2. The first delicious cake was made with pureed blueberries and rose water, as raspberries were not in stock. The rose water was to add moisture to the blueberries as they did not seem to break down like raspberries would. Stevia was used instead of sugar to keep it a little more sensitive, and the flour was gluten-free.

The prized cake had been sampled, and all reviews were good. So far, a husband, a sister, and two pieces entrusted to a nephew and landlady. The last two may or may not have made their final destination. The next step is to break down the borders that keep people apart around Tweed Heads and continue sharing and laughing. As Murphy would have it when you attempt to break the rules, Karma will get you – and sometimes it is instant.

Imagine an older woman at the border barricade, looking around to check for ‘border guards’ (no idea what they look like – but there are warning signs of regular police patrols).

Hastily, she grabs the cake carrier (thank goodness the cake plate was only used for styling of photographs) and begins her tentative walk to the barricade anticipating a career as a ‘cake-runner for social connection’. Lofty ideals for personal gain, perhaps.

Suddenly, the lid pops. The ‘lady’ scrambles to juggle the bags, save the cake and stop from falling face-first into the cake that is now a mess of rose petals scattered on the ground with crumbs and lumps of blueberry radiating across the grubby concrete path. The rose petals would have been better scattered on the graves in the nearby cemetery.

Hence no border picnic, no secret crossings and Cake -Take 2. My theme song for this story is McArthur Park. It has nothing to do with the song, just the single lyric about baking a cake and not having the recipe that keeps rolling around in my head as an earworm or involuntary musical imagery (INMI), technically speaking.

Cake 2 used Raspberries, Stevia and Gluten-free flour. The rose petals were replaced by pomegranate seeds and nasturtiums for decoration.

Tasters are needed, and I promise you don’t have to listen to McArthur Park. However, if anyone is travelling to, or has been to the park in LA, please send me a picture.