Aunt Mary’s cake

When I was growing up, my mom often made Aunt Mary’s cake for our birthdays. I don’t think we have an actual Aunt Mary in the family, but the cake is delicious. I made it for my son’s second birthday and I can tell you that it is a labor of love. And now that he is turning 12 today! I have been recalling my long sweet labor with him: 22 hours drug free and THEN a c-section.

To make the cake you have to sift the dry ingredients, which include cocoa powder, and then combine in an alternating fashion with the wet ingredients…that contain buttermilk. Thankfully, the frosting is an old-fashioned butter cream: lots of powdered sugar and butter.

My sister-in-law, Susie, made it for my brother years ago. She got the recipe from my mom and spent hours making it. When he sat down to eat it, he scraped the frosting off the top and declared that he really only liked the cake for the frosting. Susie was steamed as she could have bought a cake in a box and slapped the home-made frosting on top. He would have enjoyed it all the same. Sort of like childbirth…it doesn’t matter how you get there…the ending is just as sweet.

January 25, 2012. Uncategorized.