One of my favorite memories I remember as a child was baking delicious desserts in the kitchen with my momma. I loved the cakes we made together, and the richer the dessert, the more I loved it. My favorite cake as a child was the Coca-Cola Cake, and it remains my favorite even to this day. This basic chocolate pound cake is made even richer with the addition of Coca-Cola and marshmallows. Both the cake and the icing include the Coca-Cola, which adds a sweet richness, and makes for a smooth finish. The confectioner’s sugar in the icing makes it thick, rich and spreadable. As with many desserts, adding chopped walnuts or pecans is optional for an added flavor.
When I was just a little girl, my PawPaw got me hooked on an acquired taste that I fear I share with very few: buttermilk. I have loved buttermilk since about my fifth sip or so (true, my first sip was met with a grimace of disgust at the tangy taste, but I took another sip, and then another, to make my PawPaw proud, and soon, I fell in love with the sweet, thick aftertaste as it lingered on my tongue), and have always enjoyed cooking with buttermilk, or simply eating down-home, Southern style foods with it, such as cornbread crumbled in buttermilk. Because of my love of buttermilk, I was excited when my momma first asked me if I wanted to help her bake a buttermilk pie, and of course I said yes. I remember helping mix the sugar, eggs, flour and buttermilk, amazed at how few ingredients were required to make such a delicious recipe. I remember how thick the mix was when we poured it into the pastry shells, and I wanted so badly to lick the bowl, but I did not want to ruin my first taste of buttermilk pie. I waited anxiously for the thirty-five minutes of cooking to pass, and then, of course, momma made me wait (albeit impatiently) for it to cool before she cut me a slice. If I had been expecting the tangy taste of the buttermilk to transfer to the pie, I was a little disappointed. The pie was thick and creamy, and sweet, almost rich. But the taste was amazing. I still cannot forget the taste of my first ever buttermilk pie. Although, not tangy but it tasted so good. Everyone who has ever tried it and asked me what this wonderful dessert is has been shocked to find out that buttermilk pie is just as sweet and delicious as any other family recipe, and many have even asked for a copy of the recipe themselves!
How can I forget one of my other favorite cakes, the pineapple lollypop cake. Although it is my favorite but also the most difficult for me to make. However, watching my momma, I was always amazed at how perfectly the cake fell from the pan, the bottom now the top, the pineapple rings baked into the mix. Even now, as an adult, I find my momma’s ability to make a perfect cake slightly amazing, seeing as how mine tend to either fall or crumble, but in the end, they are still as delicious, and can even sometimes be made to serve as something other than a mere stand-alone desert. One of my favorite variations of the pineapple upside down cake is the pineapple lollipop cake. Skewer a piece of pineapple on a lollipop stick, dipping it in cake mix, filling each lollipop cake mold with mix with the skewered pineapple in the center. While the cake is baking, I like to whip up a tangy pineapple glaze from pureed pineapple, corn starch, lemon juice, sugar and water. Once the cake lollipops are completely baked, I dip them in the warm glaze, letting them sit as the glaze thickens. These are great for quick, on the road snacks with minimal mess, and I don’t have to worry about being embarrassed by a crumbled cake.
And lastly, the how could I forget the first time I tried my friend Alexis’ signature Bob Marley style Cupcakes. You can probably imagine what they had inside! Surprise. 2 Cupcakes in and I could tell if I was listening to Chinese Assassin Reggae music or I was just imagining it.
These sumptuous and delicious sweet memories still make me crave for these cakes and whenever I get time, I rush to the kitchen to relive my childhood days.
