Ode to a Lemon Cake Those of you who were hoping for a Michael Jackson-themed blog entry will have to wait. I'm too enamored with this cake to write about the King of Pop, no offense to him. Godspeed to him and Farrah. 

Anyone who has known me for more than 20 minutes knows that I am a raging chocolaholic. Raging! I'm one of those people who gladly puts M&Ms on a slice of pizza (you don't??), includes chocolate with breakfast every day (breakfast of champions), bypasses a "real" meal to leave more for chocolate-infused anything (life is short). So, the following ode may seem rather strange--misplaced or misguided, even. I assure you chocolate is still number one on the list....but, somehow this cake has got me thinking about little bites of tangy lemon heaven. 

It all started many moons ago when we were at Phlange-a-slam & Little Debbie Sneezeclumper's house for dinner. P-A-S is a very creative creature in the kitchen, always trying out new recipes. For this event, she made this incredible lemon cake, complete with blueberry sauce. She found the recipe in a cooking magazine. (I didn't know people actually made the things in recipes; I thought they just looked at the photos and thought, "wow, that looks tasty.") Although the lemon cake was bright and yellow and inviting, I can't say I thought I'd like it much, as it had no chocolate involved in any of the processes. I kept an open mind, popped a piece in my mouth.... 

....and decided that this was the BEST piece of cake I had ever consumed in my life. Ever. Yes, yes--even better than Portillo's Chocolate cake and you know I think that's orgasmic. Of course, comparing a lemon cake to a rich, dark, gooey chocolate cake isn't really a fair comparison--it's like comparing apples to.....lemons. 

It was so good that I announced I would like this cake for my birthday. I then continued to eat morsel after delicious morsel, immediately forgetting that I ever spoke aloud about the birthday cake. Fast forward a few months to my day of birth. Not the actual day I was brought into the world--that would be fast reversing. I mean from the P-A-S dinner to my current birthday which was last week (so you going forward but then kinda backward because this is now last week.) I hadn't thought much about my birthday and wasn't expecting anything. (really. I am a simple girl.) I certainly didn't think about a lemon cornmeal cake. Imagine my surprise when I returned home after a long, stinky, sticky, hot day of work and rallying and found that the wife had made me the "Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Lemon Glaze and Crushed Blueberry Sauce" (from Bon Appetit, for those of you who are wondering). I was stunned. Overjoyed. Excited! 

I love that cake. I love it so much that I want to weep when I eat it. It's not a cake everyone will like. It's not a cake I'd associate with me in any capacity. But, I love it. I love it so much I am going to write an ode to it. 

The only thing the wife had difficulty with (besides turning on the oven when it literally was 100 degrees outside and the cake sticking to the pan) was the blueberry sauce. I won't go into details but I did admit that her sauce wasn't exactly like P-A-S's sauce. (No sense in lying about it--it wasn't the same.) It was still very good, just different in a way we couldn't identify. Not that I'm complaining. The story of what actually happened has turned out to be quite funny in itself, but I shall spare the wife and leave it at you can't buy the crushed blueberry sauce in a can. She also mentioned the fact that she had to go buy all the ingredients, as this cake is made from scratch, but that didn't seem as traumatic as the blueberry sauce creation. 

And now, I present to you....Ode to a Lemon Cake. Thank you, dear wife, for remembering my comment of how I wanted this cake for my birthday. Thank you for taking the time to make it. Thank you, Phlange-a-slam, for bringing this delicacy into my life. Thank you, Bon Appetit for publishing this gem. Thank you, Abigail-the-recipe-creator, for being born. I dedicate this ode to all of you. Yum! 

Bright little ball of sunshine beaming from the plate tangy yet sweet glaze glimmering, inviting sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice simple beauty, simple elegance. How can something so sour be so sweet? Rays of sunshine Bites of heaven Morsels of love My lips pucker with the first sour but sweet bite. the tanginess whets my appetite for more I shut my eyes to enjoy every golden mouthful. Cornmeal texture buttermilk delight Lemon peels oozing zest I am in love with you, Lemon Cornmeal Cake! Bright yellow swims in a sea of blue berries bobble on the surface sauce slo-o-o-owly dripping sauce slowly seeping in sauce bringing just the right balance of color, of taste, of texture, of love. Called a rustic cake with zing from lemon glaze I know you will make a great companion to breakfast, lunch or dinner I picture you next to ice cream I picture you in my bowl of cereal I picture you with whipped cream... who dares not love you? Lemon Cornmeal Cake such an earthly delight I still love you, beans of cocoa but, for this moment in time for this moment of sunshine for this glorious mouth-watering moment lemon outshines the wrapper of a Dove Dark chocolate square and I cheat on you. I feel no guilt, no remorse. Bright little ball of sunshine beaming from the plate tangy yet sweet simple beauty, simple elegance. How can something so sour be so sweet? ******************************************************************