Monday, October 15, 2007

Let Me Eat Cake!

I am always envious when I read my pal Asta's blog - it is always full of wonderful descriptions of dinner parties in New York City, with sumptuous food and great ambience. So I was thrilled to hear Mom's plans for her own dinner party that took place last night. Only two people were invited - you'd think she'd invited ten the way she agonized over what to cook/bake! You see these are Mom's cousins and Mrs Cousin is a fabulous cook/baker - so Mom felt she couldn't serve just anything!

Mom set the table with all her African paraphenalia and wedding presents that she'd hardly had the opportunity to use. Here is the table setting - not sure you can see much - but the beaded placemats are African and the napkins are too. (They call them serviettes in Africa!)

I wasn't much interested in the decor frankly, I was far more interested in the menu! As it was Sunday night, Mom decided on hot pastrami on rye (yum), and three different salads -- green bean/red onion/peppers salad; new fangled potato salad recipe; and a green salad that had yummy avo, big mushrooms, green onion, lettuce, green pepper from our garden and other stuff in it. That all looked quite tasty - though I am not crazy about salads - so what really got my attention was the dessert!!

I watched Mom work hard on it - beating yolks and then whites and doing all sorts of things that needed 3 different bowls and many measurements and chocolate too. When it finally went into the oven, the smells were overwhelmingly tantalizing. I stood guard outside the oven door willing it to open so I could free the cakes from their pans. When they finally came out - wow, they looked good! I tried to jump on the counters to get them. I tried jumping on the dining room table when Mom moved them there. But I gave up when Mom put them on the overturned washbasket on top of the dryer. I mean look at this cake - would you not have tried to eat it!!???

This my friends, is called a Chocolate Blitz Torte. Not sure the picture does it justice. The bottom is choc cake with a layer of merangue. It has chocolate cream in the middle and then another layer of cake and merangue that is decorated with flaked almonds and cinnamon. Oh it is simple delicious. I know 'cos I did get a wee taste - but pig that Mom is (yeah, you wouldn't know it to look at her skinny frame), she ate half the cake!

My consolation prize for being a good boy all evening while the guests were there (Ok, I did get locked behind my puppy gate for part of the evening when I was quote, "being a pest") - was a marrow bone this morning, which I enjoyed almost as much as the blitz torte!



Remember. I said ALMOST.

AGC

11 comments:

Scruffy, Lacie and Stanley's Place said...

Oh Axel...Mumsie just slobbered all over the keyboard...it all sounded so so good! Cruel of ur mom to put that cake so high up. If you'd gotten it, I wonder what exactly she would have done. Many decades ago, Mumsie made a cake and left it cooling on the counter. She showered to get ready for work, came out and the entire top layer (it was a bundt cake) was missing. Her cat ate it. Never trust a cat. Being resorseful, Mumsie doubled the icing, iced it and took it to work; no one was the wiser. I would never eat a cake a CAT had munched on. Double yick!
Hope the cousins enjoyed the evening; your mom outdid herself!!!!!

Urban Smoothie Read said...

that's true....the taste of the food is more important than anything else...

Gus said...

Axel...cake looks yummy, but the marrow bone was prolly better for you! And your teeth too.

gussie

Mango and Party said...

O... the cake looks awesome and from what you had tasted, sounds delicious! We want cake too!

Lots of loves,
Mango & Party

Anonymous said...

Hey Axel - Mom and Dad had a wire who got my Aunt Jo Jo's birthday cake one year. It was not a pretty picture of a wiry face with chocolate and cherries all over it. Aunt Jo Jo refused to see the humor of the situation and everyone else just cut the piece off and ate the cake! Lucky for her there was a second cake. Our family still teases me about that but have never left a cake at any level I could reach. My Mom should get your Mom's recipe for this one. Maybe I can get a little taste...but the marrow bone looks awful good!
Your buddy,
Bigfoot Fletch

Asta said...

Axel
We loooove pastwami..but that Blitz Torte is stupendous!!!!!!It looks gowgeous(my Mommi could nevew do it as well!) and fwom the descwiption, it has all ouw favowitest things in it! Oh ! it looks dweamy!
I bet the cousins wew vewy impwessed and happy! Mommi weally likes the mats fwom Afwica too!
I'm glad you got a mawwow bone as consolation.
smoochie kisses
Asta dwooling,hehehe

Faya said...

ohhhhhhhhh ! between cake and marrow bone I will choose the cake because marrow bone can be so dangerous.....trust me....
http://faya.bleublog.ch/general/pourquoi-elle-.html
This is what happend to me last year.....
Kisses, Faya

Faya said...

As you had see on the picture, the bone was not in my mouth but my mouth was IN the bone...The vet had to make me sleep to saw the bone in 3 pieces and today he is still laughing....
Kisses, Faya

Jackson's J1 and J2 said...

What a pawsome cake, we'll all drooling here! J x

William Tell said...

Wow, that cake looked yummy. I can only imagine how good it smelled.

William Tell

Agatha and Archie said...

WE ARE DROOOOOOLING ove the cake!!! Love A+A