Growing up, my family was not one who had desserts all the time. But we did have them occasionally, and everybody had their favorites. I’ve mentioned before that I planned to make my brother some chocolate bread pudding like our mother used to make when he was here last fall–then I forgot to do it.
The recent visit from my siblings fell between my sister’s birthday and my late mother’s, and I decided to lay out, along with meals, some of our favorite desserts as part of the celebrations.
For my sister, it had to be a coconut cake (that’s what my mother always baked for her). Some of you may remember the last time I made her a coconut cake and the dire consequences. There were no catastrophic repercussions this time, but as you can see, there’s also another cake in the photo. Since some of us are wheat intolerant, and some are downright allergic to wheat and gluten, I snagged a Betty Crocker gluten-free yellow cake mix and some Duncan Hines gluten-free dark chocolate frosting. It was an experiment and it worked; the cake was delicious. It just didn’t rise the way I’m accustomed to cakes rising.
Along with the two cakes, my sister made banana pudding–another of my brother’s favorites that my mother always made for him (and I don’t make because bananas are something I can stand in only small doses). And he finally got his chocolate bread pudding (which I overcooked, but it was still good).
My family’s all safely back in their homes now, and for Craft Night, I decided to try the Betty Crocker gluten-free chocolate cake mix. Everyone thought it tasted good, but again, it didn’t rise very much. If any of you use this mix and know a secret for getting fluffier cake, let me know.
Tom asked if the Craft Night cake was for a special occasion, and I said no. But of course, as I mentioned earlier, March 4 is my mother’s birthday. And it was kind of cool to realize, as I sat around the table with Tom, Lindsey, Rhonda, and Kathy, while we drank coffee and had cake and ice cream, that we were all together with my mother on her last birthday, when we took chocolate cupcakes to her hospice room.
Photo by Lindsey
I figure it’s time to mention again how much I love my family and friends, who are here with me through the fun times and the sad ones. You’re all great.
Wonderful, Becky! My sibs and I are working on reconnecting.
What a wondwerful entry, Becky.
Chris got a gluten free choclate cake for mine and Cary’s birthday celebration last month because our friend, Jason, can’t have gluten. It was deliscious, but like you say, not fluffy at all.
What a lovely post, Becky.
Now I want cake.
And pie.
And ice cream.
And wheat. (??!!)
Got Desert?
Me too, for breakfast!
I kinda feel bad about spacing on Dorothy’s birthday. But I’m not the least bit surprised my memory failed. And I love our family and friends too.
Tom
desert night
Aweness 🙂
As far as gluten-free cakes go, I have no idea, but I did find that if I put too much batter in a pan in a convection oven, the top cooks nicely, but I end up with uncooked dough in the middle. So, I thought maybe it needs to be spread over two pans? (I’m just guessing.)
On the other hand, Bollo’s in Blacksburg, VA made some really good Vegan muffins. Sometimes the tofu wasn’t well blended, but otherwise, they felt denser, like a whole loaf of high-quality dense bread, than their regular muffins.
Re: desert night
Yeah, the two gluten/wheat-free cakes I’ve made have both been denser.
Awwww…. *sniff*
Still love that photo you took of her hands so much.
I have a whole set of photos from that visit that are marked private… I should send those your way.
No hurry–I know you have no spare time!–but one day, I’d love to have them. Thank you.