BITTER BIRTHDAY CAKE
By: Bianca Emery
Paola Andrea Serna Emery. That was new. She was new to everything. Immigrant. Home owner. English speaker. Wife. Yet, she adjusted. During the 4 years she had lived in the United States, she noticed people made cakes for the ones they loved. Paola had never once made a cake in her life. In hopes of embracing this American custom and impressing her new husband, she set her mind on making an orange flavoured cake for his birthday. Using a cookbook given as a wedding gift, she started to follow the recipe.
All was going well until she added in the sugar. As a young girl she wasn’t allowed any sweets. Her father had instilled a fear of eating too much sugar, telling her absurd stories of how sugar would ruin peoples’ lives. So of course, her first mistake was tackling the recipe’s need for 2 ½ cups of sugar. She greatly reduced the amount of sugar to less than half of what the recipe called for. That was her first mistake.
Next, the recipe called for orange peel zest. Not specific enough, she thought the recipe called for all of the orange peel to be grated. Making her second mistake, she grated the peel down to the white parts. Some people might know this as the bitter part of the orange peel or the pith, but she was not one of them. Unfortunately, she continued with her batter, including all the orange zest.
Once the cake was ready, she decorated it with a simple whipped cream frosting and carefully cut strawberries. Looking at her cake, Paola was filled with pride. Later that day, she celebrated her husband’s birthday alone with him in their small apartment. She couldn’t have been happier. When the time came to eat the cake, the husband looked at his wife lovingly as he swallowed what would probably be the most foul tasting cake he would ever eat. Paola tried the cake and to her surprise it was not as good as it looked. In fact, it was more bitter than black coffee. She and her husband had an understanding that the cake was disgusting, though none of them admitted it out loud.
21 years later, Paola has mastered the art of making this cake. She struggled at first but now it’s a family staple for everyone’s birthday. It’s funny how this tradition came to be; my mother’s bitter birthday cake.
All was going well until she added in the sugar. As a young girl she wasn’t allowed any sweets. Her father had instilled a fear of eating too much sugar, telling her absurd stories of how sugar would ruin peoples’ lives. So of course, her first mistake was tackling the recipe’s need for 2 ½ cups of sugar. She greatly reduced the amount of sugar to less than half of what the recipe called for. That was her first mistake.
Next, the recipe called for orange peel zest. Not specific enough, she thought the recipe called for all of the orange peel to be grated. Making her second mistake, she grated the peel down to the white parts. Some people might know this as the bitter part of the orange peel or the pith, but she was not one of them. Unfortunately, she continued with her batter, including all the orange zest.
Once the cake was ready, she decorated it with a simple whipped cream frosting and carefully cut strawberries. Looking at her cake, Paola was filled with pride. Later that day, she celebrated her husband’s birthday alone with him in their small apartment. She couldn’t have been happier. When the time came to eat the cake, the husband looked at his wife lovingly as he swallowed what would probably be the most foul tasting cake he would ever eat. Paola tried the cake and to her surprise it was not as good as it looked. In fact, it was more bitter than black coffee. She and her husband had an understanding that the cake was disgusting, though none of them admitted it out loud.
21 years later, Paola has mastered the art of making this cake. She struggled at first but now it’s a family staple for everyone’s birthday. It’s funny how this tradition came to be; my mother’s bitter birthday cake.
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Ingredients:
4 large oranges 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons of cornstarch 2 ½ cups of sugar 1 ¼ cups of margarine or butter - softened 6 large egg yolks 2 ½ cups of cake flour 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon of baking soda ¼ teaspoon of salt 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 3 large eggs 1 cup of buttermilk 1 cup of flaked coconut |
Steps:
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