It's Cake!

What is it about cake? Something that is easy is a "piece of cake." (there's a movie, I forget which, that a man with an accent says "it's a crumb of cake") Something that is "no cake walk" is difficult. Something that "takes the cake" exceeds all other choices. Something that is "caked on" once was a sticky substance and has hardened. Why the word cake? Who started it? Is this food so important to our society we feel a need to use it outside of it's normal context? I have to say, cake is a wonderful, versatile food. Cover a moist bake with frosting and hand me a piece, and you've got a friend for life. It's a tradition for weddings, for birthdays. You save the top layer of your wedding cake, freeze it, and eat it a year later. Just about everyone has a picture of their one-year old eating their first piece of cake. Cake is art. There are competitions to see who can make the best. Cake's for old people, young people. It's good. It's fun. It's pretty. Edible. Ugly. It's chocolate, vanilla, carrot, Dr. Pepper, spice, date, sprinkle. It's tradition. It's whatever you want it to be. We obsess over it. We fill it with cream, pudding, cheese, frosting, fruit. It's whatever you want it to be, and it's gooood.