'Cake lady' delivers slices of joy at Vi at Bentley Village - Naples Daily News

Andrew Atkins Naples Daily News

Published 8:00 AM EST Nov 16, 2019

Ramona Barrett will not tell you how to make her rum cake.

“You come to my funeral, you get the recipe,” she said.

It’s not that if she told you, she’d have to kill you. Because some details, Barrett will share: pecans go in the Bundt pan first, and she uses between three-quarters and a full cup of spiced rum in the batter — depending on how generous she feels.

But the mystery behind the finer details of the decadent cake is part of the magic when it’s somebody’s birthday or they’re feeling under the weather and she delivers a slice next to their newspaper with a ring of the doorbell and then scoots away before her Vi at Bentley Village neighbors can get to the door.

The slips of paper attached to the lids of the recycled salad containers she uses to hold her cakes are customized to any situation, but all of them bear the same message at the bottom: “Grab a slice of happiness and dig in.”

“It’s so wonderful to give,” Barrett said. “I would rather give than receive any day.”

That name her neighbors call her: “Cake Lady”? She’s earned it.

Most days, Barrett prepares her rum cake in the evenings for a delivery of a fresh slice the next morning. Or, if she’s feeling particularly peppy, she’ll rise in the wee hours of the morning and delight her neighbors with a few slices of warm cake — everybody gets two.

For those outside of her building, Barrett loads slices of cake into the basket on the rear of her red tricycle, pedaling her way through the retirement community for her deliveries.

Riding the elevator up to her neighbor and friend Carolyn Brown’s apartment to deliver a birthday slice, she effuses joy.

“This lady is absolutely fantastic,” she said. And at Brown’s door: “This is the beautiful Carolyn Brown.”

And then she launches into singing “Happy Birthday” to her friend and bridge partner.

“She’s been a wonderful blessing in so many ways,” Brown said. “She exemplifies the best.”

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Brown sometimes gets a slice in between birthdays, too, “for being a good girl,” she said. But the kindness Barrett delivers freshly baked to Brown has taken on an extra layer of meaning since Brown lost her husband, Frank, about a year ago.

“It’s not the cake, it’s the love that comes with it,” Brown said. “If it isn’t the cake it’s some other way she gives her love and care to everybody.”

But the cake is pretty darn good, too. Golfers on the nearby Hole 2 of the golf course might find their tummies rumbling with the tantalizing smell of a rum cake just out of the oven wafting out from Barrett’s lanai. The cake is airy and rich at once, floating in on a cloud of homemade whipped cream and melting on the tongue.

If you ask Barrett’s neighbor down the hall, Helen Chatlain, she’ll tell you just what she thinks of Barrett and her generosity.

“Well, for Heaven’s sake!” Chatlain said. “She couldn’t be nicer.”

Brown noted that for Barrett, it’s really about making connections.

“It’s just what she has in her heart for people,” Brown said. “She might find somebody who doesn’t have anybody.”

Because Barrett doesn’t limit her cakes to friends. Complete strangers might find their slices first thing in the morning at their door. And they appreciate it: a stack of thank-you notes on Barrett’s counter are evidence enough.

“Dear Ramona,” one card reads. “I didn’t realize there was a ‘cake’ lady, but I sure am lucky she found me. Thanks so much for the best rum cake I have ever eaten. It was superb!”

So if you ever find a slice of Barrett’s happiness at your front door, you’d be wise to grab a fork and do as she tells you — dig in.

Andrew Atkins is a Features Reporter for the Naples Daily News. Contact him via email at andrew.atkins@naplesnews.com or on Twitter at @andrewjatkins.

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