Looking Out: There's always room for cake - The Daily Telegram

Jim Whitehouse | The Daily Telegram

“Mmmm! Good cake,” says Dan.

We are sitting at the table after dinner at our mutual friend Mango’s house. Mango is a good cook, and the cake, like the meal, is really good.

“So what’s better? Wedding cake or birthday cake?” asks Mango. “Philosophically speaking, of course.”

“I’d ask my grandmother were she still alive,” says Dan. “She was a cake expert.”

“If you’d give me another slice of cake, I’ll answer the question,” I say.

Mango deals out 3 more slices of cake like aces off the top of the deck.

“Wedding cake is better, because wedding cakes are almost always bigger than birthday cakes. More cake. More better,” I say. “On the other hand, my daughter, Jill, makes amazing cakes for birthdays. She somehow hollows out the middle before putting frosting on, and then puts a handful of the birthday-person’s favorite candy into the little cave. Then she frosts the cake. When the cake is cut, all the candy comes spilling out as a surprise,” I say.

“Lots of sugar,” says Mango.

“Yes, indeed,” I say. “A lot of sugar. But a nice birthday surprise.”

“My grandmother always made angel food cake. You hardly ever see that anymore,” says Mango.

“You’re right,” says Dan. “I’d forgotten all about angel food cake. And pound cake — that’s another one.”

“Texas sheet cake. Where did that disappear to?” I ask.

“Texas,” says Mango.

“Every now and then I bump into a slice of carrot cake or zucchini cake,” says Dan. “But not as often as I used to.”

“It seems to me that cupcakes are more common these days. There are even cupcake stores, and I’ve been to weddings where the guests all get cupcakes instead of a slice of a big fancy cake,” I say.

“More cake, you guys?” asks Mango.

“Please,” Dan and I say in unison. Our conversation has burned a lot of calories. Another slice of cake is necessary for sustenance.

“When I was a little kid,” says Dan, “my mother and grandmother dragged my brother and me off to a wedding. We couldn’t wait until the ceremony was over — all that yak-yak-yak, candles, organ music and kissing. No sir — we were thinking about cake.”

“Small children and weddings are not a great match,” says Mango.

“As soon as we went down in the church basement for the reception, we spotted this magnificent tower of a cake with a plastic bride and groom on the very tip-top,” Dan continues. “There were crystallized sugar roses and all kinds of other decorations.

“'Wow!' said my little brother. 'Let’s get a piece!'

“I think we have to wait until the bride and groom cut it before we can eat any.

“'Well, we can just go grab a finger full of frosting, can’t we?' said my little brother.'

“Before we could act upon that excellent suggestion, my grandmother hissed at us and called us to her side,” says Dan.

“'Boys,' she said. 'Whatever you do, DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR that wedding cake!'

“'Why not, Grandma?' we asked.

“'It’s tilting and beginning to slide,' she whispered. 'If it falls, I don’t want our family to get blamed for ruining a wedding.'

“And sure enough — a few minutes later, the top four tiers of that grand cake slid off onto the floor with a WHUMP!” says Dan. “It would have been a BANG, but it was cake.”

“Wow,” says Mango. “That was a shame. You never got any cake, I suppose.”

“Of course we did. The tablecloth on the cake table went all the way to the floor. It made a great fort and the floor wasn't all that dirty.”

Jim Whitehouse lives in Albion.

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