I’m not a big cake lover. It’s the inch plus thick layer of frosting that ensured I wouldn’t be a cake lover of any proportion.  On my 23rd birthday, my mom travels to Charleston; her gift to me was one of our girlie days over the weekend. She brought with her a cake from the local bakery, Baker’s Sweets.

This is an Italian Wedding Cake [also seen them called Italian Cream Cakes]. It’s light, fluffy, with an air of fruitiness, coconut and frosted with a cream cheese frosting that isn’t insta-cavity sweet or layered on thick. From that day on it’s been my favorite cake and an object of my loving adoration. Once mom moved to Charleston, I haven’t ever been able to find it elsewhere. Except when I got my hands on a recipe and I gave it a shot.

I bought a magazine featuring recipes for some creme de la creme of desserts, right down to made from scratch frosting. I bought it when I saw that it had a recipe for an Italian Cream Cake. It was worth the $11 for that alone. My mother agreed when she spied a few other recipes one of which is a Luscious Lemon Cake.

Baking is new territory for me. I’d probably know more if my secondary education [aka Food Network] had more shows that showcased baking. But I’m keen on learning. I broached this endeavor with caution, because baking is exact. The ingredients all serve an important purpose and if you screw one up just a little…things aren’t so delish. Cooking’s a little more forgiving.

My first go around with this yielded spectacular results.  The cake was moist, not too heavy and cozy.  Yes, that’s right, I said cozy.  The kind of cozy a warm muffin or similar is when you want to pair your hot beverage of choice with something to eat that isn’t too sweet.  My first forays into frosting wasn’t quite as successful.  At best they ended up being a glaze.  It was great for in between layers, and if I drizzled it on the cake.  Which isn’t all that bad since the whole point is to not be tooth-achingly sweet with each bite.

They also freeze well, so I can do some major cake baking and freeze the layers for putting them together when the occasion calls for it.  This past Christmas, that came in very handy.  It wasn’t until after I tried my hand at the Charlestonian loved Coconut Cake did I conquer the Cream Cheese frosting.  I’m ace at it every time now and I think that has every bit to do with the European style butter I used.

Of course, this post is just a long tease without pictures: