25 Things about Me: #4

4. I have an ungodly love of cake.

FACT: Cake is the greatest dessert known to man or at least this wo-man. I attribute may love of cake to my Southern upbringing. Cake is and will always be the perfect period to every meal sentence.  You haven’t finished your meal without a piece of cake bringing up the rear. More times than not, cake is often breakfast with a big glass of milk.

At my Granny’s house, during the holidays, there were no less than 4 types of cake available for eating. Among your choices were 7-Layer Chocolate, Robert E. Lee, Raisin, Red Velvet, Pecan, Hummingbird, Pound Cake, Sour Cream Pound Cake and every once and a while, just for me, Orange. Cake was ever abounding cake and I ate it. Here is a picture of me as a little girl already checking out the cake at Aunt Alice and Uncle Willie's 50th Wedding Anniversary. I'm sure that I was about to put my finger in it, but became distracted when someone wanted to take my picture.

My love of cake has been a constant over the years. I consider myself a cake snob. I won’t shake my fist at a piece of cake, but if it’s not my Granny’s or my Mother’s cakes, it will be judged on the strictest of standards. One standard is the icing to cake ratio, then of course, there is always taste and moistness.  For pound cakes, it was imperative that there be an occurrence of a raw streak and to what thickness does the raw streak occur. The raw streak is the bottom of the baking pan where the cake remains slightly uncooked when pulled out of the oven. When the pan is inverted to release the cake, the raw streak is at the top. It is the very best part of a pound cake.

When I came to Tampa, I was introduced to the next best cake since my Granny’s. It is Wright’s Gourmet’s Alpine Cake. It is a classic yellow cake with chocolate icing and it is delicious. I could put myself into a diabetic coma with the amount of that cake I can put back. And unlike Granny’s cakes, that were only available during the holidays and special visits, Wright’s makes Alpine cake EVERYDAY. Danger.  Wright’s also has another one of my favorites, Hummingbird. It is a banana and pineapple spice cake that is frosted with cream cheese icing and topped with pecans. Again, danger.

I sometimes use cake in an ibuprofen-type way. A slice of cake often helps me to feel better. I was having a bad day at work, so I decided to go pick-up an Alpine cake to help me and my co-workers feel better. Once everyone had a slice of that cake, the day went by just a little smoother. I don’t do that a lot, but every once and a while, a little piece of cake can help you smile. After the cake incident, a co-worker of mine felt compelled to make this PSA poster.

I willing posed for this picture not knowing what my co-worker had planned to do with it, but nevertheless, it was genius. I sent this picture to my Mother and she couldn’t tell that it was me. Should I die from a cake overdose, please tell my story. Save the next girl from the dangers of cake.

Here are the other revealed 25 things:

1. I was almost born in the vault at the Alabama State Capital.

2. I fear that my appendix will spontaneously burst and I will die.

3. I am allergic to plastic silverware.