This morning as I was driving to work I was listening to classical music ~ a most pleasant diversion. Between pieces the announcer said, "Have you ever had a slice of wedding cake that was so good you wanted another piece? I never have...maybe they're just not meant to taste good..."
I only had to think about that statement for about two seconds before I knew that he had never tasted a rum cake from Sarno's Italian Bakery in LA. For many years this famous bakery was located on Vermont Ave in Los Feliz. Tragically, they are no longer in existence, but they were frequented by a myriad of happy partakers again and again for this heavenly delicacy.
The first time I tasted this cake was when my father brought one home for my birthday when I was 5 years old. I had never tasted such wonderfulness in all of my days.
The frosting is not the usual sickening sweet, greasy glop that one scrapes off in a great heap and sets aside at a birthday party to be dumped along with the paper plate. It has a very faint, light sweetness. The Europeans seem to know how to use just the right amount of sugar. Take Orangina for instance, not your heavy, sweet soda pop. It contains only a minimal amount of sugar and the most delicate orange flavor and just the right amount of fizzy. So it is with Sarno's rum cake. After I had finished a slice I felt I had had an exalting experience. I closed my eyes and reverenced the moment.
A while later...something in the pit of my stomach said, "Your hungry for another piece!" And then at 2 in the morning when the crickets woke me up...I thought of that cake and had myself another slice.
It should always to be eaten slowly...never snarfed. One must allow each particle of flavor to settle on the palate. Sometimes I allow the frosting to just melt in my mouth, thereby prolonging the ecstasy.
I have been teased over the years by my friends and family who know that I do not partake of alcohol...but I swear there is not enough rum in this cake to warm a gnat on a cold winter night. And it really isn't the rum flavor as much as it is a combination of all that goes into the making of this elegant epicurian epiphany. It is pure magic.
I have partaken again and again over the years and each time is better than the time before.
I am hungry for Sarno's rum cake if you must know. And there is no fixing it for me.
2 comments:
The source of many a joke from my husband, to be sure. I miss that cake too. Do you suppose we'll ever find anything like it again? Perhaps we should tour Italy on a search.
Mmm...rum cake. I am all for a full out search in Italy or all over Europe if need be.
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