Ode to Cake

 In clearing out extraneous documents from my computer, I came upon this ode written by my grandson when he was 12. It warmed my heart, not to mention the heart of my husband who bakes it. Since I'm very proud of both of them, I knew I wanted to share. This cake is a speciality in our house, made from an old Danish recipe entitled Sand Cake:

Sand Cake (Sandkage)  from Danish Home Baking by Karen Berg

1 cup butter  (2 sticks)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup wheaten flour
6 eggs, separated, whites beaten until stiff  ( 6 large)
Vanilla

Cream butter & sugar
Stir in egg yolks one at a time
Sift the flour and mix thoroughly
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites
Line a cake pan with thin paper and fill with batter
Bake in a cool oven (300F) for about 1 hour 20 minutes

Baker's Notes: Not very sweet, but good with coffee. I used a tube pan, it fills about 1/3 and does not raise much at all, not that I expected it to.

This cake can be made gluten free by substituting casava flour mixed 1 to 1 with gluten free oat flour. The photo below is of the gluten free. The wheat version has a finer crumb.

Here's Paul's Poem:

Ode to Marvelous Cake

We love spending time with our grandparents

But surely, you'll have to take

That of our visit cake was the best part

Thus this ode to marvelous cake

Oh, the light, sweet, fluffy interior

The part which is hard to bake

I think you would find superior

To anything but more cake

Sure, the grandparents took us bowling

And will bring us to play in the lake

But really, how does that compare?

To the marvelous, fabulous cake?

 -- P D Eastlund, 2021

With thanks to both my grandson, Paul, and my husband, Chris!  Love you both!!!

The Friday gathering is at Leap of Dave where he's tried an etheree and blogs about finding castles and biking. Thanks for hosting, Dave, and good luck with your year ahead.

Poetry with Grandkids

 Hi All...  It's 

And... it's a week with grandkids!  We love it... the only drawback is our waning energy.  Still, what memories we will have!  Crafts, which this week included slime and some undefinable goop, paper plate frisbee, bowls made from paper plates and yarn, and many origami projects... and then there were card games which occasioned silly, ridiculous and hilarious interchanges, an afternoon bowling, and all that food! We ate well. 

I challenged my two visiting grandkids, Paul is 12 (almost 13) and Claire is 11, to write me some poetry for my blog. Here are their wonderful submissions...

Paul's Poem 

We love spending time with our grandparents

But my opinion, you’ll have to take

That of our visit cake was the best part

Thus this ode is to marvelous cake

Oh, the light, sweet, fluffy interior

The part which is hard to bake

I think you would find superior

To anything but more cake

Sure, the grandparents took us bowling

And will bring us to play in the lake

But really, how does that compare

To the marvelous, fabulous cake?

© Paul Duncan Eastlund

A beautiful ode to such a simple cake, right?  This is that last of the Sand Cake, from an old Danish Recipe, very much like a pound cake. The only rising agent is the egg whites, which are beaten to a peak. It is made simply from butter, sugar, flour, eggs and a little vanilla. No need for sugary frosting. This particular cake is made with cassava flour due to wheat intolerance, and is rich in eggs, so it even makes a good breakfast.

Getting a recent photo of these kids is tricky. They play shy to the camera. So... we sort of cornered them for this one. I think it's rather cute. (See the red case behind Claire?  That's her lizard, Spike.)

Here's Claire's poem:

A Girl's Demise

By Claire Eastlund

I like ooey, gooey slime

But I can’t think of a rhyme

This poem is wasting my precious time

And it doesn’t even pay a dime

If I had a choice I would be asleep

Knocked out and snoring in dreams so deep

If a tank rolled by I wouldn't make a peep

My notes ‘bout this poem piled in a heap

I would dream about slime jumping from the page

Red as an apple and frothing with rage

It chastised me for putting it in a cage

And made it so I would never see old age

THE END

Slime made with white glue, shaving cream & borax

Today's round-up is at Carol's Corner. Click the link to find more poetry...

Be happy, be well, and always be hungry for a poem.