travel theme: Tempting (lemon cake)

Posted on by Prior...

lemon zest for cakeLast September, it was Scott’s birthday – and so he and his wife, Mae, were coming over for lunch with their young baby girl. The afternoon before they came over, I baked them a cake. Nothing too fancy, but with some extra goodies added. It was a lemon cake – and so I even added in some fresh lemon zest. Now my youngest son LOVES lemon. I mean – he really loves lemon. Like sometimes he squeezes the juice of a lemon into a cup, strains it, adds a little bit of fresh water, and then sips it while eating some pretzels. So my son walks in to the smell of this fresh lemon cake – which is filling every nook and cranny of the house. He asks for some and I tell him that it is for Scott’s b-day – and for everyone  – tomorrow. I offer him alternatives. My son pleads with me, “Come on mom, PUH-lease.”  Also reminding me of how much he loves lemon. Now this cake did smell delicious – and the aroma made it so TEMPTING for him.  I offered him two other things to satisfy his sweet tooth, including an offer of some brownies that were still left in the Tupperware.  But this fresh, yellow, lemon cake was sitting right there on the counter – and alternatives were not distracting his temptation. I had a decision to make. What should I do?  I decided I would somehow HAVE to let him have some – but how? I did NOT have time to bake another cake – and so I thought and thought – “Hold on, let me think about this,” I told him (albeit a little grumpy about it – but still open to meet his needs…) especially while he was looking at me with those pleading eyes.

Side note – just earlier that week – Colleen (a parent of former art students) well she and I were actually talking about how we HAD tolemons in basket with mango learn our lessons with putting our family first.  We shared stories of some days when our “best” baked goods went to other people’s homes.  She shared about when she made all these foo-foo chocolates for a formal event, but her spouse was only allowed to sample the scraps and leftover pieces that were not fit for the party tray.  We talked about how “over the years” we changed – to now where we give our family the best goodies too – and we “get it” right.  You know, we now have days where we make our “meanest and best” goodies “just” for the family to enjoy.  We may not bake all the time (and thank God for that), but we find times that we may just bake some amazing items for no occasion – just to serve to the family.  We make a batch of this or that for home and not only for a house warming gift or for so-and-so.

~~~ So there we stood.  My son and I – with two – freshly cooled – 9” round lemon cakes, right in front of us! I HAD to give him a piece of cake! I knew I had wanted to!  Now yeah, we need boundaries with children and all that, and trust me – I have that down.  But sometimes it is just so “sweet” to indulge your child – when things are in balance that is! –And sometimes – it just warms a parent’s heart to give them something they really want.  Even a small thing like a piece of cake can be quite special. So I pondered “how” to do this.  How could I give him some cake while still having it presentable for our guests the next day? My son helped me mastermind the plan – and we decided to cut a piece from the inside, by going in from the side – and then filling in the hole with extra frosting.  (Frosting is like duct tape or hot glue – it really can fix almost anything!) And that is what we did – we sliced out a piece of this warm, lightweight, lemon cake and my son enjoyed every bite.  I used frosting to fill in the gap that was left – and I enjoyed frosting the rest of the cake.  Nobody noticed the next day at our “causal” birthday lunch – and I was glad it was a success. However, I was even more delighted that I was able to “cater” to my son along the way!  It was less about the piece of cake and it was more about investing in him! Here is a picture of it while in the process of filling in the gap.

lemon cake repair missing slice
We added more frosting, chilled it, and then
my son wrote Scott’s name on the top! #frosting fix, #cake talk, #family love

This is to participate in the Where’s My Backpack travel theme, which is the word TEMPTING this week.  Go here to see more entries! Have a nice Sunday – and hope you remembered to spring forward.  

21 thoughts on “travel theme: Tempting (lemon cake)”

  1. Oh, this looks simply divine! My dear mother who is now in heaven made the best lemon pie from scratch that waters my mouth. Your cake brought memories back to me. How I wish I was a baker…….you son is a lucky one.

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    1. Hi – thanks for taking the time to comment!!! and I would have liked to try your mother’s cake – and well, I am not really a baker – and my cookies used to always come out as scones (until I learned al about using the right fats – and the right amount of butter- haha) and so I have maybe six things I “bake” and well, it has done the job (and thank goodness we live in a day and age where some grocery stores have deluxe bakeries these days).
      🙂

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      1. Oh, I love scones, too. I need to lean to bake. Sadly, the grocery stores just are not the same. Nothing looks like your delicious lemon cake!!!

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      2. well thanks kim – and one tip my neighbor told me about – was to make a separate batch of frosting that you add lemon to – and then warm it and pour it over the cake – it takes some experimenting – but it leads to a nice slight crunch in the frosting – which may be more like icing (not my expert area at all – lol) but thanks again!! 🙂
        ~y.

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  3. I love how you found a way to please both your son and your guests. And that he helped you make the plan. I am sure he savoured every bite of the lemony cake.

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    1. that was really sweet of you to say – and I am right there with you on the carrot cake -I do like lemon cake sometimes – but it was not really a temptation for me that day…. 😉
      and when I was little – I used to get cheesecake for my b-days….
      thanks for taking the time to leave a comment….

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  8. Mr. Prior, look at you, you actually have a little heart. Didn´t know you cooked, let alone you have a kid. And you cooking for the kid….this was nice to read.

    So what do I take away from parenting tips….I just should bribe the kid and get him off my back. Which is basically what I do with my niece.

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    1. Sir Writer – you are so funny! and thanks for saying it was a nice read 🙂 – and actually the take away from this is really for parents to not forget to give and maybe even yield to our child at times – I guess was really targeted more for the Christian community = because in my experience many Christian parents are OVERLY authoritarian and they forget tenderness –

      I have seen Christian parents reach out to the community (and serve and give and serve and give) while they forget to tenderly reach out in small ways to the precious children they take for granted at home. Now some families are all about their kids – they have big litters of children and they pile into cargo vans and the cakes they make are only for their kids = so I was not referring to those families who maybe have other things to address –

      but one example that comes to ming in particular, I have a friend who says her dad (who is a guy with an International Ministry) well in adulthood now she is wounded by his choices – she says he “served the world but forget his two children” – and she and her sibling went to boarding schools and were “cared for” – but they did not get “him” – and that is sad.

      thanks for reading Mr. Spaniard!

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      1. I didn´t get that part that it was targeted for that particular group of people. And yes, I think having a father in your live as a kid is very important. It was not my case, my mother raised me. But I don´t hold grudges now with my father, I understand him, he´s not the cozy type that will hug you or go fishing with you, let alone cook. He really doesn´t like kids. But I know he loves me in his own way, and I accept that. What´s interesting is that as I´ve grown up I´ve become a lot like him. And it took family members to laugh at certain things I would do or wouldn´t do, to tell me that is so much like your father. And eventually it seems to be true. But I don´t feel neglected, nor have some kind of trauma because he wasn´t there holding my hand as a kid. For me it was the norm not the exception. I did have a mother that went to my soccer games, took me to my friends house, she filled all those roles really.

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      2. well first – it was not “only” for that group of people – not at all – but they were sorta in my mind at the time. But those kinda folks are not even readers of my blog – ha!

        and I like what you shared about your upbringing – and have a few thoughts to share because I was just watching a Monk episode (Mr. Monk and the other brother) and was laughing at the scene about how they got a bum deal with their parents. and when you wrote “don´t hold grudges now with my father…” well I think this says a lot – about your health and your heart ❤ – while it is also a reminder that folks at some point in their lives will need to come to grips with assessing and processing (maybe even healing) over what they had or did not have – and cheers to you for "understanding" – because that is HUGE! And gosh Charly, I could go on and on about this – but I won't!

        but your healthy story of coping and having your momma meet those needs – well it reminds me also of a Chuck Swindoll story I heard a while back. He talked about he was told he was an unexpected mistake – and it was his uncle that filled the key role in his life. Chuck says that we do not necessarily need the key adult in our life to be mamma or papa per se – we just need a loving mentor to fill in the gap – and for him it was his uncle.

        but your health is felt spaniard because instead of a pity party or whining about what you did not get – you seem grateful for what your momma did = and that is cool sir.

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