My mother kept a pamphlet cookbook for cakes in the bottom drawer. I don't think she ever made one from it though we were treated to a homemade desert most nights.
When I needed to make some cartoon hearts earlier today, I thought of it. Here's why.
The pamphlet had recipes for only 12 cakes, one themed for each month. It was not the baking instructions, whether the cakes were devil's food or crammed with lemon cream, it was the fun shapes that made them special.
The lamb cake it featured for April was covered with Baker's shredded coconut with halved black jelly beans for eyes and a half red one for the nose. We found it waiting on a side table each Easter at my grandmother's house. (I doubt the lamb actually was in the booklet, probably not, it was a mold cake? I might be mixing up my memories. I was guessing it was the April page.)
In October you were supposed to make a witch's head cake, a flag was for the fourth of July, but February's concoction was simply the cleverest of them all. It was a Valentine heart.
Just bake one circular cake and one square cake of the same size (circle diameter = square side). Then cut the round into half and put the pieces together. Frost it up nicely and your sweetheart will think you're half a magician.
The fun cover.
My favorite from their other cake pamphlet of Animal Cakes. And below, how it was done.
