“Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It’s all about the memories.”
— Buddy Valastro
I made this cake in memory of my Great Aunt Dina, who passed away earlier this year, just a month shy of her 101st birthday.
Born in Italy, she came to the U.S. when she was 4 years old, settling with her family in northeastern Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of 5 children, and she outlived them all. It’s hard to imagine all that she experienced in her 100-year lifetime. Her death marked the end of an era….
“The measuring and mixing always smoothed out her thinking processes—nothing was as calming as creaming butter—and when the kitchen was warm from the oven overheating and the smell of baking chocolate, she took final stock of where she’d been and where she was going. Everything was fine.”