Ok, so those of you of a certain age will recognize the tag line, “What Becomes a Legend Most?” the famous ad campaign introduced in 1968 for Blackglama Fur (no fur debating here) and continued, showcasing legend after legend, in a fabulously successful long-term print run. I have always loved that phrase – it has stuck in my mind as classic and timeless. So, as I sat down to write today, it popped into my mind as the conceptual phraseology of “What becomes a ….most? applied to my subject matter of the day. But first…….
You can see that I am in love with my Morning Glories this year. I find them one of nature’s marvels – the rarity of blue in nature, aside from the optical illusions of sea and sky, always intriguing me. There are few things I am drawn to as much as this example of raw beauty. Teetering on a ladder at 6:30 in the morning has become something I just do. The results, for me, are worthwhile.
So, back to the cake debacle. Yesterday, the results of the Three Tarts Ice Cream Sandwich contest were announced. I didn’t win – that’s ok, but it brought up a long-time philosophical and practical issue I have with the world of baking – freezing a cake. Through a little dialogue with the deciders – I found that they always use frozen cake as their sandwich “outsides”. That’s fine – but I respectfully disagree with this. Maybe it is because I grew up with supermarket ice cream sandwiches – those ubiquitous chocolate “cookies” with ice cream inside, maybe it is because I am a fan of the Chipwich, I don’t know. (I know these commercially-produced frozen items present frozen cookies out of the box.) But, one thing I do know is that eating a piece of frozen cake won’t make for optimum flavor or texture. With the assumption that optimum flavor of all elements is the goal here – plus the sum of the parts equals the whole…when you put your premiere-flavor ice cream, that you arduously and lovingly coddled, inside two, fresh-baked, room-temperature cookies, you’ll get the best flavors.
So, for whatever it’s worth, I apply the “What Becomes A……” to the relatively pedestrian object of the ice cream sandwich. What is the best “sandwiching” layer? I guess I just disagree with the premise that an ice cream sandwich should be defined as two pieces of, particularly, frozen cake or, also, but less so, frozen cookies (because of texture) with ice cream inside – texture-wise and flavor-wise. I don’t know, call me crazy. This is not a life-changing issue, but if your objective is to perfect a food item, this is relevant.
The larger issue is and always has been, for me, the idea of freezing a cake, any cake, meant to be eaten at room temperature. In pastry school I always balked at the premise that you can put a cake in the freezer, take it out and it will be exactly the same as a fresh-baked cake. This was probably the biggest “agree to disagree” ideal for me with my Chefs. Now, I know this is de rigueur in the business, but I don’t subscribe. I guess I have my Mom and Dad to thank for this position. Mom always insisted on fresh-baked. And, left-overs, frozen or otherwise, offended every fiber of my Dad’s sensibility. I know this is not practical, but it is who I am. This is one of the major reasons I will probably never go into the business. I always wonder about the phrase, “it freezes beautifully”. No one ever says, “it will be just as good as fresh-baked” – it just means it is still edible (palatable?) after freezing. There is more than a subtle difference there. Sorry, that’s who I am. (obviously, I’m not talking about cakes that are meant to be frozen, like some cheesecakes, mousse cakes, etc.) ‘Nough, said. But, suffice it to say, you’ll never catch me serving a cake that’s been frozen – and no, I didn’t eat my wedding cake on my first anniversary – it went in the trash.
So, idiosyncrasies or impractical standards intact, I move on……… BTW… I don’t freeze my cookie dough or pies either. I’m guessing I will never be a success in the practical culinary world.
Love this!