Sweets From The Sweet

My friend Maria is one of the sweetest people I know. She not only goes to church, she actually practices her religion between church services, frequently engaging in animated conversations with her God. I have to laugh when she tells me all the stuff they talk about. I miss having faith like that.

She also takes pity on the hapless priests in her parish and brings them dinner. Right after I saw her, she was headed down to Santa Cruz to help her son's young family - almost everyone in the family is sick, so she's volunteering to care for her very lively 3 year old grandson, who isn't. And she makes traditional Chilean birthday cakes for her coworkers. Oh, baby, check this out!

Six layer cake, made from scratch after dinner the night before she was to drive to Santa Cruz after work (see what I mean?), complete with dulce de leche caramel (with a spritz of cognac) between the layers and handmade meringue icing with colorful sprinks on the outside. I asked how she made the cake part, which was tasty all by itself - apparently, you basically beat the batter until your arm falls off, then proceed. The yellow cake was dense but moist and tasted richly of butter; the brown layer was, of course, chocolate. Each layer had its own flavor, like Neapolitan ice cream, and there is something just special about a cake with that many layers and flavors.

You may have noted that Maria has a sweet tooth; her cake satisfied all the rest of the sweet teeth in the room, as well. She even cut an extra piece for me to take home for My Beloved's dessert. Sweets from the sweet.