Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food: Mothers and Daughters - Baking Cakes and Growing Up Together in Wisconsin

The best Mother's Day gift is a growing daughter, - far more enjoyable than a flowering plant, though admittedly a bit more work. My eight-year-old daughter, Lauren, is a budding chef who this past Mother's Day longed to express her giant love with a sweet gift of food. Last week, she began begging me to make Lazy Daisy cake with her. She said we had to make it for Mother's Day because "Mothers like daisies and they're never lazy!"

She found the recipe in my cookbook, Mom's Updated Recipe Box: 250 Family Favorites Made Quick and Healthy. I think she picked it because the author, Donna Weihofen, wrote, "This is the first cake my friend Mary made when she was about eight years old. She got the recipe from her grandmother's cookbook. It is a wonderful dessert but it is also lovely served for a morning brunch or afternoon tea."

Initially, Lauren wanted me to make the Lazy Daisy Cake. But life was busy and I kept putting it off. Undeterred, yesterday afternoon (Mother's Day) Lauren said she wanted to make it herself. After all, the little girl mentioned in the cookbook had been 8-years-old. At that moment, however, I was about to leave for a walk with a close friend, -a weekly mental-health walk necessary for maintaining this mother's sanity. I didn't want Lauren using the stove by herself. Precociously persuasive, Lauren talked her Dad into helping, which meant her 5-year-old brother, Dave, had to help too. Dave didn't fit into Lauren's ideal plan, but she accepted and resolved to manage around him, -and thus her maturity develops.

When I returned, the yellow cake was topped with a brown sugar and coconut icing. Lauren and I LOVE coconut, though Dave remains ambivalent about it. We all quickly ate our dinner in anticipation of dessert. Lauren beamed when I served her cake. To show my appreciation I ate two pieces, something I rarely let them do. This made Lauren even more proud!

Lauren wanted to know if this was my best Mother's Day ever! I told her it was because I knew it certainly was for her. It was the first year that her gift to me had not been store-bought by her dad or fabricated by a school-teacher. She put the energy of her heart into her hands to create a gift to nourish a soul. Now if that's not a person in full bloom, I can't imagine what is. Thank you, Lauren.

For the Lazy Daisy Cake recipe, click on 'continue reading...'

Lazy Daisy Cake

1/2 cup evaporated fat-free milk
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated fat-free milk
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees if using a glass or nonstick pan. Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan. In a small saucepan, combine milk and butter. Heat until butter has melted. Set aside. In medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes or until slightly thick. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients and warm milk mixture to bowl. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown and the middle of the cake springs back when lightly touched.

While cake is baking, prepare topping. In a small bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, milk, coconut, and nuts. When cake is removed from oven, pour topping over hot cake. Place under the oven broiler for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown.

I am in the office as I write this post. My desk is in the lower level of a house. The windows look out on a patch of woods, and sometimes I see deer walk by. Birds are always coming to the feeder. I work at Wisconsinmade.com which is a web store that sells only products made in Wisconsin. We serve local artisans and small businesses, most of whom would otherwise lack access to a large pool of customers. Because we do the sales and marketing for them, they get to do what they're best at - making their art. In this way, our cooperative effort generates a living wage for all of us.

Next to me sits Renee, who is answering customers' calls and responding to their e-mails. (She job-shares with Nina). Behind me, Katie is writing product descriptions. Vicky is talking with Wisconsinmade.com's owner, Linda, about the new artists Vicki is adding to the website. And I've just finished writing about my daughter on Mother's Day.

But my story is appropriate because our site is focused on gift-giving. Most people ordering from us are sending gifts to people whom they care a great deal about. They know our products are produced with an artisan's attention to detail and exceptionally high standards. And this is why, even though we are a tiny company, Wisconsinmade is successful. Like my daughter giving her hand-made, heart-felt gift, we give you gifts from our hearts. This is our mission, and this our path to mutual prosperity, - just so you know.

These Wisconsinmade products are a sample of ones our customers like best:

Copper Cattail Wind Chimes