Cake

THE ROLAND PARK Second Presbyterian Church looked absolutely stunning last Saturday for the wedding of Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer and Richard Matthew Dohler. Thousands of wildflowers, miles of lace ribbons and tulle, and window sills decorated with Singapore orchids set the stage for the nuptials of the daughter of pop music star Donna Summer and her first husband, Helmut Sommer,and the son of Dick and Bonna Dohler, he's an Ellicott City builder.The church was filled with the music of German trumpeteer Langston Fitzgerald and selections of Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi, played by the church's music director Margaret Budd on the organ.

Faidley's storied crab cake will compete for the title of best sandwich in America on a new Travel Channel show debuting on June 6. In eleven episodes, "Adam Richman's Best Sandwich in America" will introduce viewers to 30 iconic sandwiches in 27 cities. Faidley's crabcake will represent Baltimore in an episode in the Mid-Atlantic episode, which is tentatively schedule to air on June 27. Using his own BITE SCALE (B=Bread, I=Interior, T=Taste, E=Eating Experience), Richman samples and judges the three most mouthwatering masterpieces a region has to offer.

It's cake time. Here are two old favorites, a Bisquick cake and a Sock-it-to-Me cake, you shouldn't miss.Elizabeth S. Williams of Baltimore requested the Bisquick cake. Responses came from Frank C. Alfonso of Baltimore, whose recipe came from the 1993 "Betty Crocker Bisquick Classics and New Favorites" cookbook; from Susan R. Mask of Reisterstown, who copied her recipe from a 1955 Bisquick box and from Ruth Ames of Star, Idaho, who sent in the side of the Bisquick box with the recipe on it.Velvet Crumb Cake1 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix1/2 cup sugar1 egg1/2 cup milk or water2 tablespoons shortening1 teaspoon vanillaTOPPING:1/2 cup flaked coconut1/3 cup packed brown sugar1/4 cup chopped nuts3 tablespoons shortening or butter (softened)

"Ace of Cakes,"a Food Network favorite, followed Remington's Charm City Cakes through 10 seasons of stress and laughter. Owner Duff Goldman and his talented team introduced viewers to the fast-paced world of custom cake-making, creating edible masterpieces such as the Hogwarts castle for the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and a replica of Radio City Music Hall for the Rockettes. Now, a year after the show's final season and currently busy with a new line of wedding cakes, executive chef Geof Manthorne, 37, reflects on life after the show, how the staff has changed and the future of Charm City Cakes.

Summer dessert ideas are just a click away at www.betty crocker.com. The Web site showcases a different dessert each month, such as Sunny Lemon Bars, Brownie Sundaes and this Watermelon Cake recipe for July: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of two 8-inch or 9-inch round pans. In a large bowl, beat 1 box of Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix and the water, oil and egg whites called for in the cake-mix directions. Add one 0.13-ounce package of cherry or other red-colored unsweetened soft-drink mix and continue beating on low speed 30 seconds, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Nancy Hawkins from Oliver Springs, Tenn., was looking for the recipe for a cake that a woman she worked with brought into her office for a birthday celebration. It was chocolate cake that was just dumped out of the pan and had "oodles and oodles of scrumptious melted chocolate inside." Hawkins said the woman who made the cake called it an "Aussie dump cake," but she would never share her recipe. While I did not receive any responses from readers about this cake, I knew that a "dump cake" was not that uncommon.

Mmmmm, cake. A monkey nibbles on a moon cake made of fruit at a zoo in Shenzhen, Guangdong province of China. Moon cake is traditional food for Chinese people during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell on September 12 this year.

The guest of honor flitted through the chic new restaurant in a black suit and pumps, surrounded by colleagues, well-wishers and staff members angling for a moment with the boss. Those moments come to an end at noon today, when Mayor Sheila Dixon becomes simply Sheila Dixon. Forced to resign as part of a plea deal to settle a criminal case, Dixon's last full day as mayor began at a meeting of the city's spending board and wound down at a happy hour party at Milan, the new Little Italy hot spot.

The article on how to slice calories from sweets was informative from the baker's point of view, but from a health point of view it was quite disappointing ("Slicing calories from cake," Nov. 10). For this article not to include the health implications of artificial sweeteners does a big disservice to those who might consume them. I realize that this article was placed in the "Taste" section and not the "Health" section, but information like this should be more sensitive to health implications that may exist, as we should not be just concerned about caloric intake.

Should children in Iran not have sprinkles on their birthday cakes because the leaders of their country are considered sponsors of terrorism? Should McCormick & Co., the spice giant, stop selling seasonings and salad toppings in Iran because the country's leaders are suspected of pursuing an illegal nuclear weapons program? Last month, the Hunt Valley-based company decided the answer to both those questions was yes. McCormick no longer sells its products in the land of Ahmadinejad.

I am not a cake person.  If you put a giant, lovely cake next to a bowl of crispy fries doused in malt vinegar, salt, and pepper, I would grab the fries and leave the cake feeling unwanted and alone while I devoured my hypothetical starches.   Not loving sweets is usually a great thing. I rarely order dessert (unless "salted" is in the description), and the candy aisle holds no power over me. Something like chocolate covered pretzels will occasionally pique my fancy, but then, there's salt involved there, too. The problem with cake is that it's all sweet.

Wedding Day: June 16, 2012 Her story: Katie Cooney, 32, grew up in Ellicott City. Her father, Robert Cooney, is a retired banking executive who now works in ticket and fan services at Oriole Park at Camden Yards . Her mother, Constance Cooney, is a retired corporate controller. Katie is a contracting officer at the Social Security Administration. His story: Joel Southworth, 32, grew up in Ellicott City. His mother, Jaci Goldhammer, is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker residential brokerage.

Is your Maryland crab cake true blue? Only a small number of restaurants in Maryland reliably make their crab cakes from local crabmeat, and the state does not require restaurants to identify the specific source of the meat in crab cakes. True Blue, a new  labeling and promotion initiative from The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), hopes to give restaurants that do use Maryland crabmeat a claw up on those that fill their crab cakes with inexpensive imported meat from Indonesia and Venezuela.

Ann Carter from Charleston, S.C., wrote in on behalf of her grandmother, who has lost a beloved recipe for what she called Panama Cake. Her grandmother said she received the recipe from a fellow military family in the 1970s. She remembers that the cake was made with flour, sugar, shortening, raisins, nuts and spices, but did not call for any eggs. David Hulteng from Crownsville saw Carter's request and thought that a recipe he had for Poorman's Cake sounded very much like what she was looking for. He said that he has had the recipe since the 1970s and has made it many times, receiving "rave reviews.

Our latest healthy recipe comes from WebMD . It's for those of you trying to improve your diet, but that can't curb that sweet tooth. WebMD says you can serve this cake with raspberries and a dollop of Cool Whip. If you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share send it to: andrea.walker@baltsun.com . Ingredients:   3/4 cup less-sugar raspberry preserves 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 cup unbleached white flour 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup Splenda 3/4 cup baking cocoa 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup less-fat margarine (with 8 grams of fat per tablespoon)

Rita's Italian Ice is debuting its newest flavor, Red Velvet Cake Cream Ice, on Friday. The new "rich and creams" flavor is a limited time offering. That's not the only news out of Trevose, Pa. Beginning next Wednesday, Rita's is offering 50 percent off Blendinis from 5 to 7 p.m. The Red Velvet Cake Cream Ice offer and the “Great Blendini” event will both continue through April 29.        

Q: I have a cake set that was given to me in 1954. It consists of one cake plate, eight serving plates and a cake lifter. Each piece is marked with the words "The Harker Pottery Co. -- Made in U.S.A. -- Since 1840 -- 22KT. Gold."A: Harker Pottery Company in East Liverpool, Ohio, produced semivitreous ware from 1890 to 1972. The mark you described was used circa 1950.Q: Generally, dishes that are marked "22 KT." were made after the 1930s and are trimmed in real 22-carat gold. Your cake set would probably be worth about $50. I am curious about a set of porcelain dishes that I inherited from my parents.

* Home economists for Baker's recommend baking the cake a day ahead of time before decorating; it will toughen slightly and be easier to work with. If time is tight, cool the cake and put it in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes before decorating.* Slice the rounded top off the cake to make it flat. If the cake already is relatively flat, flip it and frost the bottom.* To cut shapes, gently saw the cake with a long serrated knife.* Brush off cake crumbs with a soft pastry brush or with your hand, gently, before you begin to frost.

After five years in banking, Linda Cheng decided it was time for a change of course. Faced with the decision between obtaining her MBA and following her passion for baking, Cheng enrolled in L'Academie de Cuisine's yearlong pastry arts program. That was three years ago, and today Cheng is the owner of Linda's Bakery in Columbia. “I've always enjoyed baked goods, and I'm one of the lucky ones in that I get to pursue what I love,” says Cheng. The bakery, which opened in December 2011, specializes in customized cakes for all types of occasions, from weddings to baby showers and birthdays to graduations.

Certain things in life are meant to go together. Peanut butter and jelly. Old Bay and steamed crabs. But what about cupcakes and alcohol? If you thought cupcakes were just for 7-year-olds' birthday parties, then think again. Cooks 'N Cakes, the latest cupcake shop to open in Howard County, is giving the kid-friendly dessert an adult makeover with cocktail cupcakes. Located on Route 40 in Ellicott City, Cooks 'N Cakes sells plenty of traditional cupcakes, but what makes it unique is cupcake happy hour.