I would like anything from a good bakery. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving and mostly just before or after. I have had my share of supermarket turkey shaped cakes and cakes with pilgrims. I used to ask for ice cream cakes as a kid because they at least had ice cream and usually weren't awful.....The worst was when I was 16. I wanted something grown up and beautiful. My sister talked my boyfriend and my parents into going to a amusement/arcade park for a surprise. The place was a castle themed park called Camelot. All the kids at my school called it "scam-a-lot" I was horrified. When the girl brought out the cake badly frosted and with day glow icing clowns and balloons I asked them to get it boxed and we went home to have ice cream instead. At least none of my friends saw it all. No I am not stealing this from the show Golden Girls. This actually happened to me! I had another cake disaster for my graduation. My sis and I got the freshest ingredients and made a cake from a cake bible cookbook from the library. I had spent a week prior making frosting roses for this masterpiece had saving them in the freezer. We made the cake and tasted the trimmed off parts it was fantastic! The next day we frosted it and that evening when the family tried it it was so dry no one wanted to eat it. After that I always ordered a cake from the European bakery I love in Pasadena. The other cake fail I was involved in was my cousin's wedding. She knew I could do frosting flowers well so she asked me to come over and decorate her wedding cake. She wanted me to use this lavender icing she made. I decorated the whole thing and we set it by the window. After an hour into the reception, the purple icing in the sunlight faded to blue and was melting a little. My part of the family was out drinking and laughing on the grass. My cousin's husband's family was inside being shocked at the drinking going on outside. The cake suddenly started to lean and lucky her husband's brother was sitting close by and grabbed for it. The top 2 tiers were saved but the lower ones crashed. She didn't put in any supports inside. But, great sport that she is, she just laughed and served her husband's family the upper layers and our family the toppled ones. We didn't mind a bit. She's a great gal and can laugh through anything. One of the weddings I can say I really enjoyed. Sliding color changing cake and all. Please no one get a bright colored cake for a birthday. At my granddad's 90th, my aunt ordered a NASA themed cake with dark blue icing. My Grandad worked in the space program after being in the air force during WWII. Everybody had a dark blue tongue and blue teeth. All these old people with blue lips and teeth! I love a simple cake with almond extract and some fresh ripe strawberries or peaches and whipped cream. I had a fantastic cake once made with 4 different pastel fruit flavored layers and also a very good Black Forest cake by a Belgian pastry chef who used to have a bakery in my city but has now retired. I'm too wary to try a special cake again but I love to make pies and decorate cupcakes with fresh flowers.

here ya go....those formatting problems with the fractions are really beyond annoying! Apple Cake 4 cups chopped apples 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup raisins ( I use chopped other fruit like dried peaches or apricots) Mix and let sit for about an hour ( less is OK) 2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsps baking soda ( I like 3/4 tsps soda and 3/4 tsps BP) 3/4 tsps salt 1T cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg Mix dry ingredients 2 eggs 3/4 cups veggie oil 1 tsp vanilla beat together 1 cup chopped pecans if desired. Add the oil and eggs to the apples and sugar and dried fruit. Stir in the dry mixture and add nuts if desires. Pour into greased 9 by 13 pan and bake 350 until done�..40 to 50 minutes. Serve with cake gravy! Cake Gravy Mix 1 cup sugar ..half brown half white 1 stick butter 1/2 cup light cream 1 tsp vanilla�. Mix all and cook all in a sauce pan for about 5 or 6 minutes until caramel colored. Serve warm over the cake.

Rosefolly, Ashmead's Kernel is one of my absolute favorites! If I were to grow only one apple tree, it would probably be it. Well, maybe Esopus Spitzenburg too... Of those you mention, Empire apples can often be found in grocery stores here, indeed probably because it's from NY state. I have never heard of Cinnamon Spice either. It's difficult to resist apples with such names. This year one of the highlights was when we saw for the first time Black Gilliflower, nicknamed 'Sheep Nose' (a very old variety from Connecticut, 1700s). We were twisting our heads and looking at all angles to see if any looked like it, and lo' and behold quite a few had the shape of a sheep's head from profile view. It gave me a chuckle. I picked a couple but haven't yet tried them, they still need to ripen a bit. Chris, I've looked up your two apples and they do indeed look similar, but both must be very delicious. Ha, just this morning I made applesauce! The best advice I got about making it, and incidentally it's from the good people at this orchard, is to mix several different varieties, tart and sweet. And I also love how the kitchen then smells, ... autumn is here. gdinieontario, I'm glad about you found Akane and many thanks for mentioning this orchard. It looks like a nice place to visit when in Ontario. Summers, I also like looking at online recipes. They have the advantage of readers' comments, truly tried & tested. And valuable especially when more than one person make similar suggestions for altering the recipe. Perma, I'll mention this book to the orchard owner because, as a family-owned farm with more than 300 varieties, they are not entirely organic but do try to reduce chemicals and use integrated pest management. Thank you.

I like to bake, so I like to bake pretty much any of the cakes. I do not consider cheesecake a cake, and I don't particularly like it, but I bake them for Elery regularly as they are favorite of his. I also do not consider Boston Cream Pie to be pie, and it is the cake The Princess asked for on her birthday, so i gladly made it. We all ate it, so it must have been OK. I also made a Tres Leches cake for my birthday a year or so ago, and although it was kind of soggy, I thought it was good, as was the Italian Cream Cake I made for Elery at Christmas. It's not as much fun for me to make "plain" cakes, but Ashley likes Texas Sheet Cake, and Madi and Maci both like "vanilla cake". Amanda is celiac, of course, so she just wants gluten free lemon bars, LOL. I do have a weakness for moist chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache, but it just takes a tiny bit to be enough, it's so rich. Annie