Jun 21

Three Rules of Summer Baking

Summer is hardly peak baking season. I have bad memories driving with a sliding triple-decker strawberry cake in the car in Tampa on book tour years ago. Now, I am older and wiser, and when summer rolls around I continue to bake and share my cakes at picnics, family reunions, and barbecues, but I follow some baking rules.

Rule #1: Summer cake shall be light on the palate. Think lemon, fruit, and simple pound cake to serve with homemade ice cream. Save the dark chocolate, almond crusted extravaganzas for the winter holidays.

Rule #2: Summer cake shall be totable. Make cake easy to take with you in the heat and humidity – as in no bad hair days. Forgo frosting. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Add a glaze, but keep it simple.

Rule #3: Summer cake shall be room temperature, or better yet, cold. Never, ever deliberately serve cake hot as in the pudding cakes and slow-cooker cakes.

Which makes a Lemon Poke Cake the perfect summer cake, for it follows all of the above, plus the unwritten rule that summer cakes should be dead-easy. Few ingredients, easy prep, serve from the pan or arrange on a pretty platter. Bake it ahead. Bake and freeze if you wish. Just don’t fuss over it because it’s summer and there are obviously things you want to be doing instead of heating up the kitchen.

Enjoy!

Here is the recipe for Lemon Poke Cake