Cake and Coffee

Cakes have been the triumph of home cooks for generation after generation. We can still remember the pride of our mothers and grandmothers as they brought to the table the triumphant birthday cake aglow with candles. Actually, cake making was a great deal more difficult for our grandmothers than it is for us. We benefit from standard measures, electric mixers, and perfectly (or nearly so) calibrated ovens. Still, cake making is an exacting art, and we are no less proud than our mothers when we get it right.