Best Cake in the World – by Gary S. Smolker

The Best Is Worth It

Today (Tuesday, June 7, 2016) I had a slice of Straberry Shortcake and an Espresso at LADY M CONFECTIONS at 8718 West Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048.

I took a picture of the slice of cake I was eating and a picture of the slice of cake with the Espresso.

I sent a copy of those photos to my personal assistant and to several other friends.

See photos below.

The comments I received in reply varied from

• “That looks delicious.” to
• “Amazing !!!”

While I was at Lady M’s I bought a slice of “Green Tea Mille Crepes” for my personal assistant (Leslie Gonzales) and a slice of “Checkers Cake” for Leslie’s parents.

At my request Leslie took the photographs shown below.

See Leslie’s photographs below of the slice of “Green Tea Mille Crepes.”

Lady M’s “Green Tea Mille Crepes” consist of twenty layers of handmade crepes infused with fine green tea powder enveloping light pastry cream.

See Leslie’s photographs below of the slice of “Checked Cake.”

Our office manager, Tami Jones, took a bite of the “Checkers Cake” before Leslie took the above pictures.

I sent copies of those photographs to several friends.

Replies varied from

• Tami asking me “Why didn’t you bring me a slice of cake?” to
• “Incredible.  Where is this place? OMG we have to go.”

The “Checkerboard Cake” consists of a checkerboard of vanilla and chocolate sponge cake precisely woven together with the lightest whipped cream tucked between the squares of vanilla and chocolate cake covered in a chocolate ganache, that is to say all out fitted in a silky dark chocolate.

In Defense of Excellence

“We have only eyes and ears for what we know.  The musician by profession hears, in an orchestral performance, every instrument and every single tone; whilst one unacquainted with the are is wrapped up in he massive effect of the whole.  A man merely bent upon enjoyment sees in a green or flowing meadow only a pleasant plain, whilst the eye of a botanist discovers an endless detail of the most varied plants and grasses.”  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Taste

Taste is only educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good, but of the truly excellent.

Find only the best works, and when you are grounded in those, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.

Erudition

It is difficult to choose among many good things.

Telling the difference between the best and very best is the sign of erudition.

Conclusion In Re Cakes Made by Lady M Confections

A sense of reality is one of the most precious attainments of the mind.

My sense of quality and reality about cakes:

• I have eaten cakes in many places in the world.
• Lady M Confections makes the highest quality cakes.
• Lady M makes the best cakes I have ever tasted, perhaps the best cakes in the world.

If you known of a better made cake please let me know.

I am on a mission to find the best slice of cake in the world.

If you prefer pies, I highly recommend that you take it upon yourself to enjoy a Sunday Brunch at “The Swag” in Waynesville, Tennessee.

The Swag serves a wonderful selection of pies at Sunday brunch.

In All Work God Is In the Details

 

The people at “the Swag” take everything seriously.

The people who work at the Swag sincerely hope that your time spent with them is an experience, not merely eating.

Below is a photograph taken by me of a sign I saw on display in the dinning room at “the Swag.”  I saw that sign while I was enjoying a Sunday Brunch at “the Swag” with my good friends Ray and Sue Woodcock on May 15, 2016.

Below are photographs I took of signs posted next to deserts and of the deserts being served while I was at that brunch.

Cake was also served.

Live A Little

Some of my friends have “pointed” out to me that I am a man of contradictions:

• On one hand I am a proponent of “eating healthy” foods, but to their confusion and dismay  I  “tasted” the slice of strawberry shortcake “showcased” in this piece.
• On one hand I am concerned whether the standard of care for advice given by the medical profession regarding prevention of heart attacks causes more harm then benefit.  To the confusion and dismay of my friends I am on a search for the finest chocolate and chocolate dishes in the world.
• On the one hand I am somewhat of an expert on the danger of eating sweets, the danger of consuming products with refined sugars, and the danger of eating foods that turn into sugar once eaten.  But to the confusion of my friends, I recently ate an excellent pasta dish for lunch on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at Terroni Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles, California and for dessert had a Meyer Lemon Tart served with with White Chocolate Gelato (Crostata al Limone) for desert.  See photographs below of that meal.

Below is a close-up photograph of the Cappuccino I had with my desert.

Below is a photograph of my desert, Crostata al Limone, Meyer lemon tart served with white chocolate gelato.

Life Is Beautiful

 

In my opinion my life is beautiful and how I live my life is either good medicine or poisonous.

I am happy, healthy, and full of wonderment.

I live my life guided by my layman’s opinion there is virtue in being happy and it is a virtue to be full of curiosity and wonderment.

The things I have eaten described in this post, in my layman’s opinion, are good medicine for me.

I intended to enjoy eating my slice of strawberry shortcake (whose photograph is presented above), and did.

I intended to enjoy the pasta dish shown above, and did.

I intended to enjoy the Meyer lemon tart, served with white chocolate gelato, shown above, and did.

If you know where I can find even more spectacularly good things to eat please let me know.

My Motto

My motto is: Life is for living.

I try to follow that motto.

I am a “free spirit.”

Nostalgia

In mid-May, 2016, my eldest daughter Terra joined me and my two younger daughters for a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains.

When Terra got back home, she sent me the following text:

“Long day indeed.  Can’t believe you will get to LAX at 11:23 ;pm,  which will be 2:23 am TN time.  I hope you can sleep on the plane. XO T

“By the way, I’ve come full circle.  Just pulled sheets off the bed to get Marissa up.  I remember you doing that to me when I was a teenager.

“Back to reality. I’m off to work.

“With lipstick.”

I Celebrate Important Events

June 7, 2016 was Terra and her husband Scott’s 18th wedding anniversary.

They live with their two children on the East Coast.

While they were celebrating their Anniversary on the East Coast, I was celebrating their anniversary on the West Coast by eating a slice of Strawberry Shortcake with an Espresso (shown above) at Lady M’s in West Hollywood, California.

I ate the wonderful pasta dish on June 4, 2016 (shown above) while at lunch with my youngest daughter Leah.  At the time, Leah and I were celebrating Leah finishing her second year of law school.

I’ve found, by personal experiences in my life, that celebrating important events is good medicine for me.

Conclusion

Don’t underestimate the importance of enjoying life, “living a little.”

Gary S. Smolker

 

Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved