I have many of Susan Branch‘s wonderful hand-written books.  Most are cookbooks, but a few are something you sit down with to peruse and reminisce about over a cup of coffee or tea.  They’re cozy little books that happen to have great recipes in them that always turn out.  Always.  The sweetest book — literally — is Sweets to the Sweet, which is a collection of desserts compiled into one tiny book.  If you know someone who needs a sweet gift — you have to get this book.

For Mother’s Day this year, I made the Orange Cake.  I’ve had my eye on it for a couple of years, and haven’t gotten around to it.  I know.  But I have a tendency to make food more than dessert.  Don’t even argue about whether dessert is food.  I’m one of those people who could routinely skip the food — well, except for salad.  I’ve wondered about this and pretty much think that it’s because dessert comes at the end of a meal that is also planned and cooked, and it’s just one more thing to plan for.  I usually end up making dessert only for special occasions, or when I want to try something new.  Oh, and there’s the issue of the calories.  I never need those.  And for some reason, my guys don’t eat dessert.  What’s wrong with them?  They eat it when it’s new and part of the meal, but the minute it goes in the refrigerator, forget it.  I’m the one who has to eat it.  And I can’t afford to do that if I want to fit in my car and shower, and, well, you get the idea.  Neighbors?  Around here, they’d probably look at me like I was nuts if I showed up on their porch with a treat.  Like it was laced with some hallucinogen or something.  I used to be able to count on my mother to take any and all leftovers.  She’d package them up in sandwich baggies and freeze individual pieces to savor later, but she’s geographically undesirable right now, so that doesn’t work any more.  So much for dessert around here.

But the Orange Cake finally had its day.  And yes — as usual, I made some adjustments.  I believe my addition truly made this an exceptional cake.  See what you think, but don’t wait a couple of years to try it like I did.

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