Superlative.

Please forgive the camera-phone picture; I can't find the cord for my camera, because really, why would I keep it in an obvious place?

As I mentioned before, we had eight wedding cakes. What I did not mention is that I only tasted one of them. I had one bite of our celestial chocolate cake and then promptly ignored the plate of eight slices (sounds like the Holy Grail, doesn't it) that one my bridesmaids concocted for me. I was too busy talking to people I hadn't seen in 10 years, and dancing, and dancing some more.

In my post-wedding life, I pledge never to be too busy for cake again.

That still doesn't erase the fact that I didn't taste seven of our cakes. So in this summer of now what, I figured I'd use a little time to fix that, and work through the recipes that my mom and aunt used for them. I think it is a perfectly lovely way to spend a few afternoons.

So here's the first one. It's just called caramel cake, which I realize doesn't sound like anything special. If you're reading this, and you think eh, I don't need to know about another cake, I would urge you to stick around. It gets good.

This was the cake that everyone mentioned when rehashing our wedding (which we've pretty much stopped doing, except late at night when we watch our wedding video for the 46th time). I think the phrase "best thing I've ever eaten" was thrown around, along with "unbelievable" and "spectacular." All I could do was nod and look wistful. My smart new husband didn't rub it in too much, since, having had his fair share, he knew what everyone was raving about.

Now I know. Everyone: you have to make this cake. It's two delicately sweet yellow layers that serve as a spongy landing pad for the icing, and the icing is just glorious. It's a brown sugar fudge that you boil and boil and stir and stir, and when the time is right, you smooth it over the cake layers quickly before it hardens. I'll admit that this is not the easiest stuff to work with, and my caramel cake -- well, it's not destined for the pages of Food and Wine. It's not that pretty. But it is that good.

The aftermath, of course, is between you and your dentist.

Caramel Cake
From Southern Cakes, by Nancie McDermott

For the cake:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup milk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and butter and flour two round 9-inch cake pans.

First off, combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan, and cook it over low heat until the butter melts and everything is combined. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside. Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together until pale yellow and creamy. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined; you don't want to overbeat this cake. When the milk/butter mixture is at room temperature, add that and the vanilla in, and mix until well combined, making sure all lumps are gone. Divide the batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the layers are golden brown and are pulling back from the sides of the pans. Cool for a few minutes in the pans, and then transfer them, top sides up, to a wire cooling rack.

For the icing:
1 pound light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
7 tbsp evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla

Before you making the icing, make sure the layers are cooled completely. This is not an operation you can perform while doing something else, so do make sure you've got everything you need within arm's distance -- a knife, whatever utensil you'll use to ice the cake, and a cake stand or whatever you want to serve the cake on.

In a heavy saucepan, combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Stir it well, making sure all the sugar lumps are gone, and let the mixture boil gently for seven minutes. Take it off the heat and let it cool for another five.

After it cools, stir it vigorously until it thickens, another two to three minutes. Place a cake layer, bottom up, on a platter, and ice that quickly. Place the second layer, top side up, on top, and ice that quickly too, and then use the rest of the icing on the sides. Use a knife run under very hot water to help smooth out the icing. Once the cooling process begins, it progresses quickly, which is why I say act fast. If it becomes too hard to spread, warm it gently over very low heat, add a spoonful of evaporated milk, and stir it until it softens up. That might make the icing a little harder, but it will still taste just as good.