"layer cakes" news and stories

• Wedding guests in Pittsburgh are filling their plates with homemade, old-fashioned cookies baked by the mothers, aunts, grandmothers and in-laws.
• It's not Christmas in southeastern Alabama without the cake ladies stacking up a 15-layer chocolate cake.
• Danny Meyer, of Union Square Hospitality Group fame, is creating the "anti-chain chain" as he rolls out four new Shake Shacks in 2010.
• In Dresden, Germany, residents bake stollen, a richly sweet bread of dried fruit, ginger and almonds, to celebrate the holiday season.

It was a fever that burned deep in our stomachs, evidenced by space on bakery shelves, entire specialty stores dedicated to the things, books, and even blogs focused on only one thing: cupcakes.

But it seems now that we've gotten our fill. Or rather, the tiny little things just weren't enough to satisfy us because there is now an rising trend back toward full cakes, standing tall with lots of layers alternating with decadent fillings. If bakeries around Los Angeles are any indication, these cakes are going beyond just traditional chocolate cakes and red velvet cake frosted with cream cheese. They run the gamut from funky twists on carrot cake to sophisticated cakes lightly spiced with cardamom.

If you bake one, I'll take a slice!

It is autumn. The days are shorter, the nights are longer. The air is cooler. The leaves are turning all shades of yellow, orange and red. And do you want to know What We're Eating? A cake from the Tropics! It doesn't make sense, but somewhere on this planet, it is sunshine-y and warm, and a decadent homemade coconut cake filled with layer-upon-layer of luscious whipped cream and fresh pineapple, mangoes and kiwi, then covered with pretty toasted coconut is perfect!

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