A cool windy spring day is the quintessential accompaniment to these Small Cakes along with a cup of hot tea or coffee. I have had my eye on these cakes for quite some time now, and only yesterday decided to make them at the spur of the moment. My house was filled with the warm rich buttery aroma of this ginger shortbread style cake. Both Scout and I awaited with anticipation the cooling of them. It was a tiresome and somewhat disappointing day yesterday so a treat was in order.

My culinary interests are moving from one side of the spectrum to the other. I am like a kid in a candy store. I want to make this and I want to make that. The husband very nicely requested that even though he is enjoying the cooking, that perhaps I would give some thought as to what food group I choose; no more soup for awhile would be appreciated.

The husband must have sensed I needed a night of fun and unwinding as he asked me if I wanted to go to The International Piano Series to listen to Jorge Luis Prats, a Cuban concert pianist. Just what I needed, a nice quiet evening to unwind listening to beautiful music at a charming theatre in the heart of Charleston.

As soon as my small cakes were finished and I had enjoyed them with a cup of tea. This dusty gal who was covered in flour, butter and powdered sugar from head to toe headed for the shower. A good scrub followed by some make-up (which I haven’t worn in 4 weeks) would put life in a new perspective.

Now I am sure that it is evident that I like nice things; shampoo and conditioner included. The husband on the other hand buys his shampoo in the same manner that he buys his ketchup; in quantities. His favorite shampoo not mentioning the brand is strawberry scented.

Well I am a no scent gal to the core, and for the life of me I do not know why anyone would want their head to smell like strawberries, mangoes, oranges or any combination of fruit. Not one to start an argument, I have excepted the fact that his strawberry shampoo which is purchased at the grocery store will be sitting next to my expensive extravagant shampoo. That is unless he switches to mangoes.

Well it appears that I forgot to close the cap on my shampoo which I discovered as I was rushing to get ready. I am not a back up kinda girl. Nope, run out of stock and replenish it is my motto. So I had two choices; forgo the hair wash or use the husband’s stash. A wet head won out and strawberry shampoo it was. I shuddered at the thought of my hair having to be subjected to such torture of a grocery bought brand and further being subjected to smelling like a berry patch. At least until I could remedy this sad situation the following day.

Certain that my hair would be difficult to style after using an inferior product; I was shocked and not pleasantly either. Is that an extra sheen I am seeing? Is my hair really bouncier than normal? Is it really softer? Is his shampoo working better than my posh version? YES…………….. I hate to admit it but my hair looked the best it had in awhile. Perhaps the strawberry smell isn’t so bad after all, I pondered? I was close to caving in and asking the husband if I could share his shampoo stash, when I decided I just couldn’t go through life smelling like strawberries.

Strawberries are divine, I adore them which is evident by the 15 jars of preserves I made. I also plan to enter the Strawberry Recipe Contest this weekend at Boone Hall Farms Strawberry Festival. But I do not want to smell like one. No, when I enter the contest this weekend with my Strawberry creation, I want to be judged on my cooking merits alone. The last thing I want is a judge or two to walk by and take a whiff and think, um……….this really smells like strawberries. If I am going to win, I want to win fairly. A good hair day or two is not going to sway me on this one.

This was such a good recipe that I plan on using it as the base for a strawberry tart this weekend. These little cakes are basically a shortbread baked in tiny muffin tins. Have fun experimenting with flavors. Possible suggestions should you want to try something other than the ginger are; Nutmeg, Green Tea, Chopped Nuts, Rosemary, Lavender, or any other herb. With a good base and a little imagination any flavor could be developed. I love the shape of these in contrast to the flat traditional shortbread cookie.

They should keep for a week, if you can hold out from eating them for that long. Over the weekend one of my daughters made this floral arrangement for me. It was in part what inspired me to making these cakes, would love to have a lazy afternoon tea with friends.

Small Cakes

Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock; The Gift of Southern Cooking

1 cup butter; unsalted, chilled and cut into small pieces

2 cups unbleached flour

1/4 granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Confectioner’s sugar to dust

• Preheat oven to 350degreesF, butter twenty-four small muffin tins.
• Put butter, flour, sugar, salt and ginger in bowl of electric mixer.
• Mix on low speed, scraping sides and bottom occasionally, until thoroughly blended about 5-7 minutes.
• Spoon equal amounts of the stiff batter into well buttered tins and press gently on top to flatten the cakes.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cakes are lightly browned.
• Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan.
• When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.
• Store in an airtight container.