Not all Pink Cake is the Same

  Queridos — So…I don’t think this is just a Mexican-American thing but, for me, I have no other frame to work from so let’s just call this a Mexican-American thing.  I remember going to my grandparent’s house on Sunday morning and sitting around their big dinner table (you know…the one that seemed too big for the kitchen it was in) and eating barbacoa and/or lengua tacos.  The meal was peppered with the stories of the previous week and the plans for the one that started the next day.  There was some laughter, some scolding, and even some crying sometimes.  All the while my grandparents and dad would be drinking coffee with their meal while I was enjoying a 20oz Big Red and my mom a diet soda…you know, to cancel out the calories in the tacos. ANYWAY…. I could never, and still don’t, understand how they could drink a hot beverage while eating and each cup seemed to last for SO LONG! The small and slow sip of this near boiling beverage seemed to be counterproducti...

   Bienvenidos familia!   Ahhhh, pink cake!  If you grew up in San Antonio, Texas or any city with a predominant influence of Mexican heritage, you know about pink cake (cortadillos).  For this blogger, this delectable mound of sugar glory calls to mind childhood memories of joy and celebration while sometimes evoking memories of adulthood events that necessitated some edible comfort.  In either instance there was my friend…Pink Cake. Depending on the where it was bought (and on what day) the cake part could be flaky and dry or soft and moist.  I quickly found out at a young age that the softer the cake the better it was because then I didn’t have to dislocate my jaw to get a good mordida (that’s a bite for my Spanish-challenged friends). The frosting had its own qualities as well — it could be hard and crunchy or creamy and smooth.  The frosting is where the magic happens, though, because it defines the overall taste.  If made correctly that...