Oh, Mom. If only you’d known!

My mom made a lot of lamb cakes over the years. She made them even after her grandchildren were grown up, finding young families to give them to every year. She probably made 2 or 3 every Easter. A few of them traveled to out of state–in one piece.

I got a lamb mold at a garage sale, but I only made a few of them. They were frustrating to put together with the nose, ears and sometimes the whole head falling off. You’d put it back together with toothpicks and a lot of frosting, but it never was the same.

I decided to make two lamb cakes this Easter, in honor of my mom. Lucky for me, I googled “lamb cakes” when I couldn’t find the package mix for pound cake and thought I’d have to make it from scratch. I found a post called “Retro Lamb Cakes.” Ha!

I learned a few things (that I don’t think my mother ever knew.) First of all, you can embed reinforcement into the cake before you cook it. A thick bamboo skewer, or in my case, a cake pop stick, laid from head to foot at the front end and two toothpicks reaching into the ears helped hold everything together.

Also, you aren’t supposed to bake it in two halves and then struggle to make the two standing halves stick together. You fill the nose side of the mold, place the back side on top, and tie is all together so that it holds together in the baking process and you end up with a complete lamb.

 

 

 

 

It didn’t work quite that way, but it came close. My first lamb didn’t “rise” up as much as it should have, so the backside of the lamb is pretty flat. My second one did a little better, but still didn’t fill up the back part of the pan. I ended up making two back halves and putting them together, but it still was easier than what I remember. I suppose if I fill the first pan to the brim, it might work. Or, maybe I will try a “from scratch” recipe that might rise a bit more.

Next year.

In the meantime, have a Happy Easter.