Cakes have gotten a bad reputation. People equate virtue with turning down dessert. There is always one person at the table who holds up her hand when served a cake. “No, really, I couldn’t,” she says, and then gives her flat stomach a conspiratorial little pat. Everyone who is pressing a fork into that first tender layer looks at the person who declined the plate, and they all think, “That person is better than I am. That person has discipline.”

   But that isn’t a person with discipline; that is a person who has completely lost touch with joy. A slice of cake never made anybody fat. You don’t eat the whole cake. You don’t eat a cake every day of your life. You take the cake when it is offered because the cake is delicious. You have a slice of cake and what it reminds you of is some place that’s safe, uncomplicated, without stress. A cake is a party, a birthday, a wedding. A cake is what’s served on the happiest days of your life. If sides are to be taken, I will always take the side of cake.