Thursday was one of those days in which every minute feels like ten. When you find yourself looking at the clock at 11am, despairing over the fact that it surely should be home-time yet you still have a seemingly endless expanse of work hours before you.
A day where your mind feels wonkysplash enough that, while walking through the central area of your building (which is shared by many other businesses and people), you find yourself not only singing songs from Guys and Dolls at the top of your lungs but frenetically fake-tap dancing too. Simply to bring some joy into your day.
Or maybe that’s just me.
I don’t know what would’ve happened on Thursday if I hadn’t had a Cakespedition with Dad planned. Most likely there would’ve been an incident with me, a climbable tree, pens woven into my hair with streamers, and a dramatic rendition of “I Will Survive“.
But I guess we’ll never know.
For our second Cakespedition, Dad and I made our way to Farmers Daughter, a cafe in Yarralumla known for its fantastic coffee. My decaf long black was happily devoid of sourness, and my Dad was impressed with his flat white.
But, look, we all know the point of a Cakespedition isn’t coffee. It’s sweetness.
After much deliberation in front of the cake cabinet, Dad ordered the Chocolate Trio and I chose the Lemon Meringue Tart. Minutes later, our barista-slash-waiter placed the Lemon Meringue Tart and a New York Baked Cheesecake before us.
“Ah,” I said, looking at the cheesecake with yearning. “We didn’t actually order cheesecake.”
The server reached to pick up the plate.
“Wait,” Dad interjected, thoughtfully. “You might as well just leave it here and add it to our bill. I think we can manage three desserts.”
And that, my friends, is how I know I’m not adopted.
Keeping the cheesecake was a very good decision, as it proved to be exactly the kind of cheesecake I occasionally crave. Dense, dense, dense and tangy is the cheesecake of my heart; I want no part in any floofy light unbaked wobbly mousse-like cheesecake.
You all know by now that I have no interest in chocolate desserts, so after one spoonful of the Chocolate Trio, I was happy to leave it alone. In truth, Dad didn’t entirely love this mousse cake either, finding it slightly gelatinous.
That said, I certainly would have eaten more if it had come with a jar of peanut butter.
I couldn’t resist the individual Lemon Meringue Tart with its burnished mountain cap of fluffy meringue hiding a pool of lemon curd within. The meringue was (of course) very sweet but ethereally light, and the pastry base had a pleasant biscuit taste, avoiding the soggy butter-blandness that I dread in pastry.
The lemon curd could have been a bit tangier to better balance the sweetness of the meringue, but that’s personal preference as I like desserts that aren’t too sweet.
Thank you, Dad, for another fabulous Cakespedition, and for saving me from embarrassing myself in some sort of dreadful cabin fever way back at the office. It was a delicious way to be so saved.
Question Time: What are your coping mechanisms on days that drag on?
