This past Sunday, I had the fortune of attending a cake tasting with my wonderful fiancée – for those of you that haven’t been lucky enough to be fed samples of various types of cakes and filling, I suggest you go ahead and start planning a wedding.
Of course, with the Irish sitting at a newly minted 7-0, I had difficulty focusing on the task at hand and found my mind wandering to Notre Dame’s unexpected 2012 run (my mind is usually wandering to the Irish, so this is no surprise). As I went through trying each of the 7 delectable samples the baker presented us, I couldn’t help but associate each with one of Notre Dame’s 7 games so far this season.
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling – Michigan State
Ah, the darkest in color of all the samples, fitting for ND’s first night game of the year. But more importantly, over the top in sweetness to kick off what will be a great run. At the time I ate it I thought this might be the signature slice, but there was plenty still to come.
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream – Miami
The two diametrically opposed flavors can only represent one game – a matchup of two storied programs moving in diametrically different directions. While Brian Kelly seems to have Notre Dame on the path back toward national prominence, I am not convinced that Al Golden will be bringing the Hurricanes to the forefront of the national picture any time in the near future (especially considering their looming sanctions). If only Nevin Shaprio had stuck to something family friendly like tasting cake instead of throwing ragers on yachts Miami might have a brighter future.
White Cake with Raspberry Gel – Navy
Despite its elegant appearance, the cake is quite simple yet packs robust flavor. Yes, this is opening week against Navy. Notre Dame, with Ireland as its host, created an incredible event for the Irish (both the team and the native citizens) while Kelly rolled in with a simple game plan that, despite a lack of creativity, led to ND dominance. Of course, as we ate the chef handed us the cake pricing chart that reminded us that (like the absurdly overpriced Anthony Travel deal) the law of supply and demand isn’t necessarily on your side when you’re dealing with either nuptials or Notre Dame.
Break time: This is how wedding economics work. And if you imagine replacing the word “cake” with “apparel” and “wedding” with “Notre Dame” it is all too familiar:
White Cake with Yellow Custard – Purdue
This is one that, when tasted along with the rest, you simply want to be done with. White cake is boring (just like Purduzzzzzz), and yellow custard just doesn’t stand out (kind of like Purduzzzzz) in celebrating the most important day of your life. But, at the end of the day, it is still cake and frosting and therefore it is good by definition. The win over Purduzzzz…
Sorry, fell asleep thinking about Purduzzz…
Damnit. As I was saying, it was not pretty in any aspect, and fans questioned what direction the season might be headed when Tommy Rees came in to run the 2-minute drill. While it was painful and caused a severe amount of stress (seriously guys, this isn’t good for my health), you had to walk away satisfied with an Irish victory.
Yellow Cake with Raspberry Bavarian Filling – Michigan
I wouldn’t know what in the world “raspberry Bavarian” is, but I know that it tasted damn good. It did take me a while to actually take a bite, though, because some Hawaiian patron kept intercepting my fork. Similarly, I’m not sure what in the world got into the head/arm/shoelaces of Denard Robinson, but I liked it – a lot. 6 turnovers that only led to a 7-point win? Eh, after what I’ve been through watching the Irish play the Wolverines over the last few years I will take anything I can get.
Banana Cake and Chocolate Buttercream – BYU
There was no rational explanation for even having us try this cake. It was between two excellent tasting choices, and simply filled our time and stomachs. Similarly, last weekend’s matchup with the Cougars fell between two of the biggest games in the Irish season: Stanford and Oklahoma. Like the taste of this cake, ND’s performance left a lot to be desired. But as we discussed already, a cake is a cake and a win is a win.
White Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Filling and Sliced Strawberries – Stanford
Oh, sliced strawberries you say! You can put those in a cake? As it turns out, the mixture of thinly sliced strawberries and the buttercream filling helps to support extra layers of wedding cake. This is the stuff you learn when you’re getting married. By this time, though, I was so full that even as my fiancée tried to romantically feed me a piece of the cardinal and white colored masterpiece –first walking over from 4 feet away, and then from 3 feet away, and then twice from just a foot out – I wouldn’t let down my guard.
Proof that, sooner or later, everyone comes around to love the Irish.
After growing up as a Notre Dame hating, misguided youth, it only took one visit to campus during high school for Twibby to realize the error of his ways. From that point on Twibby and the Irish have had what can only be described as a true Hollywood love story. When he's not reminiscing about his time in South Bend and pondering ways to get a 5th year of eligibility as a student, Twibby writes about Notre Dame and the rest of the college football world for HLS. Along with the Irish, he is a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs with a strange affection for Northwestern Wildcats football.
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