Bakeries There is always Room for Cake and Pie

I grew up on Long Island in Oceanside.  My mom and dad loved entertaining, and they had a friends club comprised of friends my mom grew up with plus their husbands.  My Mom was one of those people who made friends for life, and they remained friends until their passing. Most of the women in that group had met in elementary school and remained friends up to the end of their lives.

Whenever my parents hosted, my mom would cook a delicious dinner. But the highlight of every meal was always dessert—a cake and pie from Ebinger's.

Ebinger's was a beloved New York bakery founded in 1898 by George Ebinger, a German immigrant. In their hay day they had about 50 locations.  The first location to open was the one on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge Brooklyn.  Since we lived on Long Island we went to the Rockville Center location.  I loved walking into the bakery with my mom.  The smell of freshly baked breads and pastries overwhelmed the senses.  It was a magical place. 

She would always buy the same two items, their glorious and decadent Blackout Cake and their creamy and citrus laden lemon meringue pie.   In fact, the Blackout cake was so delicious it was often featured in articles written for the newspaper, etc. You would think with a popular cake like that, the bakery would be around forever.  But sadly, (and I say that with a deep sigh) by 2005, Ebinger's closed their doors. Many fine dining restaurants and bakers have done a fine job coming up with an approximate copy, but somehow it is not quite the same.  developed a love for lemon cake and pie after eating it.  

We, the people, along with grocery chains in America, contributed to the decline of many beloved bakeries. When grocery stores added the bakery department, bakery products became more accessible and affordable leading to the demise of many traditional bakeries.  I miss those bakeries.  No matter what people say and think, the mass-produced products cannot replace those bakery items made lovingly by bakers using recipes passed down from generation to generation. Not really. Whenever I travel and find myself in a new city where a bakery still operates, I make it a point to stop in sample their goods. In future posts, I'll share my experiences when I discover a new bakery.

I am hosting my book club this month (April) and I am planning on baking my own dessert.  I have a hankering for lemon, and blueberries are in season.  I will make something that will include those two ingredients.