When I was little my great aunt Jay was the baker in my dad’s family. She made all the desserts for every holiday. She would make all kinds of cakes,pies and cookies. Most if not all of these desserts were Italian. Which makes sense since my dad’s family is Italian. There would always be a lot of people at my great aunts house, which was also my grandparents house. So there would be lots of desserts to choose from. My two favorite desserts were her Italian cheese cake and a rice cake that she made. I can remember watching with anticipation as my Aunt Jay would start bring the desserts out for people to eat. One by one I would watch till I saw one or both of my favorites be brought out.

When I was a teenager I wanted to be able to make desserts like my great aunt Jay. I started out with boxed cake mixes and slowly worked my way up to making cakes from scratch. I then attempted to make her Italian cheese cake. The first time I made it, I was disappointed with it. The second time I made it, it was better. From the third try on that cheese cake tasted just like my Great aunts.

Now that I am married with a family of my own, I enjoy making desserts for them. Now I’m not always in a baking kind of mood. When I am, My family can expect anything from brownies that come from a box or a cake that comes from a box to something completely made from scratch. I very much enjoy baking for my family. Especially when I hear them say “this is really good”!  I don’t make my aunt’s Italian cheese cake that often because it is so rich and you really need a lot of people to eat that cake. One cake that I have been making more of recently for my family is a roll cake. It’s quite easy to make and they love it.