My resolve to refrain from vino and sugar has nothing to do with Lent.
My self denial is focussed solely on making a sagging body (more) beautiful.
Enter my old friend, Father Frank straight from Berlin. Like the forbidden fruit, he unveils a tin with a towering Baumkuchen – a sweet German dessert cake, as a special gift. “Cake! Sugar! I am on a self-imposed diet for two months!”
Lent has nought to do with my fasting (and abstinence, I might add), but ever-practical Frank is quick to advise that Sunday is a day for dispensation. So what is a man to do?
Like Eve, I relent, and also have a glass of vino!
The characteristic rings that appear when sliced resemble tree rings, and give the cake its German name, Baumkuchen, which literally translates to "tree cake" or "log cake".
Baumkuchen is made up of 15 to 20 layers of batter.