Nothing Compares

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

 John 1:29

 My heritage from both of my parents is Czechoslovakian. We hold to a very special Easter food tradition from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is the baking of the lamb cake, an important symbol of the Christian faith.  A lamb mold is used to bake a cake worthy of a place of honor on the holiday table.  Even in some communities in the United States, you can walk into a bakery at Easter time and see shelves lined high with little lambs. Some are covered in white fluffy frosting or powdered sugar, others with white coconut; many with festive ribbons around their necks.

For sixty years Mom was determined to present our family with a perfect Easter lamb cake by experimenting with numerous recipe variations.  We lived in Boulder, Colorado which meant high altitude adjustments were critical to baking success. Even so, the lamb cake presented its own set of challenges.  The aluminum mold consists of two separate halves; cake batter is spread into the front half placed face down on a cookie sheet.  The back half is then placed on top for baking.  The batter rises up into the back half, resulting in a three-dimensional lamb. That is, if everything works just right.  Most of the time, cake batter leaks out between the two halves, and if that doesn’t happen, the cake can be heavy, dry and breakable.  I remember as a girl watching Mom take extreme measures such as placing a brick on top of the cake mold before putting in the oven!  Still, the batter oozed out.

Then, three years ago, Mom mailed the cake mold and several recipes to me. It was my turn to continue the family tradition.  Would it work better at a normal altitude in East Texas?  Three attempts and I’ve had marginal success.  I reviewed the instructions for tips and discovered this:  In all our testing and use there was no leakage of batter—no breakage of the nose or ears and cake was removed very easily. That had never been our experience!

 In spite of the frustration, I want to remain faithful to carry on this precious legacy of love.

Lord Jesus, I am eternally grateful for You—the One and only flawless, pure, and spotless Lamb of God.

Karen Sims