Posts Tagged “smith island cake”

I just have to share a couple experiences from our Ocean City to DC leg yesterday. First of all, we enjoyed an important Ocean City tradition:

Thrasher’s is a french fry stand on the Ocean City boardwalk. It’s been there since 1929, so we’re not the first people to make it a tradition. The fries are cooked in peanut oil, and the stand has apple cider vinegar and salt to dress them with (no ketchup), and they are a delicious, greasy treat.

I also spent a ton of time trying to find Maryland’s official state cake while we were in OC. Oh, you didn’t know Maryland had a state cake? Well, they do. Actually, it just happened in April 2008 (before that, I don’t think Maryland had a state cake, and I also don’t know how many other states have official state cakes, but I think they should probably get on that because having a state cake is awesome). Anyway, Maryland’s cake is called Smith Island Cake. It originated on Smith Island, which is off the Eastern shore. It’s surprisingly challenging to find it in Ocean City, but I guess OC hasn’t had time to catch on to the state cake trend yet. (It is available at a place called Liquid Assets, but Brian was soooo not feeling their menu — not beachy enough — so maybe next time.) But you know where you can get it? Salisbury, Maryland, at Fratelli’s Ristorante. So we went there on our way home last night! And here is the cake!!!

The defining characteristic of Smith Island Cake is that it has these thin layers (8 to 15 of them). Other than that, it’s just a basic yellow cake with chocolate frosting (which is the classic flavor, but they are also made with all kinds of different flavors from banana to lemon to chocolate peanut butter to cookies & cream). Brian and I both opted for the classic yesterday and it was a truly delicious cake! So I’m proud that my former home state has adopted such a lovely official dessert. Good job, Maryland.

By the way, I learned from our waitress at Fratelli’s that the best place to get your very own freshly baked Smith Island Cake is Classic Cakes in Salisbury.

Also, although it was a bummer to cut our beach vacation a day short, I think it was a good call. This is what we were driving through last night:

… and that wasn’t even the rain we were warned about. Sheesh!