Final Essay

Comfort in Cake
Ruby Trand
English 11

Smells, tastes and textures of food can trigger certain memories, feelings and emotions in the

brain, due to a part of the brain called the hippocampus (Harvard University Press). Most people

have experienced a time when they have been in a public place and smelt something that brought

a warm comforting feeling or memory to them. For me, my favourite smell was always the smell

of this fabled cake my grandma frequently made.

The cake was a coconut sponge cake; the first layer was always covered in a gooey,

candied coconut layer. The top was purely coconut shavings with brown sugar and butter, the

cake itself was a moist and almost milky sponge cake. This sweet cake was brought out at every

birthday, holiday and event at my grandmas house, and the tray was always empty by the end.

Although, my grandpa being the picky eater he was; always had ice cream instead. The

smell and taste of this cake always reminded me of the sweetest and most adored times with my

family. As all families are, not all times with my family were all that sweet. Sometimes people

are brought together for the worst of reasons. As my grandpa passed away last year at spring

break, we flew to see my family the day of his passing. As people do, my whole family found

comfort in the food and tea. At the funeral there were piles of teeth aching treats, but not enough

to comfort my aching and grieving heart. My grandma found comfort in making all the

arrangements of his death and did not do any baking. Meaning that no coconut cake was made,

in the two weeks we were there. This was unusual for her due to the fact that normally she would

be shoving cookies and cakes down me and my cousins throats. We flew home but returned a
few months later for a visit. When we returned it was around the time of my aunt laura’s and my

birthday, It felt wrong to be celebrating age after losing my grandpa. This would be the first

family celebration without my beloved grandpa. The loss still hung in the air at my grandma’s

house, as we helped her clean out some of his stuff. The next evening my family came over to

celebrate the birthdays and enjoy a meal together. My grandma was in the kitchen cooking. To

smell the cake coming from the kitchen gave me instant relief.

Just the smell of the cake brought me back to all the lovely memories with my family

and made everything feel slightly more normal even without my grandpa sitting there with us.

His chair empty, we enjoyed the cake in silence. I thought maybe, just maybe we could live on

and enjoy our lives even without him in them. Grieve doesn’t need to break us, just cherish what

you have and the memories made with past loved ones.
Works Cited
“Food and Memory.” Harvard University Press Blog,
harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2012/05/food-and-memory-john-allen.html.