Ling’s Cakery

One Steamy Cake Date

It was hot.

The solar radiation bouncing from the asphalt baked my skin. Midday with nothing to do but cause mayhem in my stomach. It was unwise to drive around without sunglasses, but this was a temporary inconvenience. The heat was temporary and the cake I was about to eat was temporary, as, ultimately, we all are. Life is fleeting and at best can be described as a series of moments. There are things that can simultaneously draw your attention away from and also toward the moment. Like thoughts or feelings, having your retina burned by the Oklahoma summer sun, or sweet baked goods.

We walked into a small, pristine cake shop called Ling’s Cakery down in the Asian District where the white of the walls and furniture draws your eyes to the main event: beautiful, cute, and immaculately cut and dressed pieces of cake. A worker in a white shirt and apron greeted my friend, Katie, and me. After exchanging pleasantries with him, we ordered an unsettling amount of cake, a menagerie consisting of taro, rose, chocolate, and matcha layered cakes plus Japanese cheesecake. They each came individually packaged and we sat quietly in the corner trying not to embarrass ourselves with our decadent wealth in this nice establishment.

Overall they weren’t cloyingly sweet, an intriguing but welcome surprise, and it was a textural delight. Thirty layers of crepe and cream offered themselves into a mousse-like mouthfeel. The experience was akin to stabbing a fork into a cloud and cramming it furtively into your mouth, trying not to let your excitement and enthusiasm draw the attention of the two other customers present. A feeling, like any other, that would fade. Temporary. The memory of that sugary moment, fleeting as it was, will remain.

Also five pieces of cake is too much cake…but I’d repeat it in a heartbeat.

> Ling’s Cakery, 2723 N Classen Blvd #C, Oklahoma City, lingscakery.com, (405) 593-8898.