Memories of Breakfasts Past (Hollywood Baked-Good Sighting)

Have you ever loved a baked good so passionately that when it no longer was available you continued to long for it, to miss it, for YEARS after the fact?

I have.  And do.  I pine for the Apple Spice Cake that I used to order nearly every day at Mani's Bakery in Los Angles on Fairfax Avenue near Wilshire Boulevard.

At the time I worked a night shift.  So I had these leisurely mornings-into-afternoons. And as often as not I would end up at Mani's.  I loved it there.  The staff were lovely and friendly - and the baked goods were amazing - low sugar - mostly fruit-juice sweetened - but entirely wholesome and entirely delicious.  It was not merely an assortment of sweets - it was good food.

I remember hearing somewhere that Mani supplied healthy sweets to Hollywood for actors who were required to eat bad-for-you stuff in film shoots and wanted to at least eat something relatively good-for-you.  I think there was a story about Danny DeVito having to eat a bunch of donuts.

Which leads me to - today I once again lapsed into a painful longing for Mani's Apple Spice Cake.  And then I remembered:  there's this thing called the internet.

So I went online and found that Mani has a new place in Oakland, California.  I could not find any reference to my beloved Apple Spice Cake - so I wrote Mani the following message:

Hello Mani - I was a major Mani's customer for a lot of years when you had your shop on Fairfax - loved it so much.  I'm now living in NC and I see you've moved too - hope this finds you well and thriving.  My top fav item was Apple Spice Cake - it was kind of a staple in my life for a while - loved everything about it - the moisture of the apples, the texture of the cake - the beautiful pecan crumble - for me it was perfection.  It only just now occurred to me that I might try to search for Mani's online - found the site for your Oakland space (congrats!).  Do you still make Apple Spice Cake?  If so do you ever ship items?  Alternatively - is there a recipe for it?  I am not even a baker but I am totally up for trying to approximate it.  

Thanks - very best wishes to you.

- Amy

We shall see what happens - I will report back in the comments section of this post if I hear anything back.  Even the prospect of hearing from the actual baker of the actual Apple Spice Cake fills me with joy and hope.

Oh yes - I almost forgot the best part.  Some time in the last year or so I was re-watching the movie "The Birdcage" with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane (with fabulous character-acting turns by Gene Hackman & Dianne Wiest).  And there was this one scene.  Early in the film.  In the breakfast nook of the conservative senator (Hackman) and his loyally clueless wife (Wiest).  And there it was.  I was certain of it.  On a pristine white dish on the table in front of Dianne Wiest's character was Mani's Apple Spice Cake!  A beacon of joy - a pang of love for this long-lost baked-good from my past.  In my note to Mani today, I added the following:

p.s.: I could swear I saw your Apple Spice Cake in a cameo appearance in the film "The Birdcage" - Dianne Wiest.  OMG I just did a search & here is the clip - the internet is amazing - I am so curious to know if that is your actual A.S.C.

Can't wait to get confirmation on this!!!