Nona and the Mayor's Daughter

Livia, the Mayor's only daughter, was finally to be married! After the last false start to the – poor Micheal stood with only the priest for a bride! while Livia was rushed to the hospital seemingly gasping her last – absolutely nothing this time was to be left to chance. Nona, whose Tiramisu was legendary (and whose kitchen was famously meticulous about allergens), had not so quietly been expecting the call to provide perhaps miniature Tiramisu for the reception. But days turned into weeks, but the call never came. The fancy new restaurant in town, "Chez Fla-Fla," had apparently been given "full control of all catering." Nona, ever stoic, didn't let her disappointment show, though she'd only refer to the upcoming nuptials as "that wedding."

Then, a mere two days before and the phone rings a frantic Chef Antoine from Chez Fla-Fla. "..everything for the wedding, especially the five-tier cake, must be absolutely, positively, 100% nut-free!" her blurted. Had they learned nothing from last time?! Nona thought, as Chef Antoine explained how the fancy bakery couldn't do 'nut-free', and the intricate cake design, that Livia had set her hear on relied on multiple layers of delicate sponge.

At last Chef Antoine said what he needed, something only Nona's kitchen, with its rigorously attested recipes and known-allergen-free environment, Nona had always had a problem with nuts, especially walnuts , could provide with unshakeable confidence: enough of her perfectly textured, verifiably nut-free sponge to construct the magnificent five-tier wedding cake that would (hopefully) see Livia safely to "I do." The success of "that wedding," it seemed, now rested squarely on Mama's unassuming sponge.