Step No. 18 - Eat a whole McCain's Deep & Delicious Cake*

The embodiment of chocolately, velvety, desserty
freezer section eroticism.

Once again I return to memories of my large brood of siblings. The times being what they were--middle of the 1980s/early 1990s recession--my parents were often not able to purchase for us any luxury desserts. In retrospect my deep-rooted resentment for this deficit is horribly superficial and, more importantly, a very first-world problem. When we did have dessert it was usually cookies from a large bag purchased from a bulk food store, or a couple scoops of ice cream from one of those generic brand two-gallon tubs. I know, I know. Woe be unto us poor deprived children.

On the rare occasion that we did have something extra for dessert or we had company who felt obliged to bring something to contribute for the dinner, we were rewarded with a McCain "Deep & Delicious" cake. I think this was a region specific product for a long while though I've seen it appear frequently in Upper Canada. The gimmick is that you have a whole cake, even icing, in an aluminum foil box with a transparent plastic lid. You could freeze it and pull it out to defrost when company arrived. When thawed, the lucky diner experienced a flood of deliciousness from the moist chocolate cake and rich, oil-based icing. At the time I would have killed to have a bowl only of the icing. Even now the memory of it makes me shiver in delight. I swore then that someday, when I became a grownup, I would buy nothing but McCain cakes and eat them all by myself.

Fast forward low these twenty-something years and I have never actually purchased one of these cakes. I see them all the time in one of the freezer bins, but I've never felt inclined to add it to my food basket. Sure, I'll eat it if it's given to me, but for some reason one has never materialized in my own freezer. Thus, I implore you, gentle readers, to take up the challenge; assert your grownupness, purchase a McCain deep & delicious cake and indulge. Eat the whole thing and know that you've actualized one of the most coveted adolescent food desires. Any resulting gastrointestinal distress is your own fault - don't blame me.



*This step must be combined with Step No. 4 (eating dessert before dinner).