The kids usually like to request certain types of cakes for their birthdays. This year Chloe requested a white cake with fudge frosting. Simple enough. I am good at reading the back of the cake box and following directions. Unfortunately, this is what happened after following the directions to a T.
Not cool. No amount of frosting was going to fix that ravine in her cake. It looked more like a hamburger than a cake. All we needed to do was throw some sesame seeds on top. Utter fail. The only solution was to do this:
Delicately heave it from the cake platter to a plate using a spatula. I told the kids, "It would be a big help to me if you could please eat it off the plate. I don't want to be reminded of my failure." Chloe was thrilled that she got to eat a cake the day before her birthday as well as on her birthday. She told me, "Mom, that slop cake didn't look very good, but it sure tasted good!"
Here is attempt number two. You only get to see this small portion of the cake because it may or may not be leaning slightly to one side causing it to look a bit lopsided. But this side looks great! And I was told it tasted great too, even though it wasn't very stable looking.
Come to find out, the slop cake called for 3 egg whites to be mixed into the batter. Never again will I only use egg whites, unless I plan to make Angel Food cake. The cake has nothing to hold it together, no binder, so it couldn't help but fall apart. Lesson learned.
My cooking is a constant reminder to my kids how far from perfect I am. We all expect something to go awry, look a little weird, not be done on time, or a host of other issues. But in the end, it always tastes good and that's all that really matters to us.
