It's been nearly a year since we landed in America. As always with years going by, lots happens. I'm not about to reflect on a whole year. Too much to think about. It has be great overall.
I was writing to share my latest baking accomplishment. First, the teaser photo... Here is the completed cake. Ready to be transported to work for the ladies to eat. I'd been wanting to try this cake for a long time. I've seen this design loads and each time I had to find a reason to do it. Turn's out the day before 4th July is perfect!
To the Red, White and Blue. The cake was easy to make. I did cheat. I decided that I didn't like the idea of trying to make 3 different cakes from scratch. As I was running out of time (Picking up Robert from the evening shift, doing food shopping and eating reduced my time) and didn't want to worry too much about dry cake. I even reduced the baking time because I've finally learnt about my oven and it's ability to super heat! Many cake burnt along the way. These particular ones turned out great.
The Pièce de Résistance! Sorry couldn't think of a better phrase! Here's a capture of the middle of the cake, which disappeared in it's entirety. It's a little different than I envisioned, due to the lack of small baking pans I have. But it tasted great, and it was impressive. Betty Crocker is my new nickname at work! I think I bring them something baked at least once a month. I normally wait for a special occasion. So far I've stuck to holidays.
The Original Inspiration. There are 3 or 4 different sources that I can site. I don't remember where I saw it first, but here are a few links if you want to try it yourself.
How I learn. I always view baking as a bit of a learning experience. I wish I could say the same about other things I do. I think I would find life less frustrating. Anyway, I learned that I needed to have made all white cake, as inconvenient as that might have been. I wanted to colours to be more vibrant, but because I used yellow cake for my colours, I used a lot of blue dye (oh and I learned where food dye is kept in Walmart, you know, it's not where you think).
The best kind of cake making is where you have left over cake to eat!!! And I think I need to find a use for it next time, but for this time, I'm happy eating the scraps. I just wish I had chocolate spread or cream or jam or... ok the baby wants cake a lot of the time.
Letting cake rest is important if tedious. I can't say enough about the day I waited to ice the thing. It's much easier to work with cold cake. Also, flipping the cake to the uncut side will help with icing. I had to use another tub of icing, and it still had flecks of cake in it!
I'm glad I have this cake under my belt. The logistics of it were fun. Next time; more cake (more left overs) and maybe smaller pans.
I learn by doing. No mistaking that. I'm not a passive learner.
Baby and Cake Well the boy loves his food. Definitely a lemon cake fan, a bacon fan and a salad fan! Not all at once.
Celebrating the USA's independence is fun, but nothing will ever top Great Britain and the Queen!
