Tuesday Triumph - Cake

Drum roll please...
I did not eat any leftover birthday cake for breakfast.

Anyone who knows me, knows that is a triumph!
Be impressed. Very impressed.

Hmm, what will I have for lunch?

Freedom & Cake

Independence Day:
Family, Food & Fun and most importantly, Freedom. I don't like to take things for granted --assuming it will always be around or that it comes easy because it is there. So amid our long weekend of spending time together as a family, I spent some time thinking of and offering gratitude for all those that have fought, died and and are still fighting for our freedom. Say what you will about the perplexities and faults of our country - I think we really do live in a "sweet land of liberty".

***

Now, about the cake: Every Fourth needs a little red, white and blue. My daughter asked, "Can we decorate a cake for the holiday?" She wanted it to look like the flag and also like fireworks. She whipped out a design almost instantly. Then we scanned some pics online and borrowed a few things to polish the look. As you can see we played around with what we put on top.

 

What we did:

Baked a funfetti cake, 8 inch for the bottom, 6 inch for the top.

Made 6 cups of frosting (Wilton Class Buttercream recipe).

We used 3 cups thin to ice both cakes.

We used 1 cup each of red, white and blue for decorating

(We used some for practice and had some left over, too.)

Wilton tip 21 for the rows of stars.

Wilton tip 16 for the mini white stars.

Wilton tip 233 for the layers of strings, or firework spray!

Wilton tip 2D to fill in the top to take the place of the blue topper (that did not fit in the cake taker!)

There you have it. A few hours of festive, edible fun.

A Funny Thing Happened . . .

. . .on the way home from cake class. I forgot to secure the cake. Maybe it was late, maybe I was in a hurry to get home. Maybe I wasn’t thinking about the large chunk of my life I’d already spent mixing, baking and icing this cake. Could I have forgotten the two plus hours I had just spent learning how to make it look like a bakery shelf showpiece? Evidently yes.

It happened at the first stoplight; I was in the car five minutes or less. I stopped and the cake slid easily off its ridiculously precarious perch, flipped over and landed near my feet. Really, what was I thinking?

I got home, surveyed the damage and consoled myself, “this was a practice cake.” I felt deflated anyway–all that learning & practice --and for what?

The resident teenager arrived on the scene and quickly pointed out my cake didn’t look so good, but followed that keen observation with a worried, “Is it still okay to eat?”
Deflated me, “Of course.”
Hollow-leg teenager, “Now?”
Me, “Oh, why not – just take a picture first.”
Confused teenager laughing, “Are you sure you want to document this?”

Yes. Disfigured as it was, I wanted to remember my cake and the new lesson I was reluctantly learning from it.

I thought of my writing efforts and current work in progress (for the record – I don’t try to compare everything in life to writing, my brain appears to do it for me automatically!) and realized the same kind of thing could happen. I could spend hours, days and okay, years working on a project and it could fall flat on its face. I don’t like to contemplate such anxiety-inducing images, but a funny thing happens when I accept the worst possible outcome. I decide it is worth it – the work, effort and risk –are all worth it. For the process, for what I learn, for what I gain. If I have a finished product that looks like a showpiece, I won’t complain, but I’ll remember it’s the creativity that brings joy.

I’ll also remember –if I ever take a field trip with my manuscript – that little bundle of joy will be securely fastened by a seatbelt!

Can you have your cake and eat it, too?

Only if you remember to hide it!

These chocolate-covered chocolate and strawberry cake bites debuted and disappeared at the YW New Beginnings activity last night. I got to eat one of the less pretty ones at home that didn't make the final cut so I don't feel too robbed. But I think another round of rolling and dipping might be in order. Really, I'm very relieved they turned out at all. Usually I don't like to try new recipes when they will be given to people outside my trusting family (it's like inviting disaster right into your day)- but these were too yummy to pass up!

If you are curious and read through to the end of the post to see the recipe, you might notice these innocent looking numbers take a little bit of work. I think somewhere around rolling the fortieth cake ball, I began asking myself what had possessed me to undertake such a project in the first place (that and the meaning of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). My first thought was "I wonder if I could make those?" I could have easily answered "of course" without having to give my kitchen a crumb coat. My next thought, more difficult to dismiss was, "I wonder what they taste like." That did it. Chocolate cravings easily overrode any rational thought and three days later -voila - cake bites!

So are they worth the effort? You'll have to decide that for yourself. My verdict? Absolutely. Creating any art takes work, making the completion of it all the more satisfying- the upside to edible art? You get to eat it -well, if you're fast.

Cake Bites

Recipe by Kathy Oaks

Makes 40-50

1 devil's food cake mix

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups water

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup butter

6 ounces cream cheese

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Milk, enough to make a good frosting

Dipping chocolate

Directions: Make cake according to directions on box and bake as directed. While baking, mix together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make a frosting. When cake is done dump immediately into a large bowl with the cream cheese frosting (or store bought frosting) and mix it all together while still hot (it will be a little mushy). Refrigerate overnight. Roll into balls and dip in melted dipping chocolate. If balls are sticky I put them in freezer bags and flash freeze them until I'm ready to dip. They will freeze beautifully for months before they are dipped, just let them thaw for about 5 minutes before dipping to prevent cracking. Once cake bites are dipped do not refrigerate or freeze, just eat them! *You can also use cream cheese frosting that you buy at the store. **German chocolate cake mix mixed with German chocolate frosting and dipped in milk chocolate is also very tasty.