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August 25, 2006: "cake 101"
first things first: i confess. i did not even begin the aforementioned paper from wednesday, august 23, 2006 (the date reminds me of just how far into august we are). oh, woe is me. however, i assure you, i occupied the time that could have been dedicated to the paper to do much more momentous things. really, we're talking world peace sort of stuff, except without the "world" or "peace."
remember the lemonade? no? well, you probably didn't read that or could stand for some memory surgery, or both. but fear not, this story isn't quite related to the lemonade except that it involved my culinary expertise again.
i've embarked on yet another escapade. the new challenge: baking a cake.
from a box.
heck yes, we're in the big league now; betty crocker and pilsbury (do they make cake?) and all that. a friend of mine suffered from a dancing injury recently (who will hereby be referred to as "crippled friend"), and another friend and i decided to bake her a cake (this friend shall be "not crippled friend"). why a cake? because it solves everyone's problems, or at least makes for a guilty pleasure to drown your sorrows in and forget about life for awhile - much like the effect MTV has, except cake isn't really synonymous with annoying little teenagers crying about having too much money.
some people believe opening the package, cracking the eggs, and mixing the other many ingredients (...water) is the most difficult part, for when you pop that baby in the oven, it's all smooth sailing from there.
uhhuhyeah no.
not crippled friend and i spent a good ten minutes mixing everything in a nice big bowl, when we discovered our gorgeous chocolate batter was littered with lumps. we proceeded to try to eliminate these lumps, whether by stirring vigorously and consequently flicking chocolate everywhere, or violently beating at the hideous chunks.
needless to say, we later discovered that these chunks were actually chocolate chips.
oh, how pleasant.
this fine discovery was made through the power of reading the box, which was our bible throughout this gastronomic adventure. i faithfully read the bible again, and it instructed us to pour the batter into two round pans. we didn't have two round pans, so we settled for one round pan. i suppose my math could stand for some improvement.
... after thirty minutes, the cake grew to monstrous porportions and began to assume the shape of a very large muffin. we quickly took out our large muffin cake for fear of explosion and realized we were running late. we quickly frosted the cake, neglecting to remove it from the pan. the hot cake rejected and melted the frosting and was soon naked again, and we were now faced with the dilemma of removing the cake from the pan. after one minute of panic, followed by two minutes of deep pondering, we just flipped the cake over and frosted the other side.
a cake frosted on all sides is heavenly.
anyway, i'll cut this short; i apologize for this long entry. in the end, crippled friend enjoyed the cake, not crippled friend and i sang happy birthday for the sake of singing happy birthday (we even poorly constructed a paper hat for crippled friend to sport), and here was the finished product before we devoured it: a masterpiece (which we left on the doorstep and hid in the bushes while we waited for her to answer the door - obviously the proper way to present cake).
[Alyssa] Tuesday, August 29th
I enjoy reading your blogs so much. They're so entertaining which blogs should be. Sounds like you had an awesome time with baking the cake. I wish I could have cake but I'm allergic to eggs. =[ But hopefully your friend feels better. ^-^
[Jenni] Monday, August 28th
Heh, sounds rather like the time I tried to make frozen yoghurt rice krispie cakes (only they were way past saving). I' glad it turned out well in the end though!
[Alexis] Monday, August 28th
I love baking! Although I bake from scratch, but when I first started baking I used mixes. And boy... I set quite a few things on fire :P. One time I was baking chocolate croissants and instead of putting them in for 20 minutes I left them for 40, and when they came out they were REALLY black. So I just told people that since they were chocolate, that they were black because the chocolate leaked onto the outside. And all was well.
Next time one of my friends is sick I should bake something and leave it on their doorstep. That was such a cute idea!
[Jodie] Monday, August 28th
Haha I always love reading your blog. Very amusing. You always make everything into an adventure. I' m glad your friend liked her cake. It really was a very sweet idea. :)
xo Jodie
[Mizzy] Sunday, August 27th
That is so funny. I remember the first time I made a cake, it looked SO bad because I put the icing on too early as well. I tried to fix it by smearing it around even more, and the end product ended up simply cake crumbs and an icing mix. Howeverrr, it tasted so good despite its horrible appearance.
;)
Anyway, good luck with -starting- the paper. =P
[Carrie] Sunday, August 27th
OMFG LMAO! That is hilarious! But the cake does look pretty yummy, especially the icing..mmmm :D I love your site, the name GrabADuck is so cute ^_^
[Chels] Sunday, August 27th
lmao, that made me laugh. :] Thank you.
You did awesome with the cake. Like seriously. I backed cookies the other day, and they turned out all burned and yucky. Now, me, baking a cake. Well, better get ready with the fire extinguisher ... Haha. :]
Seriously, your blogs are awesome. They make me laugh till no end. You should have your own sitcom on T.V! And that's a compliment.
Well, take care!
Plenty of love; Chels.
[Tanya] Sunday, August 27th
That sounds like just about every cake I've ever made!
[Minna] Sunday, August 27th
Aww that is so sweet you went through all that trouble just to make your crippled friend a cake, I know I sure would want a cake from my frriends whenever I get injured by dancing (which is frequently) but no nos... And the long entry was fine because I had so much fun just reading about all the 'simple' mistakes you made :) I should've been there to help you...yet, it wouldn't have been as fun then, would it? :P
[Brandy] Sunday, August 27th
LoL. That sounds like something i'd do when i'm baking. That cake sounded delicious though.
[Jane] Saturday, August 26th
Oh man, I love your blogs. That lil story totally made my day.
[Nayana] Saturday, August 26th
LOL Omg Connie i love your blogs I honestly do. LOL Haha aww poor mushroom/muffine cake LOL Haha I had a picture in my mind of exactly how it was going to look, or atleast I tried to picture it LOL.
Well atleast your friend enjoyed it :)
I want to become Button Buddies if you don't mind? I shall link cha right now =)
[Jenn~] Saturday, August 26th
Umm, the word layout shoudl be laugh, omg what was I thinking, hahahaa~
[Jenn~] Saturday, August 26th
Oh my, hahaha, funny & cute story. When I read you flipped the cake over and frosted the bottom I couldn't help but layout, hahahaha~ I can imagine how the kitchen looked when you were done. XD
[Hailley] Saturday, August 26th
Ohmcshwooz! XD chocolate...chip...chunks -rolls over laughing- Oh, wow. This made my say <3
[Deanna] Saturday, August 26th
Oh yum, cake! There is something I do like. I wish someone would make me a cake. I'm glad she still liked the cake even though you didn't do it right :P And I love that you left it on the doorstep for her to find. That would have been so funny to watch :P
[Emsz] Saturday, August 26th
Hmm. that cake loks really yummy :) You're right, there's nothing like cake :D
My grandma bakes deliciouscake, and my mother too, both not out if a package I think :)
[andre] Friday, August 25th
wow, that cake looks really yummy!... it does, b/c now i want cake. but i don't have any mix! maybe if i use muffin mix and just put it in a cake pan... :crazy: yea, i can't cook!
stalker(s)