For Ryan's very special, once-in-a-lifetime, 27th birthday I decided to make him a cake just like he had said he wanted. Chocolate with peanut butter frosting. While I searched the interwebs for a recipe I found one that fit the bill: Chocolate with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze on top. Before reading all of the directions and assessing the equipment needed, I pretty much had my heart set on making this cake and Ryan's birthday would be ruined without it. And so it began.
First of all, I should note that I have very limited kitchen utensils and appliances and the ones I do have are of notably shoddy craftsmanship. I try and hold out on purchasing these items for it is a mere 338 days until we get married and, allegedly receive gifts in the form of bakeware and gadgetry. But I digress. I needed to go out and buy all of the fixin's to make this cake from scratch as well as some essential items: a hand mixer, a flour sifter, and a pyrex measuring cup because I thought I would outsmart a double boiler with it.
I came home with all my goods and got to work. I had forgotten to get wax paper but thought that if I just used enough butter on the bottom of the pan it wouldn't be necessary. So I mixed up my cake batter, put two pans in the oven and sat down thinking about what an amazing baker I am and how I should open up shop.
35 minutes later, cakes come out, looking all sunken and sad in the middle. This should have been a red flag for me, but instead I just decided that they would cool and it would firm up. I imagined it to be like letting the sauce thicken on Pasta Roni after it's done cooking.
Wrong. As soon as I tried to take them out of the pan it completely fell apart and turned into a hot mess. There was no way that I could even just load up the pieces with frosting and shove them back together.
But I would not be defeated. Today after class I stopped and got more supplies and wax paper, and set about remaking the cake. The structural integrity of the top most layer might be called into question, but all three layers are there, frosted, glazed and delicious.
Cake: 0, Ashley: 1.
