Plan D

So, what I called Plan B in my previous post with the birthday cake was actually Plan C.

The two round tiers weren’t baking properly and took more than an hour and a half, which did not leave me with very much time to cool, fill, ice and decorate. I was positive they were cool enough so when I went to slice them into two layers each, I didn’t bother to check the temp of the centers.

Sure enough, the filling started oozing out all over the place as it melted. So, I put all four pieces in the fridge and thickened the filling for round two.

By this time my leg was excruciatingly painful from me standing on it for the better part of 2 days and from very little sleep both nights (from pain and stress). Things were not going well, time was running out and I finally just said “I can’t take this. It may taste okay but I wanted to do something nice for her and I just can’t serve this!” Hubby didn’t judge or get mad, he just said we could pick up a cake from the store on our way there and if I wasn’t up to staying that was okay.

And actually I knew that it all would be okay. My friend whose birthday it was suffers from MS and she also has to cancel out on things last minute. This party all hinged on whether she was having a good day or not and she was so it went on. We did stay for a bit and had some food. A chair was put in the kitchen for me, hubby got me food and those who knew me came in there to talk to me. It was quite nice to be out with friends until it wasn’t anymore. They were ready to open presents in the living room and I could not see myself comfortable doing that so we said our goodnights and came home to hurricane Cake in our kitchen and dining area.

So plan D was purchasing cake when I had already made 3 double recipes! The cake won’t go to waste. I wanted to tinker around with some new techniques and if it goes stale while I do, it won’t be any more of a lose if I did nothing with it. And we have several people who are always willing to take our “cake scraps”. That is what is hard when there is just the two of us and neither can eat a lot of cake.

I was ready to throw in the apron on this one, and maybe I should. But also maybe it just means I need to do MORE instead of less so I am in practice for the real ones. I really don’t see the point in practicing on styrofoam, specially when I am carving or stacking. You don’t get the same effect.

Hmmm, maybe I should start taking addresses on where to send the cakes I have worked on…