1. Remember to double check the pantry. It is very annoying to not have an ingredient, especially when you have just gotten back from the grocery store.
2. Apparently cats like cake. Don’t leave a cake out to cool on the counter without direct supervision. This may lead to the baking of another cake.
3. Don’t forget the vanilla in the frosting. I was told that the frosting was very good (it was chocolate), but it still bothered me that I forgot it. As an aside on this note, always realize that you left an ingredient out BEFORE you have the cake half iced. At that point there is no going back, especially if you have already had to bake the cake a second time.
4. Don’t expect to be able to get your 18 month old daughter to behave when you are trying to carry two containers of cupcakes, a giant cupcake, and your purse. It just won’t happen.
Here is a picture of the Giant Cupcake that I made for my nephew’s birthday. He requested white cake with chocolate icing. I added Oreo crumbles.
I also made some darn awesome cupcakes. The cake part was a triple chocolate fudge cake mix with a dollop of cheesecake and a mini Oreo in the center and buttercream mixed with pulverized Oreos. It was an experimental recipe and it got rave reviews. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture taken of the cupcakes and I highly doubt that there are any left over from last night’s party.
I came to the realization a couple of weeks ago that I had dug a very, very deep dark hole for myself and wouldn’t be able to get back out until January. I was talking to my co-workers about what things I needed to bake and when I had to do it. At that point I almost had a coronary! I had totally overbooked myself, which is usually what I do. I hyperventilated for a few minutes and then got myself back together. I decided to make up planner sheet for each thing I needed to make. One side of the planner had a section for scheduling out when I would do each step for an individual cake (or event, such as Thanksgiving). The other side had space for the design of the cake as well as ingredients and anything else that I might need to write down. It took me about an hour to plan everything out and then I put it all in a binder.
The first cake on the list went okay, but prompted the list of “Notes to Self” at the beginning of this post. This week is going to be very busy and if I don’t keep to my schedule, there is no way that I’ll get everything done. I baked a chocolate cake last night. Actually it will be two small two-tier chocolate cakes. I also have a batch of cranberry-orange cupcakes with orange buttercream, angel food cupcakes with strawberry jam, strawberry cupcakes with cotton candy buttercream, and deviled eggs to make…all before Thanksgiving on Thursday. Not to mention the fact that I work full time and have an 18-month daughter with a really bad cold. Still, if I do everything they way I have it mapped out, I should be okay. The bad thing is that I’m not really known for keeping a schedule.
And it always seems that everything goes perfect when I’m just baking for the fun of it; however, if I’m baking for someone else…everything goes wrong (see Notes to Self for a few examples). One would think that I would learn important lessons every time I bake, but alas, that is not necessarily the case. I seem to be rather hard headed in this matter and it doesn’t appear to be getting any better. Perhaps it is a side effect from all the Evil Yumminess…
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