Part 2 of the HW disaster-Thank God for small favors

All I can say is that I was thisclose to giving my entire class food poisoning, and possibly causing a law suit for my instructor, but don't panic all is well even though they narrowly escaped their deaths. Lets just say that I am not quiting my day job any time soon because a master baker I am not. On a more positive note I'm much more knowledgeable now, and I am sure not to poison anyone in the future. With that said there were both positive and negative aspects to my cake and everything is a learning experience;) Lets get on with the story shall we?


Well, though I tried relentlessly to sabotage my first class project I failed miserably. It seems that luck was on my side (somewhat) because I succeeded brilliantly in impressing both my peers as well as my instructor. The bright rainbow colors complimented the dark chocolate beautifully, and in fact looked much prettier on my dark chocolate cake than on the other plain Jane light blue cakes in class (that may be a slightly bias remark, but this is my little world, and in it I am the queen of perfection so get over it). Furthermore I was not the only willful student who did not bring in their light blue cake, but I was the only one who brought in a perfectly frosted, level, crumb free cake (now that part was not an exaggeration)! All hail the frosting queen!

( Because I know you are all dying to know; Julio is my husband, and the love of my life, and the most wonderful man in the world.)


Please note that It had been stated the previous week that we would taste each others cake in class, but since we had gotten so caught up in decorating by the time we knew it the clock read 9:00PM, and it was time to go (Thank you Jesus! Crisis averted). I received many Ooooohhhsss and AAaaaahhhss over my cake, and with my head swollen and my heart happy I skipped off (more like floated) to my car and drove home as quick as I could so that I could try this cake that J and I have been salivating over for the past 4 days. DUN DUN DUN!

*stunned silence*

Yes, that's right. No need to check your eyeballs to make sure you read that correctly. This cake has been in my fridge with sliced (not so) fresh strawberries in it for 4 days . You see, the thing is, my instructor stated in our previous class that buttercream acts as a preservative and you could refrigerate the cake for up to a week and it would still be fresh and delicious. Now keeping this new information in mind I made my cake on Sunday night because my weeknights are ridiculously busy, and assumed all would be well. Needless to say this "fresh" theory does not apply when it comes to certain fillers in the cake. Fillers that could go bad. Fillers such as fresh berries. *GASP*

My beautifully decorated cake makes it home, and I rush to the kitchen with J right behind me and I hurriedly slice a nice huge piece...





and a weird overpowering rotting fruit/strawberry smell assails my nostrils (and almost burned my nose hairs). I shrug it off to the weird strawberry goop that had been bleeding out of the cake and grab a fork. Wanting to savor every detail of this masterpiece I first taste the cake alone , and I prepare my taste buds for pure chocolate bliss. I envisioned myself dancing on chocolate clouds in a chocolate sky with strawberries and shredded coconut raining down upon me.



I'm twirling and singing and giggling and I shove a piece of cake in my mouth and I'm overwhelmed with....disappointment. The cake was not very impressive (the buttercream is another story it was AMAZING try it you'll want to bathe in it). It wasn't chocolaty enough and it wasn't moist enough and I didn't feel drowned in chocolate the way I should have felt eating "Devil's food cake". This recipe was a dud (damn you Ghirardelli and your deceiving delicious looking pictures!), and I began to kick myself for not using a recipe I had already tried.

Determined to make the best of the cake I take a hefty forkful of the yummy (read rotting) strawberry/coconut filling and I chew and gag and cough and run to the garbage pail and continue to gag. It was as if I had taken a bit out of a giant pile of rotting garbage. The strawberry was mushy and slimy and the juice was smelly and bitter and mixed with the coconut it was pretty close to a chick who hadn't showered in a week attempting to cover up the smell with perfume. J being just as anxious to try the cake thinks I'm being dramatic and takes a hefty forkful himself and immediately exclaimed "Babe its rotten!"

There you have it folks, fresh berries cannot be carried over for more than a day as they begin to break down and rot. Make no mistake though, I am still a baking diva;) These trials and errors are only preparing me to eventually take over the world with my mad baking skills.

Tune in next week for apple martini cupcakes (mother's day treats), my first TWD adventure, and banana, walnut chocolate chip cupcakes.

XOXO
Stay Sweet;)