Someone's in the Kitchen

Alert the media, or EMS - I've been in the kitchen a few hours this afternoon. It's not unusual for me to be in the kitchen cleaning, schooling, or eating, but I was actually cooking. Well, I was baking.

Songbird has her 6th bday party this Saturday and wants my Granny's chocolate cake baked in our new Betty Crocker Bake n' Fill pan. Between my track record w/Granny's cake and the new baking utensils, I had an excuse for a test cake.

So test, I did. I tried to substitute baby prunes for the butter. That works fine in commerical cake mixes, but no so in Granny's yummy recipe. My Granny will laugh hysterically when she hears what I've done this time. It was really flat, and kind of crsipy around the edges.  Here's Fifi modeling the results:

Lovely, eh? (Fifi, the infomerical queen, said if I would've had Smartware that wouldn't have happened.)

You see, we have a history - Granny, her cake recipe & me. Not only do I have delicious childhood memories of eating her chocolate cake, I have hilarious, at my expense, memories of trying to bake it. A few years ago I decided it was time to try the recipe myself. Perched at the computer, ready to document the recipe for posterity I eagerly listened as Granny dictated to me. I was trying to get meticulous instructions, probably wearing her out with all my questions. It wasn't long until we were both in tears - from laughing so hard.

She was trying to explain to me how to melt the chocolate squares w/a double boiler. She said to turn it upside down. I thought she was talking about the double boiler & was wondering how on earth that was supposed to work.

I was showing my prowess in the kitchen before I even attempted the recipe.

Then last September I wanted to give the recipe an intial try for a friend that likes cakes. It took me 3 tries to get it right. I was on the phone to me Granny a few times, knowing that my follies would make her laugh. Then she happened to talk to my mom. By the time I had produced a presentable cake, I had three generations quite amused at my attempts in the kitchen. 

So, today I got back in the saddle. I knew the prunes were a risk, but wanted to see how they would do. I'll stick to the butter.

The second cake was much better. We filled it with chocolate pudding & chocolate chips. That sounded like too much chocolate, even for me. Amazingly, the kids and a couple of friends loved it. I forgot to take a picture & it was gone quite quickly. I'll try to post a picture of the finished party product.

Last week I let Mom & Granny know I'd be making another cake this week. Granny reminded me that she took naps during the day (i.e., schedule the phone calls for help around the naps) and Mom asked something along the lines of how many tries I thought it would take this time. I don't mind the jokes becauase I know my gifts are in other areas ---way outside the kitchen. Thankfully, my dh is gifted in the kitchen and he knew that was part of the deal when he married me. It's a good thing there are more ways to a man's heart than through his stomach.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some cake to eat.

 

Comments

[Rhonda]

6th birthday. WOW! How time does fly! Totally enjoyed reading this story. I can just picture you in the kitchen while little bright eyes watched.Way to go!

[Joanne]

Loved that story. I used to call my mom every year when I'd make my Thanksgiving pies. I always needed help with those crusts. Now that I've finally got them down (you buy them, lol,) I still call her as I'm making them.

[Lexie]

Glad you enjoyed the cake, Lynn.

Diane, the prunes do well in box mixes. Try them sometime & let me know what you think. If it's a white cake, use applesauce. If I remember correctly, it's an even exchange for the oil.

[Diane]

Prunes? Hmmmmmm--I'll give that some thought!

Lovely cake...lovely friendships!

Diane

[lynn]

As one of the above mentioned "friends" I have to say the cake was delicious!