Not because anyone reads it, but because I think it will be therapeutic.
So, Cake.
There is whole buttermilk in my refrigerator right now, which of course means that it must be a good cake! Well here's the story.
On Thursday I went to the hometown and a fantastic friend came by to drop off a wedding gift. She had gotten the world's most fantastic deal on the PD teakettle we registered for! However, she felt bad for spending so little money so she threw in 2 PD cookbooks too! Such a great gift! The first recipe in the book was a Raspberry Limeade Cake. It looked heavenly, but
what's even better is that K LOVES raspberries and I LOVE limes. So that pretty much makes this our perfect cake. I gathered the necessaries from the local Super Target, told the boy to go away and practice so I could surprise him (no objections on his part), and got to baking.
Here's the stink of it though. I am a terrible baker. I will cook 'til the sun goes down, but baking? It's not my forte. However, I am very willing to learn if presented with a fabulous cookbook. I can't look at the pictures without salivating so I'm just gonna have to learn to bake.
So after calling my brother-in-law for advice on which KitchenAid attachment to use, I was off!
Until. I realized. This is a 3 layer cake. I have only 2 pans. So I call K, who is at the Apple Store, next to the Williams Sonoma!
"Hey! Could you stop at the Williams Sonoma and get me a 9" circle cake pan?" (because that's what the recipe calls for)
"Sure thing!"
He's great, I know. So he gets home with the cake pan. And I realize. My pans are 8". Not 9".
"How much do you love me and cake?"
"Ummm......"
"Could you take this back and exchange it for an 8" pan? Ya see, I messed up..."
And he did it!
See, I told you that he's great!
So, after those set backs I was off again. I baked and I baked. I made filling, I made icing! I called my sis-in-law because I've never made a layer cake! I slaved and sweated! I watched my dog play with his new sheep and I laughed! It was truly a fun experience.
So, before I show the pictures, here's what I learned.
1. If the cake looks too soft, that means it will fall apart.
2. Levelling the top is harder than it sounds.
3. Don't take the filling all the way to the edge. Red filling + white icing = a big mess.
4. Baking can be fun and rewarding!
5. Husbands don't care if the cake is leaning, or if the top layer is in 3 pieces as long as it tastes good.
So here are the pictures of the Paula Deen Raspberry Limeade Cake!
