Cake Dreams

A few weeks ago, a friend (lets call her Betty) and I were looking for something to do. Both of us were craving chocolate (go figure) , so we decided to bake. Why not, right? What we didn't know is what our quick craving for cake would turn into. After spending a little while searching the pantry for a prepackaged cake or brownie mix, we came to the conclusion that there was none. But don't worry! The story doesn't end here... we put our heads together (not literally of course) and decided to make a cake from scratch the old-fashioned way... just like they did in the olden days (at least I think that's what they did back then).

So we grabbed the flour, the sugar, the brown sugar, the powdered sugar, the chocolate, the Ovaltine, the cocoa powder, the vanilla, and all the other delectable goods we thought necessary for making a cake. We learned a lot from this experience too---like baking powder makes the cake rise (thank you Google) and marshmallows WILL get stuck in the blender (next time melt before you add to the mix).

Eventually we prevailed. At least until we had to get the cake out of the pans that is. We were so proud when we took it out of the oven... the cake had actually risen! Then, after the normal ten minute cooling period, we tried to get the cake out of the pan. Stealthily, I grabbed the pan and turned it on the cooling tray. I was proud of my efforts until I realized the cake was still in the pan, even though the pan was now up-side-down. Looks like someone forgot to grease the pan... Don't wanna mention any names or anything, but... I will say it wasn't Betty. My Bad.

Now to the title: Cake Dreams. I've already cleared up what this post has to do with cake, but now you may be wondering what dreams can come with a cake..

And the story continues (it is almost over, I swear): A good hour after the cake came out of the oven (and after it had been put in the freezer for a LONG period of time), the cake finally came out of the pan. Then we frosted it and finally, we were able to accomplish what Betty and I set out to do---eat chocolate. Hallelujah. Although I'm trying to be modest, I will admit that the cake was pretty good, and that made Betty and I start to think...

So here comes the dream: since the end of the school year is coming up, one of our teachers asked us to draw a picture of our dreams for the future. It could be anything we wanted, it just had to show a dream we have. While most kids were dreaming about what college they wanted to go to, or about becoming doctors or lawyers or astronauts, Betty chose to draw something different. She didn't draw herself graduating from college or living in a huge house... her dream was to win first prize at the county fair in the cake baking contest. Yeah, you read that right. That was the dream she decided to draw about in our AP class (next year maybe Food Trends?).

Well, Betty if that is your dream, I promise I'll help you achieve it. As long as I get to eat some of the cake along the way :) We still have a few months till the fair, but on Friday we will make another cake for practice so we can get our super secret recipe down perrrrfffect.

I'll let you know how Friday's baking experience goes (and I'll be make sure to grease the pan to avoid any nightmares).

XOXO

Amanda