up and running

Why don’t I start with my very first cake?  Since there isn’t a picture of it, I’ll have to create one with words.  Imagine a large turquoise rock. We’ll call it a free form design.

My mom went away for the weekend and I wanted to welcome her back with a lemon cake.  I carefully followed the recipe and my first solo baking effort came out of the oven looking and smelling heavenly.  I moved the cake layers to the cooling rack and started making the frosting.  Then I played with food coloring to get just the right shade of turquoise — my mom’s favorite color.  Eager to finish, I started frosting the layers.

Lesson 1: Cakes should be frosted after they have cooled.

Lesson 2: Remove cakes from cooling racks before frosting them.

With my beautiful lemon cakes crumbling away, I quickly transferred the pieces to a plate, thinned the frosting to make a turquoise glaze, and drizzled it over my creation to help the pieces stay together.  It may have looked like a small blue boulder, but my family declared the “rock” cake a success.  Not bad for a 10-year-old's first attempt.