Ahhh, yes. I'm having a triumphant day. I'm awesome. The beauty of this whole "mom" gig is that it's REALLY NOT about the children...it's about MEEEEE. I'm guessing that's why I like it so much. Okay, not when I'm failing miserably. But when I can figure something out and conquer all tasks all while the kids don't break a limb or bleed on the carpet, it's a great day for me. I set realistic goals.
Today is hubby's (AKA, Ricardo's) birthday. He's pretty low maintenance and simply requested a German Chocolate Cake. I obliged immediately seeing as how I told him for our wedding that he couldn't have German Chocolate Cake for his groom's cake. To which he responded, "Then why do they call it THE GROOM'S CAKE if I can't pick it?" Good point baby, I'll send a letter to the editor of Bride's magazine and check. But the main reason was that it has nuts and coconut, not a good menu item for the largest mass we'll ever host in our lives. Sigh. Oh, get off your high horse all you men out there. We got some chocolate cake with chocolate covered strawberries on it for the groom's cake, and I had a German Chocolate Cake served to him personally at the reception. We took it on the honeymoon. And we're still happy, so I must have done something right!
I resolve to not only give the man a German Chocolate Cake for his birthday, but make it from scratch. This, coming from the girl who wallows in the great skill of finding new desserts in the cake mix/brownie aisle. I've only made cakes provided by Betty Crocker. So, I did what every good domestic goddess does...I surfed for a good recipe online. Anything with the words "triple tiered" is a friend of mine. Save, and print.
I drop off the kids at school, and rush home to make cake for Ricardo. Now, there's a challenge before me. It's been raining, or threatening rain for quite a few days, and the lawn needs to be mowed, and it's finally nice out. I've got a window of opportunity to mow. (I like to mow...that's another post.) I can only mow the lawn while Ricardo is home to keep an eye on the kids, or while they are at school. And I've got to get the cake done because it's his birthday today, not tomorrow! So, what's a girl to do? My dad is probably shaking his head at me or rolling his eyes while he sits in his big recliner in the sky. He always said I had too many pots on the stove. When I told him we were having twins, he said, "Well this is just like you...two at a time." My dilemma of mow the lawn or bake the cake would fall right into this category.
Some of you are waiting to read the answer. Others of you have already figured it out...I'm guessing you're ladies. I hate to judge you boys, but really, chances are you're still waiting for the answer. Sigh. I mixed the cake, learning through experience andhow to separate eggs....never done that before, only wasted two eggs. And threw the cakes in the oven. Grabbed phone to monitor time, and went outsided and MOWED THE LAWN WHILE THE CAKES BAKED!
Hell yeah! I ROCK! I'm a genius. Got back from mowing, washed hands, and feet because in all the haste, I didn't put my yard shoes on, and flip flops....really, I chould have just gone barefoot. Green toes are so unattractive. I hiked my feet (one at a time, ofcourse) in the sink with three minutes to go on the oven timer and washed them off. Who knew it would take me exactly three minutes to wash feet!?
The cakes come out and voila! Now, at this point, I'm waiting for something to go wrong. It's a fairly difficult recipe. It involves folding peaked egg whites in it. And I'm well known for forgetting an ingredient or under/over cooking things. So, when the cakes came out PERFECT, I was perplexed. While they cooled, I went on to the frosting. Again, too easy. I had to let that cool as well, and it was time to pick up the kids.
So, I get all my stuff together, and grab the dog and we go pick up the kids. That's when it hit me...the Logistics of Motherhood. It was just logical to bring the dog. It was just a quick second for me to think that one up. I was so proud. I had to bring Farley the Wonderdog with me or he would have eaten all three cakes. I'm a genius. This is all just too brilliant and going way too smoothly.
Pick up the kids, get kids and Farley back home. All is well. Cakes are still there, frosting is still cooling. And that's when it hits me, the frosting isn't ready yet and Chris will be home soon! AAACK! I manage to get some frosting on there to stack and gell the three tiers together. But it's not sticking to the sides. What should I do? I call my mother. There's not much my mom and I agree on, but when I need a cooking tip, she's my go-to girl. SHE'S NOT THERE! Leave a message...beeeep..."Mother, this is your favorite daughter....it's Leslie...anyways, where are you? I've been trying to call you all morning? I'm having a crisis here...you're not there to help me. WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T HELP ME WITH MY CRISIS!? *Sigh* Fine, I need to know how to make german chocolate cake frosting stick to the sides of the cake. Call me ASAP. Love you, bye." I still haven't heard from her.
I throw the frosting in the refrigerator and pray. Ricardo walks in the door to see a half frosted birthday cake. Dammit. I take the frosting out of the fridge and upgrade to freezer. At some point, I thought it would work, and tried to frost the sides real quick. Mais non. It slid down. So we opted for taste, not presentation. Sliced up the cake, and plopped a blob of the runny icing on top. It was good! After Chris went back to work, I eventually got the sides frosted.
I won't be turning this recipe in to Martha Stewart today. But I got the lawn mowed, a pretty good cake made from scratch, all while keeping Farley from eating it and the kids aren't bleeding!
The cake tasted great, for a first attempt at -from scratch and all. When I asked Ricardo how he liked it, his reply sent this story full circle, "It's the second best I've ever had." Oh really, hunny. What's the first? "The cake from the wedding." And that's how I roll. Can I get a HOLLA!?
