It's amazing how pending motherhood changes women: they seem to develop the strangest and most wonderful skills, often in areas never explored before. I have not escaped this, and have found it to be true, most notably, in the kitchen!
Despite Andel's often public declaration of "we can't really cook and stuff" (
by the way, I like how I cook just fine - I choose not to make stews!), I have never spent more time in my kitchen - or my mom's or sister's or any one I can get into - than over these last 9 months! And I'm not spending my time experimenting with gourmet sarmies. I, my friends, am baking!
I have tried and tweaked recipes for cookies, brownies, cupcakes, muffins and baked desserts, and I was pretty happy with that for a while. But then, after following all Tarrin's culinary designs with a drool and a dream for tea and cake, I wanted to attempt a proper cake - one with rolled icing and everything. So I decided I would make one for Ethan's dedication (not like I really needed an occasion).
Clearly, being pregnant has also made me a little loony: I don't think it's at all sensible to make your first attempt the day before the cake is required, but that's exactly what I did. And, needless to say, when I got to Ash I realised I'd forgotten most of the essential ingredients and tools at home! Still, I was determined to make this cake, come hell or broken water!
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| While the cake was baking, I started rolling out more than half a kilo of icing - and got a good upper body workout in the process! |
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| Once the cakes (two different sizes!) had cooled (and been successfully stuck together with chocolate icing) Ash helped me cover it with the rolled icing. |
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| Then came the trimming and styling. I don't yet know to get it smooth and flat without destroying the entire thing! |
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| The decorating: my favourite part! There was even enough icing to make a necklace of pure sugar around the base. |
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| I was pretty impressed at being able to create all the letters (even though I did screw them up later in the process). |
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| Initially I was told that liquid food colouring would disintegrate all the icing, so I braved it out and began painstakingly hand-painting in bits of blue to add some much needed colour! |
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| Well, what do you know: the colour didn't disintegrate the icing after all! It was a little late to make any drastic changes, but at least we managed to make it look somewhat less clinical! |
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| The final product: double chocolate sponge cake with chocolate butter icing, covered in a rolled icing. |
In retrospect, I think I'm better at conceptualising the cake than actually making it. I suppose it turned out ok though. Considering that I managed to do almost everything wrong, I was quite happy that the cake made it to the dedication, and even to Jorja's birthday, and that everyone who had a slice was left smiling and satisfied!
Disclaimer:
I would not recommend that any 38+ week pregnant women attempt this!
(After 6 hours on my feet I nearly missed the dedication altogether to give birth!)
