I’ve been baking furiously, here, trying to get a cake for 60 or so people ready for this coming Sunday, when our church will host a baccalaureate for our seniors.
I am used to baking and decorating larger cakes, have done several for various showers and weddings. I love doing it.
However, cakes have a way of failing when you are making them for a special event. I’ve had many mix cakes fall, and occasionally, a scratch cake will fall for me.
This time around, I chose to use a mix because I have the following activities in my life the same weekend:
- Helping host the Arkansas Home School 2014 Graduation in Searcy
- Helping a newly widowed woman move into town
- Preparing and printing the brochures for our baccalaureate
- A camp rally at our church’s camp near Mena
- Cleaning and decorating our church for the baccalaureate
So, you can see, I really did not have time to make scratch cakes and although I never prefer it, I bought mixes and hoped and prayed they’d turn out.
Well, they did not fall.
But when I attempted to turn the first one out onto a rack to finish cooling, it stuck.
It was firmly IN the pan, so firmly it left parts of itself behind and nearly broke in two as I wrestled with it.
As I complained about how they just don’t make cake mixes like they used to, I sort of pieced it together and started on the next cake, determined to really slather the pan with oil and flour, so this one would not stick.
I reached for the other pan and, lo! it was already oiled.
It was the pan I’d prepared for the first cake, but I’d inadvertently poured the first batter into an unprepared pan.
I said a lot of mean things about you, Betty, and I apologize.
It was all my fault.
😉
____________
UPDATE!
The final product, I am so glad to say. Doing this was like watching a scary movie! Seven pounds just in the frosting. Aren’t we amazing!
Home's Cool! 
Only the past few years have I improved in the cake-baking category. My kids used to call all my cakes volcano cakes, ’cause they always erupted. So I feel your pain. But I had to laugh out-loud about your mistake. Misery loves company and I think of how many times I’ve made mistakes and blamed other people. Thanks for being normal, Katharine, and thanks for being humble enough to admit it.
DiAne
I’m glad you laughed, DiAne!
I did too, after I realized how silly it would be still to be mad at Betty. Especially since she’s just an imaginary person in the first place! 🙂
Ah! I am grinning from ear to ear! I’m glad you can laugh about it. My grandmother would have said “Well phooey!” I don’t know why this post made me think of her, but it did and that makes me smile. 🙂
I think “phooey” was among the things I said. And I’m a grandmother… 😀
Glad I could make you smile, Jackie, and thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment!
Bless your heart and soul!!! And like you said, it always happens when you have a million and one things to do!! I’m sure it will taste great and it’s happened to all of us. You are truly a wonderful lady!
Rita
Thanks for your too kind opinion, here, Rita!
A million and one things to do–I like that thought… I think my main trouble was that I was up too late and getting foggy headed. That couldn’t be Betty’s fault! Right? I mean, she did say, clearly, to grease and flour the pan.
Maybe she should have mentioned to pour the batter into the prepared pan, instead of another? 🙂
I was going to say something about you being mad at an imaginary person, a mascot at best, but you already mentioned that particular folly. The truly funny/sad thing is that I’ve done this (vented at others when the problem was me) plenty of times, so I quickly saw my own folly.
I’m glad we can laugh at ourselves… 🙂
You are right, it’s a common human foible, Andy, but still, she needs a quality engineer… 😉
BTDT…and chuckled at your post as well. Looks like you had a busy weekend! Hope everything else went off without getting stuck. 😉
Thanks for your kind wishes, Michele, and WELCOME to Home’s Cool!
I hope it all turns out well, too, but I never know…! 🙂
Nice to know I’m not the only one who does things like that! Praying your busy weekend is characterized by joy and a peaceful spirit! My weekend is crazy, too. 🙂
Thanks, Tiff! I think there must be a whole tribe of us out here. What are we? Overbooked? 😀
Apparently!
I’m not much of a cake baker. Yours looks good to me!
Thanks so much, Talya! I wish that were mine! I’m making four 9″x13″ cakes to feed 50 – 100. All is stacked and frosted, now, yay. I may add the 2nd layer of frosting tonight.
Or not. 😉
I am attempting to perfect my baking skills at the moment. My problem though: over greasing the pans and getting ‘bubbly’ surfaces when the cake finishes baking. I need to figure out the right ratio so it doesn’t stick, but doesn’t mar the surface of the cake.
Plus, I am trying to figure out how to get a bundt cake to bake evenly so I get a nice, flat bottom on the cake when flipped. No luck so far!
Thanks for the inspiration! I’m not the only one who has difficulties. 🙂
A little free advice, Cristina, about what I should have done:
Use just the thinnest coating of oil, then a sheet of wax papter cut to fit the bottom of the pan, then oil that, too. Never fails for me.
As for bundt cakes, is your oven level? I’d check that first. Set a 9×13 pan in the oven and then set a small carpenter’s level on the edge of it. Or just pour about 1/2 cup water into the pan and see where it runs to.
There should be twisty feet on the bottom of your stove for leveling purposes. Hope that works.
Another thing you might try is running a knife around through the batter once, to eliminate any larger bubbles? Also, dropping the pan full of batter, flat onto the counter, from about 2″ up, will help bubbles surface before you bake.
Learned all that from my mom, who was a professional baker. 🙂
Thanks for the advice! I will check to see if my oven is level, perhaps looks are deceiving.
I did drop the pan a few times, to try and work out bubbles; I really think my problem was over-greasing, I’ll work on that. The knife idea is good too, though.
When doing round cakes, I use parchment and that works well for me. The bundt pans are the new territory. I’ll keep trying till I get it right.
Thanks again,
Cristina
😳 Keep me posted, Cristina, and I hope you find a way to make astounding cakes! 🙂
I think I might have found a solution. Apparently, I am supposed to be wrapping wet towels around my cake pans. Yeah; didn’t know that!
Next week, I’ll try this again and see how things differ. Thanks!
Hope it works…I never do those wraps…
Will do!
Oh, I can so identify!! Cut it up and make a trifle or cake balls.
Hey, PC!
Actually, if you put enough frosting on ANYTHING, it’ll hang together! 🙂
Mostly it just lost a few sculpted pieces from the bottom, which I could scoop off with a spatula and return to their places. All covered by now, and looking good! Thanks for the advice, though. 🙂
heehee. I’ve done some pretty silly things with cake baking, too. They may not have looked the best but they tasted great!
Hi, Gina! WELCOME to Home’s Cool! 🙂
Thanks for the visit and the comment!
You know I was partially enjoying all the crumbles I got to sample…:)
LOL I laughed at that – and then wondered… did the same thing happen to me recently? I made a cake and turned it out and most of it was left in the pan, just like you said. I wonder if I forgot to grease or greased the wrong pan…
Hello, Georgiaberry, and WELCOME to Home’s Cool!
I am so glad you got a laugh and a heads-up from reading here. 🙂
All I can say is, be careful about grumbling at Betty; she’s always watching! Ha! 🙂
lol! when we were preparing for our daughter’s baptism party i had a bit of a disaster. I had made an angel food cake. i poured the batter into the angel food cake pan. unfortunately, when i picked up the pan to place it in the oven, rather than pick the pan up by the edges, i picked it up by the center piece. Of course, that is how the pan comes apart. i had batter all over the kitchen floor, which was carpeted. My hubby ran to the store to get a pre-made cake, as we were leaving for church in less than an hour at that point!
Oh, Kate! That’s cutting it pretty close, baking a cake immediately before an event! I’m sorry you had such a disaster, but you know, lifting by the middle does not really work! :-\ Sounds like a blog prompt, doesn’t it! 🙂