Photo by Emily Murphy
Over the weekend I was in Green Bay, WI with a bunch of friends to attend the Packers v. Lions game at Lambeau Field. This annual event was marked by another occasion -- my best friend's little sister's 20th birthday.
I've known Anna since she was a a little kid -- we always joke that she's "four years old," but it turns out that she's actually an adult no longer in her teens. She is a beautiful, fun and smart girl and watching her grow up has been a pleasure. (I know I sound like I'm a mom right now and I'm embarrassed, but I'm also tearing up at the idea of Anna being so old!)
So, for her birthday, I decided I would make her a cake. Not just any cake, but my mom's special chocolate cake recipe. I had just made this same cake on Thursday of the same week for my co-worker who recently departed to a bigger and better job, and it came out great. Fluffy, moist -- and best of all, it looked beautiful. I iced it well, shaved dark chocolate on the top. It wasn't too difficult, but looked like a million bucks.
So I set out to make the same cake for Anna, and the picture above was the finished product. I don't know what I did wrong or how one cake could look so beautiful and same cake made two days later could look like a pile of dirt, but it happened. The funny thing was, however, the second cake still tasted delicious, even though it didn't look like it would. So we served it right up for dessert after dinner. Very classy.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't substitute skim milk for whole milk when a recipe calls for "milk." Cake simply needs a little fat to hold everything together.
