The Misadventures of a Non-Baker

1. I don't like to bake things other than quiche and bread.
3. I don't like to measure stuff.
4. Baking requires you to measure stuff.
5. Today is Laura's birthday.
6. She likes cake.
7. Oops, I missed #2.

That being said, I decided to bake a cake to celebrate Laura's birth. The children, of course, wanted to help. This would be fun! I talked myself into it.

I used a cake mix because of numbers one through four listed above. Fiona read the directions.

Cyd helped measure stuff (water) and Fiona mixed the batter. This was easy!

Of course, there was some tasting of the batter. Raw eggs and all. At least the eggs were organic.

We made ganache, using cream and Ghiradelli chocolate, in order to redeem the boxed cake. It was so Sandra Lee.

Ganache. I just like the sound of it. You can't go wrong with these two simple ingredients.

It turned out pretty good, we all agreed.

Until you look more closely and see the giant crevice the size of the grand canyon smack dab in the middle of the cake.

Also, the ganache (stupid, albeit delicious, ganache) was somewhat liquid, so it didn't bind the two cake layers very well. We had some slideage. Is that a real word? Yes.

So we slid it back. And it looked even worse.

But the cake was still good. Thanks to Duncan Hines. And the ganache. And it looked a lot better when we turned off the lights and lit the candles. And cropped the photo.

Happy birthday, Laura jo. You owe me. Big time. (Not really. You're worth it. Even the slideage.)