Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us…?

cakemaking.

my mother was a cakemaker.  she, probably entirely unintentionally (adverbs are cool), passed that glorious talent and trade on to me, her daughter who once was very much overweight due in part to the fact that i spent a good 40% of my childhood eating tupperware cups full of leftover icing with a spoon.

cakemaking.

tonight i have been cakemaking.  i said yes about a week ago to making a cake for a baby shower because a) i love to bake, b) i love bake for other people, and c) i love to bake for other people most especially when those other people are good friends of mine in need of sugary deliciousness for a public affair.

little did i know that a baby shower cake was going to require so much attention…

1) shower cakes in general have this unwritten code of preparation and presentation.  i know this code because my mom was a cakemaker.  i would love to have never known this code.  my last week and a half would have been much less stressful–”stressful?” you say?  yes.  stressful.  joyfully stressful, but stressful nonetheless.

2) part of that unwritten code is about to be written, so brace yourselves:

x. shower cakes must be sheet cakes of at least 9×13 inches
x. shower cakes must be pre-cut for the party in perfect squares of generally 2×2 inches
x. shower cakes must be iced before being pre-cut, and then iced again.  and then decorated over the cuts so the cuts are not visible.
x. shower cakes must be cut with dental floss (affords a clean and quick cut with no crumbs)
x. shower cakes must have something cute on every single square (a little rattle or bottle or baby in the case of a baby shower, a dove or a flower or a ring for weddings, or just little candies for any occasion if you have no other options)
x. shower cakes are a pain in the butt

i am waiting for my crumb-coat to dry.  “what is a crumb-coat?” you may ask.  well, a crumb-coat is the first icing; it is in essence like a coat of primer–it doesn’t look that awesome but it does a great many things (covers everything, makes for a fresh “canvas”, holds down the things that stick to whatever is getting coated–in this case, crumbs–so that you don’t have nasty chunks ruining your paint job).

i have crumb-coated.  mission accomplished.  i have something like 3 hours to go on this cakemaking escapade.  i am going bed in two.  hurry up, crumb-coat.  me sleepy…

i had to make two cakes, by the way.  stinkin’.  one 9×13 cake will only serve 24 people.  there may be more or less than that tomorrow, and there are always people who take more than they should from the refreshment table, so two cakes it is.  two sheet cakes.  get excited.

i don’t know why i posted this entry, really.  i just needed to tell someone about the cakes.

that person was you.

lucky you. : )