Pretty Is As Pretty Does

Sometimes a creation isn't as pretty as it tastes.  I made a low fat chocolate cake for friends visiting from out of town using the new America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.  The original recipe is for a sheet cake but alternative instructions are provided for a layer cake.  I dug out my old decrepit round pans (I am known for my chiffons, which make use of an Angel food pan), gave them a good scrubbing, and whisked together the batter.  I knew that any flaw could easily be covered with a 7-minute frosting.

The second layer was slightly wider than the bottom layer.  How is that possible?  No worries, I'd make enough frosting to fill in any goofy spots.  To make a 7-minute frosting you must make sure every utensil and bowl is completely free of fat.  Not a drop of egg yolk can touch the whites.  I use my candy thermometer to make sure the frothing mix reaches at least 165 degrees.  Then I beat the heck out of those whites and sugar and soon a fluffy wonderful frosting is ready.  But not this time.  The frosting thickened, reached stiff peaks, then fell hard.  Each attempt to cover the sad little cake resulted in pools of thick white goo collecting along the bottom sides of the cake plate.  Then the top layer started to slide.

I broke a few bamboo skewers in half and stuck them through the layers to hold the cake in place for our ride to St. Paul then presented the cake with an explanation or two.  Before I could complete my excuses our hostess already stuck her fork into the side of the cake and was moaning with delight as she chewed bite after bite, telling us that her appetite for dinner was thus ruined.

Maybe layer cake proficiency is inherited. My mother always apologized for the cakes she presented at our birthdays, usually a sort of sassy uneven stack of something that tasted much better than it looked (and honestly, I never thought her cakes were less than lovely). She always let me pick out a sugary decoration theme and my hands trembled as I carefully removed the cellophane from the cardboard backing. I didn't want a single sugar drop to crumble off the cowboy's lasso or Western letters that spelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY across my chocolate glazed cake (I always chose the cowboy theme). Although when the occasional sugar crumb did separate from my cowboy, Mom always knew how to adjust the decoration upon the frosting "just so" so that no one was the wiser: simple and tasty.

The generic plastic surgeries and perfection from Hollywood to Top Chef are fine for the movies and expensive restaurants, but at home a good, honest cake satisfies.