And so, like all things in life, this cake blog has reached
the end. This is a bittersweet moment indeed; almost two years have been spent
in the weekly pursuit of making cakes. Countless hours spent scouring store
shelves looking for that one rare ingredient, and countless more hours thinking
of new and interesting reflections on life that could be related to the cake of
the week. Ted and I had many accomplishments during this time: we have
successfully raised Evie into an almost three- going-on-thirty year old child
who talks, walks, and acts in a way far more becoming of a little princess than
a toddler. We had Liam. We have grown as a family in ways never imagined just a
few years ago. On the other hand, there have been rough times as well.
Shakespeare's tumor, constant money woes, and a house that at times doesn't
want to cooperate being just a few of these difficulties. All the while, the
blog marched on. At first this was an energetic pursuit, each week Ted and I
eagerly picking through the recipe book looking for the perfect recipe for that
week. The energy however wore off, as well as Ted's appetite for cake. At times
the process became tedious and cakes were made in the late hours of the
weekend, only because we had too. By the end, the blog became erratic, as life
got in the way of writing. But it is December of 2012 and after two years and
one hundred weeks, the blog is over. I really thought I was going to end with one long reminiscent blog of cakes past both good and bad, but honestly, I am just glad it is over.
The second to last cake was a Bumblebee Cake; probably the
one cake more than others that inspired fear just in picture alone. The cake is
a mound shaped cake that is icing to look like a bee hive and uses fondant to
shape miniature bumble bees on the outside. The cake called for flour, sugar,
baking powder, eggs, butter, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon rind. The cake itself was easy to make (though
long, clocking in at an hour and a half in the oven) but the decorating was
difficult. My version ended up looking more flat than the books picture, but
the effect was still adequate. The bees on the other hand were actually easy to
make.
The final cake was actually a rehash of a cake that I had
once started earlier. The Marbled Pastel Cake had been a previous disaster as
it calls for fondant icing which at the time I had never used. The fondant I
bought at Safeway ended up being stale, and unworkable, and the cake became
ruined in the process. That time I moved onto a different cake, but this time
around I was determined for success. The cake called for flour, sugar, baking
powder, eggs, butter, vanilla, and milk. Once the batter was completed, I was
supposed to set some batter to the side to be dyed pink and then swirled in
with the rest of the cake. In an effort to holiday this last cake up however, I
dyed half pink and half green, giving the cake an almost marbled look. The
fondant then too had to be dyed to give the marbled pink appearance. This time
there were no glitches and the cake ended up looking fantastic.
Though there is no cake next week, or any week to follow at
any time soon, I say until next time (an inevitably there will be a next time
of some sort) keep caking and Merry Christmas!
