Friday, April 11, 2008

When Accidents Happen

The temptation with this blog is to only show you the fabulous, photogenic, tasty things I cook. I've given into this temptation now for about four months, but I am finally saying no!

My friend Barb's birthday was last week and I love making friends homemade baked goods for their birthdays. Barb's favorite's are Gavin's favorites: Molasses cookies and Poundcake. Two things I have plenty of experience with.

So, after work one night this week, I cruised right home to make Barb's treats so I could bring them into work the next day. I already had all the ingredients, the recipe was out, I felt prepared. I was totally on my game.

First up was the poundcake. It takes about 45 minutes to bake, so I figured I'd prepare the cookies while the poundcake was baking. This is my game at its best. I love the challenge of prepping and cooking to make things come out at the right time.

I preheated the oven and mixed up the recipe - just like I'd always done. I prepared the pan with non-stick spray and parchment paper - just like I'd always done. Once I filled the pan and put it in the oven, I turned my attention to the cookies.

As I ground the spices and mixed the other ingredients for the cookies, the halfway timer for the poundcake went off. I opened the oven door, ready to rotate the golden wonder when...oh SHIT! (no f-word uncle John, happy?)
The golden wonder had sprung a leak! What the f...I mean, what the heck happened?! I panicked. I thought the cake was totally destroyed and I should just throw it out and start over. Gavin talked me down off the ledge though, and I let it finish baking. Actually, I needed this cake. The recipe takes takes 4 eggs, and I was now out of eggs since I'd already started making the dough for the cookies. I had also overcommited and was heading out to pub trivia in about an hour.

As far as I can tell, the cake didn't *crack* along the top like it normally does. This cracking releases the steam and the cake continues to bake. This time, the steam must have built up and finally busted through the weakest spot it could find.

Well, Barb's birthday was still the next day, so I had to make do with the cake I had. When it finished baking, it actually looked kind of cool. The batter that leaked out kind of looked like a tongue when baked. So, I added a couple of raisins for eyes and pllllffffffffffffff.

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