Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

"You can't have your cake and eat it too." I understand the saying, and yeah I've experienced it plenty of times, like most people. But as a baker? Nope, doesn't happen. Well, except for the occassional failed recipe. But usually I can have my cake and eat it too. Just not too much or I'll have an expanding waistline, which I do NOT want. If you are a chocolate lover like me and looking for a great chocolate cake you might want to give my go-to chocolate cake recipe a try. I searched high and low for what would become my "tried and true" chocolate cake recipe and wouldn't you know it was under my nose all along? On the back of the Hershey's Dutch Proccessed Cocoa container I found euphoria in the form of cake. Want the ultimate sinfully delicious cake? Definitely top the cake off with my "tried and true" chocolate frosting - Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting. Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake 2 c. sugar 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 3/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark cocoa 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 c. milk 1/2 c. vegetable oil 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 c. boiling water Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. Makes 10 to 12 servings. Fantastic Double Fudge Frosting 1 1/4 c. sugar 1 c. heavy cream 5 (1 oz each) squares unsweetened chocolate 1 stick unsalted butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract Bring sugar and heavy cream to boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring so that it doesn't boil over. Remove pan from heat and add unsweetened chocolate, stir until completely dissolved. Add butter and stir until melted, then add vanilla, stir to combine. Refrigerate. When icing is cold, beat with an electric mixer or wooden spoon. Frost cake. Frosts 1 2 layer cake or single layer medium size sheet cake. *All credit goes to Ayun Halliday author of Dirty Sugar Cookies for original frosting recipe. Oh, and if you're wondering if "Merfday" is some unusual little known holiday yet undiscovered by you, the answer is no. Well, sorta. I made the cake to celebrate my long-time friend Meredith's recent birthday. Together we're two very silly girls, always coming up with goofy nicknames for our friends and family, and for as long as I can remember we've all known her as Merf. Me? Well, I'll just leave y'all to wonder about my alias...

Wilton Course 2 Finale

I did it!! I have mastered the art of basketweave and royal icing flowers. Well, atleast according to the Wilton Course II outline..lol There are many many other flowers I have yet to learn. I missed class 3 of 4 for the course, so I was a bit nervous about how my flowers & cake would turn out, but I must say I'm very pleased. I had to teach myself how to do some of the flowers, but I'm pretty happy with how they came out. And the basketweave..well, that was an experience..I was able to get into a rhythm & it wasn't too long before I made my way around the entire cake..my hand was telling me it wasn't a moment too soon you can believe that..lol

Par-Tee Time

I present to you my latest creation!! I worked long & hard to come up with what I felt was just the PERFECT idea for this cake. First let me set the scenario for you... My neighbor knows about my interest & efforts to start my own homebased bakery as she is often my guinea pig when I make breakfast muffins. Well, she was hosting a golf tournament over the weekend & asked if I would do a cake because one of the players was celebrating his 60th birthday - as you can see. So of course I jumped at the chance, as it's a great opportunity to get my name out to other people & a chance to pad my portofolio just a little bit more..lol Of course it doesn't hurt that it gave me a pretty good bit of decorating practice right? After much work & standing over the cake for probably a good hour just staring, trying to decide if it was actually done or not..I was beaming from ear to ear with pride. As I always am when trying out a new recipe, which carelessly this was I was a bit nervous that maybe it didn't turn out right or that it just wouldn't suit the taste of my customer. Unfortunately this time I had reason to be nervous - come to find out the cake was very DRY!! I was crushed..absolutely crushed. I definitely should have tried the recipe before hand..but I made a cupcake out of the batter & sampled it. The flavor was pretty good, but yes it was a bit dry..but I figured once I iced the cake it would be fine. I finished the cake up about 24 hours before the party, so I figured it would be fine..shouldn't dry out too much before then right?? Well I guess with this cake that wasn't the case..Either that or maybe the cake dried out more than the cupcake. Regardless I'm terribly disappointed & will NEVER use the Barefoot Contessa recipe she featured on her show for the "birthday cake with pink frosting". The recipe was called exactly that..well something close. The cake was really cute when she made it on the show & normally I really like her recipes so I felt pretty confident the cake would be atleast satisfactory, but in this case I was wrong. Maybe she just doesn't do good birthday cakes? lol Anyway I'm pretty bummed about that. I don't expect all my recipes to be great..you just have to test & toss sometimes..lol But the fact that I made something for someone else..especially because they were using it for a party & they were going to pay me for it..that makes it bother me even more. Bleh..maybe I'll be able to write a much more redeeming blog SOON!! lol