It turns out, the herbs are on hold, I’ve got to get busy with the baking. I’m lucky enough to see Heather again tomorrow, but this time at the salon, it’s time to get my hair honed to perfection and Heather is just the woman for the job, she’s a hairdresser extraordinaire! She knows I have an appointment, but what she doesn’t know is that I have an appointment bearing cake!
I’m in week 3 of my Evelyn Rose give-it-a-go challenge and I’m short on time, so I try her One-Bowl Chocolate Cake. I’m far too lazy to make icing to stick a sandwich cake together and top it off too, so I think I make what I think is a smart move, and make one bigger cake in a deeper tin. The problem is that my big cake turns out to be pretty small, and not big at all, so I have to make another one after all. That was so not in my plan!
I’ve made quite a bit of a mess so figure I may aswell make some more. I’m thinking of taking some sweet treats to the Prof and the lovely Geraldine. I want to make some shortbread but my butter is too hard. Me thinks a couple of seconds will soften it up in the microwave, but I forget about it, and it melts completely! Kitchen SOS!
It’s time for some quick thinking; what can I make with a bowl of melted butter? My lovely cousin Lucy comes to mind. Ages ago, she sent me her recipe for Cousin Lucy’s Fantastic Flapjacks and my butter debacle is the perfect excuse to use it. It’s simple with only four larder ingredients and it’s in the oven in minutes! The only problem is, I don’t press the button on the timer and forget about the flappers when I get embroiled in the laundry, but I manage to rescue them in the nick of time, or just after!
I was only saying to Heather today, sometimes things happen and it’s a sign. If it’s a good sign, something really absolutely fabulous happens and everything goes your way… and then there’s the signs when things don’t go quite right. Sometimes, it’s good to give up!
Unfortunately, I don’t practice what I preach! Later, we go out for a iodine loaded curry with our friends Ben and Edi who are over from the mother country. It’s fun to catch up over a good feed and some fine wine. After we say a fond farewell to our British buddies, I decide to pick up where I left off in the kitchen. Big mistake! HUGE mistake! In my wine wisdom, I decide to try to sandwich and ice Hev’s cake with gusto. I trust Evelyn Rose to see me right with her Milk Chocolate Icing but it turns out like poop in a pan. The mixture separates and is a total disaster. I know a bad workman blames his tools, does that mean a bad cook blames her recipe?! Evelyn has had me wasting a whole heap of time, money, energy and worst of all, chocolate! To add insult to injury, the cakes feel as heavy as lead balloons and are as dry as a desert! I try not to look back in anger but can’t help myself. Evelyn’s challenge is so off and her book has been condemned to the corner of the cookery book shelf. There’s some major dummy spitting going on here. Bah! Still tomorrow is another day. Another day, another cake to make!
