Patty Cake, Patty Cake

We're a couple of baking girls! Our good friend Molly turned 24 yesterday. I had the privilege of making her birthday cake for the little party we attended last night! She has a super sweet husband. I knew this before I ever met him. He won me over by coming and taking pictures of our current home before we ever moved here. He emailed them to us so I could have an idea of what our new house was going to look like. As you can imagine it is a little tough moving so often and to make things worse moving to a house sight unseen. Kenny erased a little of the unknown for me and I've always been grateful for that. So, being the sweet guy he is, he had gone to the effort to get a cake recipe from Molly's sister that he knew she would love. I set out, with a little help from my trusty assistant Carter, to make a beautiful birthday cake. It was a chocolate chip cake that called for a bunt pan. This initially made me a little nervous. I always feel like the cake is just going to fall apart when you turn it over. We were up for the challenge though. Carter enjoyed pouring, stirring and mixing. We followed the directions to a T and much to my dismay I turned it over, after letting it cool, and it literally looked like I dumped a bowl of cake batter on my counter! A little disheartening, but we're not easily deterred. After a quick trip back to the store to replace a few items we had "ruined" we were back at it! I knew we needed to let it bake longer so we camped out in front of the oven and checked it periodically:

Our patience paid off and as Carter put it, "the cake didn't melt this time mommy!" Don't worry it's going to get a nice coat of butter cream frosting to cover up the rough spots!

I was a little nervous about whether or not the cake would TASTE good. That's the bad thing about cake you can't really slice a little taste out without it being really obvious! So, I just a said a little prayer and hoped for the best. Meanwhile, I potted this cute little flower for Molly. I've decided that a pretty plant in a nice pot makes the perfect gift for a spring or summer birthday.

We had a great time at Molly's party. She and Kenny were great hosts and had all sorts of fun food they had spent the day putting together! They are wonderful friends and we are so thankful that our paths crossed! Happy Birthday Molly...

Everyone assured me that the cake tasted great and I have to agree! It's always rewarding when people enjoy the fruits of your labor...even if it did take perseverance to pull it off! The biggest reward however, was a great big chocolate kiss from my little assistant, who just loved licking the spoon!