Today is Marty’s birthday. We decided ahead of time that since our birthdays are less than two weeks apart, we would just give each other birthday cakes.
Neither of us needs or wants anything thing right now, so why spend money just for the sake of buying something. If I want some new summer clothes especially if I am a size or two smaller, I will get them then. The same thing goes for Marty for something he wants.
Up until a couple of years ago, I hated to bake. I could bake well before we went gluten-free, but I never really enjoyed it. After going gluten-free baking became my nemesis. Baking is an art and a science in itself, but gluten-free baking? Oy Veh!
I think part of why I don’t like baking is that it is too exact and you can’t just throw a Hail Mary and hope for the best. You have to actually follow a recipe. Yup, that’s the problem for me.
I have gotten better at this gluten-free baking thing because I have found some gluten-free flours that produce consistent results. I still have to follow a recipe, but knowing whatever I am making will come out well is worth it. I decided if I wanted to be a well-rounded cook I needed to learn to bake well.
I usually make one of two different kinds of cakes for Marty’s birthday every year. A pineapple upside-down cake which was my father’s favorite cake too, or a black forest cake. Last year I made a mini pineapple upside-down cake.
I think Marty secretly likes these cakes for his birthday is because neither of our boys would eat them…they have fruit in them! So besides a small piece for me, he gets the cake to himself.
Last year I made mini pineapple upside-down cakes. It just doesn’t make sense to make full-size cakes for just the two of us. Yesterday I made two different versions of mini black forest cakes.
I was using a recipe for a chocolate cake for two. I didn’t have a 4 or 6 inch round cake pan so I improvised. Already I could be setting myself up for disaster.
For the mini cakes, I used soufflé ramekins. Ramekins are made of porcelain which takes longer to heat up and slower to cool down than a regular metal baking pan. I already had a 50% chance of screwing the cakes up.
Before I made the cherry filling, whipped cream, chocolate bark, or toasted any almonds I made the cake to see if it would even come out.
I followed the recipe, poured the batter into three ramekins, and put them in the oven. I kept peeking in the oven door and was relieved they were rising! I still waited on the other components until I was sure these would work.
I took the cakes out and let them cool. They came out of the ramekins easier than I thought. Yay! Now onto making the other parts of the cake.
I always keep a jar of pitted fresh cherries in my pantry along with a can of pineapple rings. I make my own cherry pie filling and don’t use the canned one even though it’s easier and prettier.
Cherry pie filling is cherries, sugar, corn starch, and almond extract. Everything is thrown into a pot and stirred until it gets thick and glossy, less than ten minutes from start to finish.
Whipped cream is so easy that even a monkey could make it. Heavy cream, sugar, and pure vanilla extract that’s it whipped up with a mixer or a whisk. My grandmother Mema always bought Cool Whip. I ate it when I was a kid, but when I was researching food additives when Noah was little I stumbled upon this little fact…Cool Whip is a non-food item. A non-food item contains no real food. Yuck!
Non-food items are also referred to as twentieth-century American plastic food. Here’s a quick list so you get what I mean.
- Cool whip
- Velvetta is not cheese, it is a cheese food product
- Imitation blueberries in muffins
- Miracle whip
- Imitation vanilla flavor BTW…it’s made from paper pulp waste
- Chocolate flavored chips
- Cream filling found in sandwich cookies
- Powdered lemonade
- Caramel that isn’t caramel
- Frozen dairy dessert is not ice cream and does not melt
- Butter spray for popcorn
- Yoo-hoo isn’t chocolate milk, it’s a chocolate drink
- Sunny-D isn’t orange juice
- Pancake syrup isn’t maple syrup
I do have to say that I have consumed every one of those things on the list. One thing I am is not a hypocrite…I like a few of them. Especially a Yoo-hoo with a hotdog and the filling in an oreo. Shhhhhh I also like Velveeta.🤭
I am not sure if anyone remembers that I wrote about a book I read when Noah was a baby called, “Can you trust a tomato in January?” I wrote that I looked for it online but could t find it.
As I am literally writing this and the mail came. My friend Lindsey found the book I wrote about and sent me a copy! This is such a great gift and it came at exactly the right time! Thank you Lindsey so much, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness! ☺️
Ok, back to Marty’s birthday cakes. The only thing I still had to do was toast some almonds and make chocolate bark. It’s more impressive than it really is. It helps cover up my poor cake decorating skills and has a mini wow factor.
I found a jar of maraschino cherries in our bar fridge for a garnish. Yes, I love maraschino cherries. It surprises people that I like them because they are so artificial, but I am not a food snob. Give me a good cocktail with a cherry in it and I will be your best friend.
So I am pleased with the way his cakes came out. We had the cakes after dinner and they came out better than I could have imagined! The cake was moist but firm enough to hold up to the three layers even when Marty cut it. He loved both of them and kept saying how delicious they were. Yay!!!!! 🥳
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTY! That cake looks delicious.