I’ve always admired those cake wizards who conjure up these amazing creations. Don’t get me wrong, I can bake a decent cake, I went to Hotel School, off course I can, but when it comes to the decorating part, I bow out. I’ve had so many disasters, I’ve given up. I still make cupcakes, apple pies, and baked goodies, but I know my limits.
As we approached Saadiqa’s birthday, Jenny realized that I didn’t have a cake prepared – and I don’t typically bake or purchase cakes for such occasions. It’s wasteful, and we end up taking it to work or school the following day, distributing it to anyone who glances our way.
However, Jenny had an exciting proposition: we would bake a cake for Saadiqa’s birthday. Unfortunately, Jenny had plans with her friends and would not be available to start until later that night. By 11 pm, she had yet to return, causing me to worry about getting the cake ready in time. Taking matters into my own hands, I dug up an old recipe and began baking three layers of cake. As I worked on the second layer, Jenny finally arrived home, claiming she would have started upon her return. I remained skeptical.
We planned to use fresh cream and fruits to decorate it. Unfortunately, the kitchen was sweltering at 11.45 pm, and the cakes were not cooling fast enough for us to begin decorating. We decided to call it a night at 12.45 am and decided to decorate it in the morning since we planned to cut the cake at 11.30 am.
The next day, we began whipping the cream, but we soon realized that we had over-whipped it, causing it to curdle. We quickly grabbed another bottle of cream and whipped it to just over soft peaks. After adding a bit of icing sugar, the cream inexplicably turned watery. We were left with no cream and it was almost 10 am.
At this point, we had to improvise. We made cake pops out of the excess cake pieces, and we used cookies, fruits, and edible paper butterflies to decorate the cake.
At 11:50 am, the cake was finally ready for Saadiqa, who beamed with joy as she gazed at what she perceived to be the masterpiece before her. “Thank you mummy for baking me this cake,” she exclaimed, taking a bite out of one of the butterfly decorations.
She was thrilled with the cake, even though it looked like a hot mess. Jenny and I both exchanged bewildered looks. “This is the first and last time I’ll bake a birthday cake,” I told her and we both chuckled as Saadiqa enjoyed the monstrosity we created.
As we laughed and watched Saadiqa’s joy, I realized that it didn’t matter what it looked like to her, if it’s made with love, it’s all good.