Last night, my youngest daughter and her friends came over after school to bake a cake. Like mother, like daughter, right? Well, sort of. My ingredients don’t normally include a cake mix – not to mention an icing mix. (I’ve never even heard of that.) On the other hand, I rarely have as much hilarity in the kitchen as they did.
And I’d never criticize anyone for using a cake mix. I was about her age when I first started making cakes, and they were always from a mix. Once or twice, I remember taking them out of the oven as soupy as when they went in. Perhaps I wasn’t the most accurate of measurers. (Alas, I’m still not.)
The photo they took of the cake is priceless. The lighting is poor, the plate is half-off the counter, and the cake is surrounded by dirty dishes. In other words, it’s a lot like the first photos I posted on this blog.
The Bulk Barn Chocolate cake
Bulk Barn cake mix
Bulk Barn icing mix
6 eggs (!)
Water
Roses and sprinkles from the Bulk Barn
Simple Chocolate Icing (see below)
1. Stop at the Bulk Barn on the way home from school. Buy everything you need to make cake and icing, and to decorate the cake.
2. Mix 800 grams of cake mix with 1 1/2 cups of water and six eggs. Stir. Divide among three cake pans and one cake-pop tray.
3. Bake cakes at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Bake cake pops according to directions.
4. Meanwhile, mix one bag of icing mix with some unmeasured amount of water. Decide it’s a) too runny and b) the worst thing you’ve ever tasted in your life. Other than the cake you and your friend made last fall.
5. Get your mother’s icing recipe:
Simple Chocolate Icing
(from Company’s Coming: Cake)
6 Tbsp softened butter
2 1/2 cups icing (confectioner’s) sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Beat butter in mixing bowl until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring until combined, then beating until smooth.
Frost your cake once it’s completely cool. Take photos with your friends and divide the cake in three, so everyone gets some to take home.
51 comments:
Cake mix or not, just being in the kitchen with friends and family is always a fun experience. And sometimes those cake mix cakes are actually not that bad...(just don't let anyone know I said that). :P
That cake should be falling right into my lap - that's a great photo of them - their faces are awesome!
I was at Bulk Barn yesterday - love that place!!! That top photo is priceless! Looks like they had a great time.
There's nothing better than cooking with friends! My stepdaughter has had some hilarious experiments with scones and egg dishes :) I bet they had tons of fun.
That's hilarious! Yesterday I had "cake mix" flavoured frozen yogurt. It was surprisingly delicious!
Looks like they had a great time. And I bet that is one of the best cakes they'll ever eat because of all the fun they had!
The roses and sprinkles make the cake! I hope they got to enjoy it and didn't let it fall off the counter.
They made such a fun experience out of the whole baking process, you can just see it on their faces. They'll always remember that cake!
My daughter and her boyfriend often bake - sometimes from a mix - sometimes not. And she and her friends used to make crepes regularly. (Not from a mix) And they always have so much fun in the kitchen - it was just grand! I love it all - the cake, the photos and the happiness.
Fun in the kitchen is the best! I remember doing something similar with my girlfriend when we were just about the same age and we are still friends 40+ years later :)
Oh, but it all looks like such fun! I forget what fun it is to have teenagers running in and out. Bonnie
Kids and Teenagers in the kitchen is the best thing ever :) My first blog pictures looked a lot like that one, too ;)
LOVE their expressions. Priceless! :)
I love this post so much! Looks so fun...I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to do this :)
The kids sure had a lot of fun in the kitchen making that cake - never mind the dirty dishes, the fun is all that matters:)Liked the cake too by the way - might not be ornamental and stuff,but still looks delicious!
Start with a kitchen and a simple recipe, add some friends, a few tablespoons of fun, a full cup of laughter and mix together...a winning combination!
Priceless memories plus you get to eat the treat at the end ;D
I had great fun baking cakes as a teen. They also turned out lopsided.
Have a great week.
One must start somewhere! Looks like they had a wonderful adventure.
That first picture is hilarious! So cute:-)..I don't make cakes from a mix, however Trader Joe's has one along with a frosting mix that I have heard is wonderful. I would love to try it, however I hate missing an opportunity to make a cake from scratch. Looks great, though.
hahah I think my favorite part is that they split the cake into thirds. That's what friends are foooooor...
Unfortunately, my best cakes are still the ones I make from a box. I have yet to perfect the spongy cake-like consistency. *sigh*
You always have to start somewhere when baking. A mix is good as any other way. Funny story!
Awww, how gorgeous. I love that first photo, looks like the cake almost didn't make it.
Future food bloggers in the making? The first cakes I made were definitely from a boxed mix and definitely involved canned frosting. And they were definitely delicious, not gonna lie. :P
I love it when my daughters venture into the kitchen - your photo is wonderful!
mary x
Oh my goodness, I am laughing so hard right now. This is an awesome post. I LOVE it!
That top photo is fantastic! Good job at capturing their expressions. And a fun post all around. I love posts like this - although I'm not a cake mix person, I absolutely use some convenience foods and actually serve them to people (Lipton Onion Soup dip, anyone?). Fun read - thanks.
ha, I love this post- I always loved (and still do) baking with friends!
I love the top photo! Just goes to show how fun it is to bake and decorate a cake!
Their cake is so cute!!! And I'm certain they had a ton of fun making it...especially with the soupy first batch of icing :)
Ha, nice. That's cool that you do cakes--my mother has always been super into cake decorating...
I love the last part of the instructions. :)
Ah, memories. Very cute post!
Ha ha! Great post Beth. I love that pic of the two girls holding the cake like it's a hot potato. The whole thing is so "teenage girl." :)~
I had to decorate a cake for food science in my senior year. My partner and I couldn't finish it in class, so I did it at home. We named it a natural disaster, for that's what it was. Fortunately, my partner wouldn't have been able to do any better, so she was okay with it.
Something tells me the teacher wasn't. I'm blanking out on that part of the memory. ;)
Well, Beth if yoou think this is not a good photo just go and check my first photos when I started blogging. My husband always makes fun of them. This might not be a very professional photo but it sure depicts a reality that happens in all kitchens when we cook, plus it is spontaneous and definitely shows how much fun you all had there!
I love it! Their cake looks like the ones that I used to make. I definitely started with boxed mixes too.
I remember baking with my best friend when I was in school-we made some royal messes, but we had so much fun. Great memories are made in the kitchen!
The memories of baking with friends are priceless. How fun that you captured it in a post.
I love it! The last photo is so great - it looks like my first blog photos too.
Oh, but so much personality in that picture! Love it. I'm afraid I'm a box mix type person and pre-made frosting (no mixes here). But maybe I'll have to make an exception for this cake. It looks yummy!
OR, now that I READ the recipe more closely, I guess I can stick to the box mix after all. :)
As long as they had fun, Beth, that's all that counts! And it looks like they had a blast. I have one favorite recipe that has a cake mix as an ingredient. They make some good ones now!
Just so much fun to see what they created! Great post.
I'm more of a fan of "real life" photos (the ones that include dirty dishes and such) than over-styled photos. There's no question that baking a cake produces plenty of dishes, so why hide that fact? Both photos show how much fun this project was, and I love the bit about the horrible runny icing mix! Good job, mom, for saving the day with your icing recipe. :)
Love that picture!! Sounds like it was fun too :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
That must have been a fun experience!
I love it~They had so much fun and I'll take a slice of that cake any day! :)
Love this post, Beth. Hilarious. Yes, that photo with the dishes etc is fantastic, cake mixes and all. I also love that first photo of them pulling at the cake!
Oh my goodness! I was cracking up the entire time I was reading this post. How great that your girls have a love of baking & share it with their friends. This brought back wonderful memories of baking with my girlfriends back in high school. I'm pretty sure that our cakes turned out much the same way. And I *know* their photo is miles better than many of my blog photos! :)
love these photos! funny funny post. I remember making cakes like that, back-in-the-day.
This post is hilarious - love the photo looking like they are going to drop the cake. I have dreams that this will be my little girl in about 10 years -having friends over to bake :)
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