The Challenge of 15 Layers

Good morning HLA! It was so much fun yesterday watching the Foodie Blogs round up votes so they could compete in the Second Annual Super Bowl Snack Throw Down with us. Thanks so much to all of you for your participation. Be sure to check in tomorrow to find out who will be competing this year.

It's Cheryl here (or should I change my name to Bakeryl) giving Claudia a much deserved break.

A couple Friday's ago I declared the whole month of August my birthday and decided I would bake the cake that I have been drooling over for months. If you're a long time reader you know that I'm a fan of Bakerella- she's a cake-pop-brownie-baking-photo-taking-goddess! And just below is the photo of her 14 layer cake that I just had to see if I could make. She makes it look so easy! I won't repeat all of her great instructions- you can read that here. Hopefully, if you've been drooling over this cake you can learn from my experience and do it better.

Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it grand? Can't you just imagine it with a cold glass of milk? Don't you just want a piece of cake?

I got to prepping- making sure I had all the ingredients. Butter- lots of butter. And being the competitive snot that I am, I had to push it to 15 layers. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb, I tell you. Let me be completely honest. You need a partner in crime (or two) if you want to bake this cake. One person can get busy preparing the pans and the other preparing the mix. Below are my prepared pans- they're all lined with parchment, greased and floured. This was my lease favorite task.
Bakerella thanked her mom for her Kitchen Aide mixer. I can't remember which wonderful person(s) fulfilled my wedding shower request but whoever you are- thank you! I can't imagine mixing up this much batter without one.

Another important step is to make sure you spread the batter all the way out to the edges of the pans. I skipped this step. I don't' know why. Baking all the layers wasn't that big of a deal. It went pretty quick.

Below is where it went very wrong for me. I don't know if I cooked this frosting too long, not long enough, and I know I added the vanilla in too early. It tasted wonderful off the spoon but it wasn't drippy like Bakerella's.

See how hers drips below.

Mine does not drip. And look at this layer. We'll just hide that one in the middle. It's looking a little Dr. Seuss like.
Hers below after she was finished putting on the layers and adding all the frosting.

Mine below. OH NO!!Not good, folks. Not good. See why it's important for you to spread the batter all the way out to the edge of the pans? It just kept going wrong from there. I mixed up the butter cream frosting and it didn't look all dark and creamy like hers. So, at this point it is never going to be a pretty as hers and frankly, I'm starting to be really over this cake. I mean really. Just because hers looks beautiful with 14 layers it doesn't mean it is going to taste any better than a single layer cake. I decided I would spice it up with these sprinkles.

I will be forever sweeping up these sprinkles from my kitchen floor because the only way I could get them on the side of the cake was to throw pinchfuls at the cake and hope they stuck.

So, what does the inside look like? Here it is. 15 layers. When you slice a piece it really equals 2 to 3 slices. And since that frosting thing went wrong, it didn't taste quite right. Kind of crunchy.

Would I - with my obviously limited baking skills - ever bake this cake again? Uh, no. I will not be changing my name to Bakeryl! Not unless I had a pitcher of margarita's and at least two friends to help, would I bake this cake again. One to prepare the pans and the other to clean the mess. This mess.

So, I will be staying with my go to Thank You Betty Brownies that I bake often in cupcake form and fondly re-named Cupbrowookies. Easy and Tasty. I suggest those any day of the week.

Would you, could you bake this cake? Do you have a favorite short cut or tip in the kitchen that would help me and others? Inquiring bakers want to know.

Signing off until tomorrow...

She Who Bakes The Cake and She Who Takes the Cake!

Since the Cheese Hens ran away with the win yesterday today we will depart from March Madness to feature one of my favorite things...cake!

She Who Bakes the Cake
I am lucky enough to know a fantastic woman named Kate Danko. Kate and I attended high school together and now she lives in Fort Bragg, North Carolina with her husband and handsome twin two-year-olds Connor and Brandon. Kate's husband is in the military and he has spent 17 months of the past 25 months away from the family which has left Kate to handle raising her precious boys alone. What I've come to love about Kate is that she doesn't let the stress of having twin toddlers keep her from being creative and she is most creative when it comes to food. You'll have to check out her blog dankofamilyscoop.blogspot.com to see the full scope of her yummy food creations because today I'm only focusing on her cakes.

You see, Kate has photographed some cakes she has made and they are Amazing (with a capital A). With no formal training, a little fondant and a lot of creativity she manages to pull together cakes that are worthy of the Food Network. As you can see from these pictures Kate would fit right in with our group of women.

Crying Baby for a baby shower










Train Cake for Brandon and Connor's 2nd Birthday (Note the second picture which shows how she shaped the cake out of rice krispy treats to accomodate Brandon's food allergies).

And her talent doesn't end with baking cakes...she made this awesome diaper cake for a friend's baby shower.













She Who Takes the Cake
While I could certainly argue that Kate takes the cake that is a title that has been left up to YOU the readers of highlowaha. For the past several weeks we have had the nomination lines open for you to submit the name of a woman in your life who "Takes the Cake" to be honored by highlowaha. The competition was STIFF, you all came through with touching nominations of amazing women in your life. The HLA creative team had the difficult task of narrowing the field down to three finalists and from here it is up to you. In today's comment section please vote for one of the following three finalists:

Lisa Van Wallaghen
I nominate Lisa Van Wallaghen, my coworker and dear friend for the Takes the Cake Award! Lisa has only been working with me for about 8 months, and I already could not live without her! I have never met someone as selfless, genuine, passionate, and compassionate as she is. Lisa is a very empathetic person, and she cries all the time - at happy things, at sad things...just as an example, she cries at school events (like pep rallie - total fun days!) when she thinks about what a great school this is and what an amazing opportunity it is for all of the girls who go to school here, knowing that she gets to share that opportunity with families every day. She is a hard worker, who takes her job very personally, takes things home with her, thinks about new ways of doing things (at home in the shower!)...she is always willing and ready to go the extra mile and she makes my job so much easier. I can always depend on her to do things, and do them with a big smile. Outside of work, Lisa is completely dedicated to her kids (2 in college and 1 a high school freshman). They respect her, but also think of her as a best friend - it is evident as they call her to report all of their successes, as well as calls for guidance. I have truly never known someone so genuine. Lisa never says things just to fill the silence. She is thoughtful, positive, and encouraging. It is easy to see the glass as half full when Lisa is part of the discussion. In other words, I know of no one more deserving, no one more content to stay out of the limelight or take credit for all she does, no one who TAKES THE CAKE quite like Lisa!!!

Hannah Clayborne
I’m nominating Hannah Clayborne as a woman who takes the cake. From the time Hannah arrived at Bellarmine it was obvious that she was truly dedicated to try to make a difference on campus. Hannah works long and hard to make an impact on students’ lives each day that she comes to work. Despite working in a situation where her job is an uphill climb, (bringing multicultural competence to a campus that is historically filled with middle class, white, traditional aged students) she never lets on that she struggles or faces challenges. Hannah managed to get a group of students from Bellarmine to the Inauguration this January which I think is testament to the work she is doing. I can attest to the fact that Hannah impacted my work as a student affairs professional and I’m certain she has impacted many others during her time in the field. So you see, Hannah Clayborne really does take the cake and she deserves some recognition.

Molly Shotzberger
I would like to nominate my mom. Her name is Molly Shotzberger. She has been there for so many people throughout the years. She was at 9/11, down at the towers from day one and she did not leave until everyone else left. She must have spent 4 months there helping and caring for people. She has also gone to Iraq to help the people there. She went a year after the US sent troops in. She has been at most disasters in the US for the past 8 or 9 years. The most important thing that I think she did was put her life on hold to help my family. When I had cancer, she came and took care of myself and my children. I can never express to her how important that was to me. This is why I feel she deserves a cake.

Announcement

HLA T-shirt Winner: Each month we engage in reflection as a community on our high, low and aha. Each member who submits their personal reflection is entered for a chance to win their own Ray Wattson t-shirt. This month's winner is B.K. Root! Congratulations Brian...please take a chance to look at the GalleRAY and decide which Ray you would like on your very own t-shirt. Then send an email to highlowaha218@gmail.com letting us know which Ray you want and what size shirt to order for you.