For the past four or so years I have made brownies and cakes and cupcakes for my friend’s birthdays and somehow their children and husband’s are now on my list. I enjoy making a bundt cake or a layer cake and decorating them sometimes with jelly beans, or a favorite candy they might like. Sprinkles always are a hit and my little friend Dominick will ask for brownies, but no nuts please, Ms Millie.
It keeps me busy in a fun way and it seems having a home made cake means a a great deal. My cakes usually turn out light and fluffy.
Until two weeks ago as I removed my brownies from the oven, they looked a little burnt at the edges. I could not figure why, as I always have the temperature dial on 350 and the timer set for 41 minutes. Usually, I peek a few minutes early and nine times out of ten it will be ready. And so I was puzzled until yesterday; I had prepared a devils food cake mix and popped in the oven, set my timer and away I went to do some other chore.
After 15 or so minutes, I could smell my cake baking, except it had the smell of a -too hot- oven. I flew more or less into my kitchen and peeked at my cake and it looked a little black instead of dark chocolate brown and then looked up at my dial and it was on 385 degrees. How could that be? I had had someone in to help with the cleaning two weeks prior, and she probably moved the dial innocently to wipe it clean and left it. I always put it back to 350 automatically, so it is ready for me. This assumption on my part backfired and now I need to bake another cake for Mark’s birthday this Saturday.
This time I will be checking all dials, just in case!
Wish me luck!
I did a trim job on the burnt cake and frosted it with chocolate frosting and put some jelly beans around it. This will be his ” Ms Millie’s Disaster Cake” along with his freshly made cake cooked at the right temperature.