It's been just a little bit since I last posted. I've been meaning to post for a few days now, but I just started work on Monday and I've just been beat by the time I actually get time to write.
On Sunday morning, I made pancakes for Father's Day. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take pictures before they were all gobbled up. I really wish I'd been able to because they were awesome: light, perfectly golden, and fluffy. There is no reason to burn or undercook pancakes. None. Get your pan to the right heat, and as soon as the edges are puffy and the tops are showing a few bubbles, flip them over! You might not be able to get them even on both sides, but they don't take that long to cook before they are done.
I meant to bake a yellow cake with chocolate frosting later in the day. Instead, we went fishing with my dad. While it was nice to see him enjoying himself and just relaxing, and fun to experience a slight mishap involving a live fish inside our little rowboat, I learned that boats do not agree with me. Granted, I didn't really get sick. But my equilibrium was off for a few hours, and my stomach and head were not happy.
So I baked the cake the next night, after my first day at work (which I'll talk about later!). Mixing and baking the cake was really easy. I used the Starlight Yellow Cake recipe found in the Betty Crocker cookbook. One recipe made enough for two eight-inch round pans. I baked them up, and here's what it looked like:
You can't really see from this picture, but one of the cakes did not bake evenly, by which I mean one of the cakes was lopsided. Yup, one side was higher than the other and spilled over the pan a tiny little bit. I don't know how that happened- the pan might have shifted when I checked on the cakes during baking, or maybe the batter was uneven in the pan and I just missed it. Either way, I wasn't thrilled with that.
It was so late by the time the cake cooled that there was no hope that I was going to be able to frost it and eat it that night. So the next night, I put together the frosting. I made Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, also from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Just powdered sugar, melted unsweetened Baker's Chocolate, butter, vanilla, and a few tablespoons of milk. I was very unconvinced that the frosting was actually coming together, but by using an electric mixer and a little bit of milk, it very quickly came together to frosting consistency:
That's the frosting. Eat it. You'll love it. See below for more.
It's a two layer cake, so first you "fill" the layers, or frost the top of the bottom layer with some frosting. Don't spread it all the way to the edge- leave a little space. It doesn't take much, unless you're a serious frosting junkie.
I basically couldn't frost this cake on my own. My lack of coordination and fine motor skill even extends to baking and frosting. My dad is rather visually-artistically talented and had lots of experience spreading pizza sauce on pizzas at Pizza Hut in college, so he taught me how to frost/basically frosted the cake for me. It really shouldn't be as hard as I made it. The gist of it is that you use a spatula or a butter knife (depending on the size of the cake and thickness of the frosting) and push with the flat edge against the cake. Spin the cake plate around so that the side of the cake you're frosting is facing you. Don't spread the frosting too much or else it'll start pulling the cake off. I have a few lumpy, patchy spots where you can see that happened.
From this angle, you can see how lopsided the cake was. Yeah.
Hopefully you can see here a patchy spot where over-spreading the frosting started pulling the cake away.
I think the speed of this photo and the motion in it makes it look like I was actually successful at frosting.
Here's the good shot. The cake with a slice taken out so you can see the layers. The layers seemed pretty thick to me, thicker than I expected, but I did bake a recipe for 2 9-inch rounds in 2 8-inch rounds instead. So that probably made a difference.
But let's face it, how it looked really doesn't matter. What matters is how it tastes, right? And frankly, it tastes great. Just had a slice with some vanilla ice cream. :) The cake itself is nice and moist, with a thick crumb. It definitely tastes different than a boxed mix, so if you want to recreate that taste, just use the boxed mix instead. This had an "earthier" flavor, as my father described it. I think that means that it's not quite as oily and sugary as the boxed mix is. From-scratch cakes, like anything made from scratch, are great because you see exactly what is going into what you're eating. From-scratch frosting is even better. This frosting was incredible. To use indelicate language for a moment, basically, it's the shit. It's really sweet and kinda rich, but a lot less of that sickening-sweet that hurts your teeth, and way less oily, than the stuff you buy in a can. Another great thing- and a REALLY great thing- about from-scratch frosting is that there are no partially hydrogenated oils. Most of the Betty Crocker frosting products, including the counterpart of the stuff I just made, list partially hydrogenated oils as their second or third ingredient (followed by sugar and high fructose corn syrup, which is basically like sugar. And I won't lie, powdered/confectioner's sugar makes up most of the frosting recipe I used anyways. But that goes for all frosting.). I'm not usually one to freak out about additives, but I shudder at partially hydrogenated oils. They are the big bad wolf, because they are the basis of trans fats. Do yourself a favor: make yourself some homemade frosting. It's delicious and the only fat in it comes from butter, which is at least an animal product and a natural thing.
I started work on Monday. At the time I post this, I will have finished my first week. Right now I'm a teaching assistant for three theater classes of third and fourth graders. My specialty is voice, movement, and improv. I love the teacher I'm working with. She is super-enthusiastic and has an incredible amount of energy and patience and really does well with the kids. She told me today that she likes how I'm working with her too thus far, so I'm pretty happy with that!
Here's the thing about working with kids, in case you don't know: teaching is a lot different from babysitting. When you teach, you see a whole different side of kids that you wouldn't see as a nightly or weekly babysitter, or maybe even a nanny. You see them all day long, but you have to keep them going and focusing on the activities. (That's a big word with my academy: focus.) There's a lesson plan, and with a class like ours where we have to cover three subjects in one period, you have to try and stick with it as much as possible. You have to keep them engaged in an activity, and you can't just skip around if they get bored. And some kids focus a lot better than others. It's a function of age and general attention span and if they're attention-seeking, as well. I have kids who are incredibly enthusiastic and generous and are just trying to help but kind of get in the way. I've got others who are very quiet and aren't very comfortable with sharing a lot. I've got a few who look for attention, and I can't quite tell if they want attention from me and the teacher (which means they aren't getting enough at home), or if they want attention from their classmates- which my dad told me means they're trying to be leaders. Because how else can you make yourself stand out in a classroom environment? They just haven't figured out that the best way to do it is just to be a really good example of great behavior and creativity. Once you earn that respect, then you can call some shots and stand out from your peers.
So I'm usually pretty beat when I come home after 5. I gotta be on and aware all day, every day from 8:40 to 4:40, and that's a long time. I do not know how my teacher does it, since she's even more on top of it than I am. I get home, try and wake myself up a bit, and do my workout, which I think really helps me to deal with any stress and frustration I'm having with the kids. By the time I'm done with dinner, it's often after 8 o' clock. Then I need to shower and try to wind down. I've been meaning to get to bed by 10 every night, but it just hasn't been happening. Once I'm done with Facebook and Foodgawker, it's been getting after eleven o' clock. Please send me good vibes for efficiency and energy in the weeks to come.
Much love. Hope your summer is going well!
Imara
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