I always jump at the chance to bring dessert when having dinner with friends. Thankfully my friends are all understanding of my compulsive desire to cook, bake, and blog about it so they happily oblige. But once committed, I often do this thing – I make the decision of exactly what to bring into a life or death decision. I pore over my cookbooks, bookmarked recipes online, etc. and I am unable to make a choice until the last possible second. It sounds silly but the reason makes sense – too much inspiration, too little time. The number of recipes I have saved to try is enormous (I really don’t want to know the exact number) and the vast majority are desserts. It’s the same reason I resist buying all (okay, most of) the new cookbooks I want – that would only make the problem worse.
Most recently I was going through the usual hemming, hawing and second-guessing when I flipped over this page in a cookbook. Problem solved, case closed, my tummy decided for me – I needed this cake stat. Incidentally it worked out perfectly because one of our friends recently celebrated a birthday so this classic cake-frosting combo seemed ideal. Well let me tell you, in the process I have found the yellow cake that I will use as the yellow cake. It is sturdy but still moist and has exactly the flavor I like in a yellow cake. Additionally, the steps of mixing up the batter are as simple and basic as any other cake. No separating eggs, folding in egg whites, etc. If I can get a cake with a few less steps, I’m all for it. And the frosting….oooohhh my. It’s finger-, fork-, and plate-licking good. Silky smooth, chocolatey and not too sweet. Importantly, it also has an strong irresistible scent that wafts from the platter tempting you to take a slice. One down, hundreds (thousands?) to go :)