I have never baked a cake.
Until I got this fancy Kitchenaid mixer I hardly ever baked at all. It has just never been part of my day to day life. But as I appreciate handknits, I have developed a deep appreciation for homemade food. So for some crazy reason I decided that not only was I going to bake the birthday cake, but I was going to make Chris' favorite -- red velvet.
Recently Wendy Johnson wrote a blog post about how she believes the internet is holding knitters back. She postulated that so many people are nervous about steeking (cutting a knitted fabric to create two parts, like to insert a zipper in a cardigan) because they have encountered so many other people on blogs and message boards who say that they are afraid to steek. I completely agree with her. The only way to reach a skill level is to do it. It is how I've learned to do most things and how I have failed at many.
So with that in mind I woke up at 630 am this morning to get dinner started in the crock pot and to make this.
Oh my goodness but is that pink. I have a washcloth that I believe is permanently stained. While I am a firm believer in following all recipes exactly the first time, I did have to improvise with this one a little. For starters it is written for a layer cake and I wanted a thicker, single layer cake. Because of this I only baked it for 25 rather than the recommended 35-40 minutes. I did take a nap (if you can call falling asleep at 8am waiting on a cake a nap) and dream that it did not cook all the way through, but it turned out just fine. I also cut the icing down to 1/4 because A) I did not need that much because I was not doing layers and B) there was no way I was going back to the store for three more cream cheese cartons.
The result was quite lovely. I don't even like red velvet cake and I went in for a second piece.
Happy birthday Chris!
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