I need…this cake to work out.

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 This post has been inspired by Fat Mum Slim’s September Photo a Day challenge x

You are getting a look inside my mixing bowl, everybody. I took this shot just before I was going to mix it. I was holding my breath and hoping like crazy that it might still work out OK, even though the Little Mister had poured some water into it, before I could measure the right amount. I only looked away for a second, I SWEAR!

But back to the beginning…

I was attempting to make a beautiful cake called Anne, a  famous creation by Baby Mac (Aussie blogging royalty)! I had been seeing this gorgeous cake everywhere. Instagram and Facebook were raving about it (#anne). It looked so great in all its forms. It looked majestic and…TALL. Do you know how bad I am at making beautiful cakes that don’t look flat and a bit sad? I was convinced that this cake must be magical and googled the recipe. IT LOOKED SO EASY. All the ingredients could be found in my cupboard! And guess what? Father’s Day is tomorrow and Mr Unprepared and I are hosting it and I hadn’t been able to decide on what to have for dessert! Shock horror, I’d considered buying it (that’s mock shock horror – I have no issue with buying everything – you should see the pre-cut and peeled veggies I’ve bought for the roast haha). Now, with such a foolproof recipe, I knew I wouldn’t need to. I could brag about cooking this stunner of a cake from scratch. It would surely be easier than the cake fail I created for the non-the-wiser-ever-so-easy-to-please Little Mister’s 2nd birthday!

That was until the recipe called for a cup of cold water, with half a teaspoon of bi carb soda. I’d put some water in a cup and took a lightning quick moment to measure out the bi carb, when…the Little Mister grabbed the water and poured a mystery amount in, the remainder spilling down the kitchen bench, onto the floor.

I cried out, “Noooooo!”

And then felt guilty…didn’t want to make him feel bad, because he was trying to help and I try to make it my mission not to scar him for life, especially not over stuff like cake.

I then guessed (and I’m sh*t at guessing measurements) how much water was missing from the bowl, pouring it in with the bi carb. The Little Mister was put on dish washing duty (his favourite activity where he feels helpful and gets to splash around in the sink without actually washing a single thing) and I prayed for the best.

An hour later, my oven timer went off and I went to pull the cake out a bit so I could give it the old skewer test. It wobbled. Like a water bed (weird comparison but all I’ve got). Uh oh. I chucked it back in, shut the door and desperately set the timer for another 20 minutes. Perhaps I had added a little too much water. I decided this cake was a write off. It could be divided into pieces and taken by Mr Unprepared to work, where he could snack on it next week. I’ll just make a second cake, I thought. Only, without the Little Mister in the kitchen (who I love so much and usually enjoy baking with…when there’s no pressure to impress people who don’t live in our house).

I don’t know what happened and maybe it’s the magic of Anne, but I appear to have been worried about nothing! She came out tall, perfectly shaped, in one piece and as she cooled, I started to realise this might just still work out (OK so my husband was the voice of reason). Besides, there was a whole lot of buttery frosting to slather on (with some crushed Cadbury Flake chocolate on top to make it fancy as hell).

I can’t wait to show her off tomorrow and I hope the dads of my family will love her.

I’m sure she’ll look more amazing when she’s sitting all pretty on a nice white plate, but for now, she’s in my cake container, awaiting her debut.

The Little Mister might have freaked me out, but he was full of enthusiasm and love for baking, so he was quickly forgiven and blessed with many samples of the frosting. In case you were worried about him 🙂

Have you made Anne before? Do you think you’d give her a go? Had any cake fails? x