When I put together my 101 in 1001 I was in an aspirational mood to be the mother that made everything from scratch, made every life moment a mystery and made every game one of learning.
That lasted about a month.
But I still have the list. And I still have to finish it. So for Mini Me's first birthday I decided to tackle the rainbow cake.
What a ridiculous idea.
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| Mini Me and the Rainbow Cake that broke me |
I always knew it was a mammoth task. I had The Cheesecake Shop ready on speed dial. But I manned up and went on.
After lots of Googling and pinning, I was told two packets of cake mix, special food colouring gel from the States and lots of icing is all I needed.
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| Food colouring gel is the only way to go. |
Food colouring, win. Cake mix, fell short. Icing, icing, icing, made up for the cake mix shortfall.
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| I can make a rainbow, make a rainbow... or was it sing a rainbow? |
There was not enough cake mix to fill the cake pan. Frustratingly I tried every cake tin I owed. Then I contemplated putting it all in one tin together, but knew there was no going back. Light bulb! I made muffins. The idea was to slice them to the same thickness, make four towers and iced together. Easy.
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Not so easy. Firstly the green batter I swear I had put the same in as the rest, made only three muffins. Not the four I needed. No worry. Icing would save the day.
The icing was another mission. The white chocolate icing I found was really runny. I kept leaving it, and leaving it and leaving it, hoping it would thicken. Have you watched paint dry? Try watching icing.
Eventually I decided close enough was good enough, but it was still runny. Oh well. Guess what though. The rest thickened once I finished icing the towers together. By-the-way I cut one of the green muffins in half to get my fourth tower.
There are no photos of this icing debacle. I was too angry, and a little buzzed from a gin cocktail with friends. It. was. not. working. It looking like a misshaped ant hill. It was sticking everywhere. In my hair. On the kettle. On the dog. Everywhere but the cake.
I watched away. Another light bulb. In my genius, I thought hundreds and thousands would fix it.... They go everywhere.
The icing was another mission. The white chocolate icing I found was really runny. I kept leaving it, and leaving it and leaving it, hoping it would thicken. Have you watched paint dry? Try watching icing.
Eventually I decided close enough was good enough, but it was still runny. Oh well. Guess what though. The rest thickened once I finished icing the towers together. By-the-way I cut one of the green muffins in half to get my fourth tower.
There are no photos of this icing debacle. I was too angry, and a little buzzed from a gin cocktail with friends. It. was. not. working. It looking like a misshaped ant hill. It was sticking everywhere. In my hair. On the kettle. On the dog. Everywhere but the cake.
I watched away. Another light bulb. In my genius, I thought hundreds and thousands would fix it.... They go everywhere.
The result was unattractive on the outside. I'm not very patient or delicate, so I don't know why I attempt these Masterchef feats. I should ban myself.
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| Doesn't look pretty. |
The next day the icing hardened and I could mould and smooth the cake to look a bit better.
After all the stress, the family were really impressed. It was a (sugar) hit. Every single person had cake, including my Nonno who never eats cake. And the inside looked impressive.
After all the stress, the family were really impressed. It was a (sugar) hit. Every single person had cake, including my Nonno who never eats cake. And the inside looked impressive.
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| Demolished Rainbow Cake |
1: Buy at least three, maybe even four, cake mixes. Don't attempt it with two.
2: Definitely buy the food colouring gel. The result was vibrant!
3: Let the icing set before you add decorations. You can't go back. The icing gets easier to smooth and style when harder.
4. Hundreds and thousands don't fix anything.
5: Hire someone else to do it.
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| A half eaten piece |
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