Out of Plum

Yesterday, at his request, I made my husband a Coca-Cola Cake for his birthday. I used the recipe from the Coca-Cola website and followed the instructions exactly, but ended up with something that, while tasty, just isn’t right. I was instructed to make a frosting that was hot and pour it over the hot cake, the frosting had a glaze consistency and sank immediately into and to the bottom of the cake. I have read through several other recipes, all instructing you to pour the hot frosting over the hot cake, and have yet to figure out where I went wrong.  

I also discovered in the process that either my 13x9 cake pan is warped or someone has messed with the position of the stove knocking it out of level. I know this because the cake was high on one side and low on the other. Since my cake pan is folded steel and very substantial, and was comparatively expensive to boot, I’m going to assume it’s the oven and will rectify the problem later this morning. This means pulling out the drawer under the stove, and getting down on the floor to turn the adjustable legs while someone else reads the level to make sure everything is, as a carpenter would say, “plum.” If your cakes are wonky and uneven, this will likely solve the problem. If it is not the oven then I’m going to have some strong words with the folks at Willams-Sonoma about their pan.  

If I stick to the meal plan I’ve made for myself, today’s lunch will be omelets filled with leftover lentil pilaf. (lentils, carrots, shallot, veggie stock) And dinner will be a Chicken Caesar Salad with homemade dressing and fried soda bread croutons. Since I didn’t soak the steal cut oats I was intending to eat last night as I had planned, I guess it will be toasted soda bread with marmalade for breakfast. Oh darn. I’ll write more about the steal cut oat method and meal planning later.  

It occurred to me as I was washing out the tea pot this morning (sacrilege I know) how easily I’ve adapted to waking up at 5:00 in the morning. Of course this means that come 9:00pm, I am utterly knackered. I have never been a morning person, and I am going to have to do something about this disturbing apparition before it becomes a terrible habit. I just refuse to be THAT guy. You know, the one that’s up before everyone else but can’t stay awake during the evening news?  

I’ve written up, and after a quick editing job, will post a recipe for Apple Crumble. 

Meanwhile, it’s time to eat.

OK it’s always time to eat.