By Susan Tallant/editor-in-chief
OK, ladies, or more specifically—the super-mom, domestic diva want-to-be type, struggling with juggling school, family, career and peace of mind—it’s time to admit we cannot be June Cleaver and Nancy Pelosi rolled into one.
It’s time to relax a little and know that a store-bought cake is just fine for dessert after serving salad from a bag along with Stouffer’s lasagna. After all, anything opened from a box or a bag is home made, as long the chef did the heating, right?
As for baking, busy moms should just leave it to Beaver’s mom. Making a good cake from scratch takes time, money and expertise, all of which most college moms lack.
Case in point: the Martha Stewart side of me recently wanted to make, from scratch (which is so overrated), a coconut cake for my husband.
I started my search for the perfect recipe and found one from the Cleaver era, complete with a beautiful photo.
After reading The Six Steps for Baking Success, I began creaming (real butter and the best brand of sugar), sifting (using the finest cake flour) and folding (only pure vanilla will do) my masterpiece into three layers.
After whipping up an icing (that I cooked on the stove, mind you) and frosting the cake, I sprinkled coconut on the top of my beauty but had to throw it on the sides (how do pros do that without all the mess?).
Never mind coconut on the floor or batter on cabinet doors, I had my cake by gosh, and it looked yummy. The taste, however, was not as pretty.
The cake was so dry I could have used it as a sponge, perhaps to absorb the trail of egg whites on the countertop.
Determined not to let a bad recipe stop me, I found another one and repeated the process a couple of days later. What will stop me, however, is hearing my husband say, “It’s fine dear … it kind of tastes like cornbread.”
OK, so it was not the recipe’s fault. Guilt free, I will leave it up to the pros from now on and not try to be super-chef on top of everything else I am trying to be right now. After all, my family could care less who makes it as long as they get to eat it, right?
Kudos to Samantha Powell and Katrina Warner’s culinary art students on SE Campus; may the force be with you!
