CAKEtastrophe!
So the night before the Pirate party, all was well. Everything was made or prepped and the cake was done too. I was all set to go to bed at 10:30pm, as that is my bedtime and what I had planned on anyway. I went back into the kitchen to stick in the pirate flags and lo and behold...the cake EXPLODED. The whole front end just collapsed like, well, a sunken ship!
Here's where I think it all went wrong. I made the cake out of a stupid Vegan chocolate cake recipe that tastes great, but without eggs and butter, there is not enough structure to hold together an elaborate carved cake. I used that recipe cause I thought chocolate would be tasty, and since the Kid is allergic to chocolate - there in no chocolate, just cocoa in the Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. Turns out it was a bad idea. Two, I had envisioned how I'd build the ship in my head, but against better judgement I went to the bookstore/internet and found recipes on building a pirate ship out of cake. All of them said to take two round cakes, cut them in half and glue the four pieces together. So I did. Then I carved the sides to a point, and it frosted up well, but the stickage, not so much.
Stupid recipes. I should have stuck to my architectural instincts and built it the way I had planned. Instead I got a cake explosion that looked something like this:
Poor Peter. Hook had him by hook or by crook. So at 10:30pm I decided what the hell, let's give it another go, and I baked/frosted/decorated a whole new cake in just one hour. It went much faster the second time and I built it structurally sound. And since it was going to be frosted anyway, I used a WHITE cake recipe this time. Whaddya know, it was PERFECT.
I used Tootsie Rolls for the cannons, and Whoppers maltballs for the canon balls. The 'water' is just blue non-pareils. TONS of them. I took the Kid's Peter and Hook figurines, obviously, to which he said, "HEY! Where're you takin' my stuff??" Sheesh. It's like do you want a cake or not, dammit??
Now I should have kept the crapped out cake and set it next to the new one and had the ships battle it out. I was contemplating burning ship remnants and dying pirates in the exploded cake ship, but this ain't Ace of Cakes up in here. I just wanted a simple pirate cake. And to get some shut eye.
Here's where I think it all went wrong. I made the cake out of a stupid Vegan chocolate cake recipe that tastes great, but without eggs and butter, there is not enough structure to hold together an elaborate carved cake. I used that recipe cause I thought chocolate would be tasty, and since the Kid is allergic to chocolate - there in no chocolate, just cocoa in the Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. Turns out it was a bad idea. Two, I had envisioned how I'd build the ship in my head, but against better judgement I went to the bookstore/internet and found recipes on building a pirate ship out of cake. All of them said to take two round cakes, cut them in half and glue the four pieces together. So I did. Then I carved the sides to a point, and it frosted up well, but the stickage, not so much.
Stupid recipes. I should have stuck to my architectural instincts and built it the way I had planned. Instead I got a cake explosion that looked something like this:
Poor Peter. Hook had him by hook or by crook. So at 10:30pm I decided what the hell, let's give it another go, and I baked/frosted/decorated a whole new cake in just one hour. It went much faster the second time and I built it structurally sound. And since it was going to be frosted anyway, I used a WHITE cake recipe this time. Whaddya know, it was PERFECT.I used Tootsie Rolls for the cannons, and Whoppers maltballs for the canon balls. The 'water' is just blue non-pareils. TONS of them. I took the Kid's Peter and Hook figurines, obviously, to which he said, "HEY! Where're you takin' my stuff??" Sheesh. It's like do you want a cake or not, dammit??Now I should have kept the crapped out cake and set it next to the new one and had the ships battle it out. I was contemplating burning ship remnants and dying pirates in the exploded cake ship, but this ain't Ace of Cakes up in here. I just wanted a simple pirate cake. And to get some shut eye.
Labels: cake, party, party planning, pirates
8 Comments:
Oh, I sooo hope it's not the Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe I e-mailed you!
You are the best mum ever! Do you know what I would have done? Burst into tears and eaten the exploded cake, that's what.
Hey how is that cannonball floating next to Hook?
Seriously though, nice cake!
What little boy wouldn't have ADORED that cake?!!
A masterpiece! Good job, Jen, and after 10:30 at night, too!
Jeanie
that is such an awesome cake. one of my best friends is a huge peter pan nut. i must show him this.
but then he might want me to make it for him. i don't think i could pull it off!
You should have totally had the cakes battle it out!
So, how did that pirate ship taste? Did you end up cutting into it later in the party?
my son turned 21 this weekend. his girlfriend baked the cake and I bought some shots. it was much easier than the year my mom set a bunch of dirty dishes on top of his cake about 20 minutes before party time...
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