a complete cake disaster & a recipe.

well, almost.  so i have lovingly named this event an ACCD - an almost complete cake disaster.

last week, a few of my new friends {amy, sarah, laura, & a very busy mary beth took a rain check} & i decided to have a girls night!  a little wine, delicious veggies & homemade pitas & hummus appetizer plate, & a super delicious family-recipe chicken divan casserole.  i volunteered to make the dessert - a southern favorite, the coconut cake.

i found a relatively easy recipe... you know that is how i roll... from allrecipes.com.  {by the way, this is THE greatest website ever.  i'm pretty certain of it.  search for what you want to make, sort by rating, pick the one with the highest rating that has a decent number of reviews, read said reviews, & success.  almost every time.}

the recipe called for frozen whipped topping.  let me tell you something:  once you make homemade whipped cream for the first time, you will never ever go back.  it is so creamy delicious & super easy.

homemade whipped cream

2 c heavy whipping cream

6 T(ish) powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 T almond, amaretto, coconut, maple...whatever is your secret ingredient

my cake layers come out of the oven beautifully.  the whipped cream is divine.  i start frosting cake layer # 1.

& then disaster strikes.  cake layer # 2 WILL NOT come out of the pan.  i even used the new hip silicone cake pans with cooking spray.  this cake layer does not care what i used - it is staying in the pan.  i scrape my knife around the edges.  not budging.  i get a spatula & scrape the bottom of the pan very, very, careful.  not budging.  so i start pulling the cake out.  &, so very not surprisingly, it crumbles out in multiple pieces.

RATS!  {as my dad would say.}  what do i do?!  i have no more ingredients to make another layer.  i definitely do not have time to go purchase more ingredients.  urban standard is certainly sold out of the delicious cupcakes by now.  i must press on...

it is amazing what a little chilling & frosting can do.  you would never know this cake was an ACCD.  

now, it is coconut time!

hopefully after all of the taste testing of the coconut, you have some left to actually throw onto the cake.  yes, that is my super sophisticated way of putting coconut onto a cake - i literally throw the shredded goodness at the cake.

don't judge... whatever works! 

morale of the story:  never give up on your baking disasters!  that second layer was seriously in approximately 12 pieces.  but it ended up looking quite lovely, if i do say so myself, & tasted marvelous.  the girls later mentioned they & their husbands had a leftover piece for breakfast the next morning :)

love love,

kjp.