HBM

Today is my mom's birthday. It's a project on my 101 list to make a lamb cake for her birthday. Since I still have not bought a pan, the lamb cake is not going to be happening, but a plain cake can be achieved. I decided to try this recipe because perfect and chocolate are words I really like to include in the same sentence.

I had grand ambitions to make it an attractive layer cake, gracefully poised upon the cake plate in splendor and perfectly simple presentation. For it to be tasty, and simple, and just plain perfect. But then the neighbor children came over.

Always wanting to help in the kitchen, I began being begged to experiment with the recipe. The simple chocolate cake evolved to a s'mores cake until we realized we had no graham crackers, and then changed again into a chocolate/marshmallow/caramel cake.

I confess, I didn't entirely welcome the assistance at first. I wanted it to be perfect and done with minimal mess. It didn't take long to realize though that my mom was someone who always cared more about what others wanted and worked tirelessly to make them happy. So I let the kids take ownership of the project and suggest any changes they wished.

It ended up something like this:



Caramel sauce, whipped chocolate icing, and melted marshmallow goo reminiscent of rice krispie treats held the layers together. More graced the top. Only the marshmallow on the top was slightly overcooked and though it looks all splendidly drizzled, hardened into a tooth-ripping hard sticky mess.

Ever wonder what 58 candles look like on a cake? Well, here ya go:



They aren't all on there yet actually, but it'll get the idea across.

And yes, we sang and blew them out. The smoke was something to behold! Am I disappointed that it wasn't the lamb cake or the perfect chocolate cake of my imagination? Not at all. We had a blast: Aeryn, the neighbor kids, and me. I really think that laughter and happiness is what she would've really wanted. So there it is, happy birthday mom.