Move Over, Cake Boss!!

Now that I have started my masters program, I have to accept the fact that I am going to have to cut some things out of my life. I just don’t know what to cut… Still, I want to enjoy myself a little, teensy-tiny bit, so I lavished my time last weekend and teamed up with my friend Emily to make a cake for our friend Melissa’s birthday. Emily is AMAZING! She has a love for learning new things and acquiring new skills, which makes her my hero. She recently taught herself how to make gourmet cakes and I really wanted to learn too (and to spend time with her), so I asked if she would make a cake for Melissa’s birthday with me and she agreed!

Melissa LOVES argyle. She and I went to the outlet mall last year on Black Friday at like midnight and the very first store we hit was Tommy Hilfiger (and let me tell you, we hit it HARD). So, we decided that Melissa needed an argyle cake and Emily just whipped up a design out of thin air!! Thursday we mixed and baked the cakes and then Friday we cut, frosted, and decorated it. It took about 6 hours each night. I didn’t realize that cakes were such an investment, but I also learned that time=love and we LOVE Melissa, so it was no big deal. It was nice to chat and catch up on each others lives. Also, Emily introduced me to www.peopleofwalmart.com, which may be the best thing that has happened to me since the cheezburger network. We were laughing so hard I was almost crying.

Friday, while we were decorating the cakes, Emily’s roomies were having a screen-on-the-green in their back yard and it was so funny how people just gravitated over to watch us while we cut and frosted the cakes, dyed the fondant, and decorated the cake. No wonder those cake shows do so well, people just can’t help but be fascinated. I also think it is funny how, since people watch those cake shows, they think they know what they’re talking about and like to stand around and tell you what to do.

If I’m being honest, it was mostly Emily who is responsible for how great the cake turned out. She had to not only make and decorate the cake, but do so while fixing all of my mistakes. Move over, Cake Boss - Emily is the cake MASTER!!

Saturday we had to transport the cake over to the restaurant, which turned out to be quite the task! The cake was pretty heavy and the design was really delicate, so we were being as careful as we could. Unfortunately, the roads is DC are HORRENDOUS and as we bounced along, little pieces of fondant would just pop off. I would try to avoid one pothole, just to hit another.The damage was fortunately minimal, and the cake still had a good side for photographs, so we were happy. We also found parking right in front of the restaurant, which is nigh on impossible in Adams Morgan, so that was pretty fortuitous as well.

Melissa’s birthday was a blast! We had a nice little brunch at Napoleon Bistro and Melissa actually wore an argyle sweater without even knowing what kind of cake we had made!!

Really, the candles won't blow out? Mwahahahaha!!