Movie Inspiration

Wednesday night I went to see Julie & Julia with my Mom and Bekah. It was a super cool movie about finding yourself and believing in yourself and all this great stuff. I was really inspired not only to "follow my dreams" but also to cook. So I decided to surprise Ernie and make him a cake.

I've been wanting to try the recipe on the back of this Hershey's cocoa, so thought I'd give it a try. I even used my cool mixing bowl that Ernie got me a few years back. Everything went great and it cooked right through in 30 minutes. I let it cool for 10 minutes like it said on the box, then set out to let it cool the rest of the way on cooling racks. I don't have any cooling racks, so went online to see if they were really necessary. Apparently so, according to "Baking Bites" :

"Cooling racks really are an essential piece of equipment for a baker. They create a perfect place for a hot pan, or a de-panned baked good, to cool down evenly and quickly. Unlike a trivet, which will simply hold a hot object off of your countertop or table, the design of a cooling rack allows air to circulate through it, reaching all sides of a pan. As the pan cools down far more quickly than it otherwise would (especially if placed directly on a insulating surface, like many countertops), your cookies/cakes/etc. are prevented from overbaking in the residual heat of the pan. The same applies to baked goods that have been removed from their pans to cool down individually on wire racks. In these cases, racks also serve the additional purpose of preventing condensation, from the steam released of the hot food, from collecting and making the edges of your baked goods soft or mushy as your baked goods cool."

So, as I mentioned, I don't have any cooling racks. So what did I do? I improvised and use the racks from my toaster oven. GENIUS! Although I did encounter a little trouble with getting the cakes to come out in one piece. I greased and floured the pans, but this one still gave me some trouble. The toothpicks are evidence of another attempt at a DIY fixerupper. I thought maybe the cake would refuse itself since it was still warm. It didn't work, but the toothpicks did support the cake when I flipped it later to frost it. The rest of the pictures are all out of order-Blogger really needs to revamp the picture capabilities because they are such a hassel!

Here's the first slice of delicious cake that made it out in 1 piece ready to be devoured by yours truly.

cutting the first piece. Hope it makes it out!

The finished product. Like the heart-shaped strawberries? It's a LOVE cake :)

I was able to get that top piece on even though it was fragile.

making the frosting from scratch too!

All in all it was a deliciously fun experience. The best part about being the cook was I got to taste it as I went AND lick the frosting bowl all by myself. :)