Well… this post was supposed to be a lot different than it has turned out to be! After my self-imposed blogging hiatus, I wanted to return with a bang! Something yummy and sweet. We have spent the summer moving our personal residence and entrenched in our wine business, so we have been busy. We are still surrounded by boxes and disorder but we love our new home. I now have an amazing kitchen to cook in and couldn’t wait to get back at it… all while organizing closets and drawers.
Today is also my “40th Birthday” so I decided to make myself a cake. Unfortunately, the picture you see above, is the only picture that exists of this alleged masterpiece.
While the cake was baking, I was heavily involved in making the chocolate frosting and decided I wanted to take a drippy, frosting picture. I took a spatula full of chocolate goodness over to the sliding door leading out to the deck. I went to snap the photo but decided I needed a little more light, so I stepped down to the step, but missed most of it with my foot. Down I went, face, camera and wrist hitting first then my knee and twisting my ankle in some awful contortion, causing it to swell to epic proportions almost immediately.
Have you ever been in so much pain you couldn’t even yell for help? I laid there pretty breathless, it would be 20 minutes before anyone found me. The kids finally came around and did not believe I was hurt. I have played so many jokes on them, they laughed and started to run away. Whatever! I begged my youngest to get Daddy, explaining to him that I was really hurt. Yes, they really believed I staged it all with my camera, my glasses, and splats of chocolate frosting all over the deck. While I laid there all I could think of was my camera that slammed into the deck with me. I reached for it and turned it on to see if it still worked…it did!! Then my thoughts went to worrying about all the bugs that were flying in my house with the screen door wide open. So ridiculous.
Anyway, after much swelling, pain meds, icing, elevating, compressions, ER visit, it was determined my ankle is not broken but a “very unusual”, bad sprain. Swelling goes all the way through the toes and up my leg. A break would be easier to heal at this point. I cannot put an ounce of pressure on it and I need crutches to walk. The worst part is, I hurt my wrist as well, making the crutches even more difficult to maneuver. I feel like a prisoner and can barely do anything for myself. Who has time for this? I don’t!!!
So just as I was getting back into the cooking thing…well…let’s just say things might be pretty sporadic around here until I can walk on my own or in the boot cast. Ugh.
By the way…the cake was fabulous. It made it out of the oven safely, but the frosting kind of hardened a bit before I begged my husband to slather it on the cake. He did his best, it’s just not so pretty. But it tastes good so who cares!
Not really the birthday I was expecting today, but you can guarantee everyone will be waiting on me hand and foot…they don’t really have a choice. Pftttttt!!!
Birthday Sheet Cake
From Ina Garten
Makes one 12 x 18 inch cake
For the cake:
18 Tablespoons (2-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For the Frosting:
24 ounces chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
M&M’s candy for decorating
Preheat oven to 350o F. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 sheet pan.
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until light and fluffy; about 5 minutes.
On medium speed , add the eggs, two at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until just smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it’s thickened.
Spread the frosting evenly on the cake and decorate with M&M’s.
