02.14.10- Day 45

Another Valentine's Day means another attempt at making a family recipe strawberry cake in Colorado. I haven't had a lot of success with appearance (they always taste good though!) The first year I tried, the cake completely crumbled when I tried to ice it and it turned into strawberry cake mush. The second time the cake was a little more solid, but a bit dry and we still had problems icing the cake (my mom tried to help me this time, but to no avail). This year, I came in determined with several new ideas. I was going to freeze the cake before I frosted it to prevent the crumbling experienced over the past two years. I also lined the bottom of the cake pan with wax paper to help it not stick. Alas, both those ideas worked really well, but it didn't help the fact that the cake didn't rise in the middle! This year's Valentine's cake is a crater cake! Notice the strawberries I put in the middle in the shape of a heart to hide the crater-hideousness. At least it tastes okay. Someday I will get this right!!!! Seriously- how hard can it be to bake a cake!
In order to re-establish my confidence as a cook, I made quiche for dinner- yum! Alan and I had a relaxing evening watching the Olympics (minus the fact that my stupid work laptop has another virus!!! I'm SO annoyed. I guess I can't use it at home anymore.) Time for bed!