Day 26: Can we fix it?!

No. No we can't.

I have a marvellous chocolate cake recipe. It's from the AWW Microwave Cookbook 2 (Pretty sure its the second one, since that's the feature on the back cover. I left this cook book at my mum's).
Microwave cake? you say. Can it be any good?

Lots of microwave cakes use oil, which carries a flavour I often don't like in cakes. But this melt-and-mix one is oil free. It's butter, sugar and water, done in the microwave for 4mins, then flour, cocoa and bicarb mixed in, with egg and vanilla last. Normally it would go into a ring-shaped cake pan for 8mins in the microwave and it's done! Pro: it's quick to make and soft and yummy. Con: the lack of crust - you just can't get that in a microwave. (Another downside is the lack of ring-shaped cake pans available for microwaves. Apparently no one makes microwave cakes anymore :| ) Anti-con: It's moist and stays moist for a long time.

Anyway, I've been working on this mix going into the oven. We've an old Fahrenheit oven that runs a bit hot (har har). In a 22cm round tin for 35mins at a little under 350F it's done well, even though the top has usually cracked.

Today I tried using a loaf tin and the baking shelf below the one usually used for cakes. I was all done at 40mins, no singeing in sight.

I also tried making it while Bub was awake, letting her potter away in the bouncer or Bumbo while I dashed about for half an hour.  I've been pretending that that’s working just fine, which it generally does even if I have to stop for a bit and have a chat or change over some toys. In the end, I put her down for a nap just before the buzzer went. Misleadingly smooth-going, that was.

I knew the loaf tin would work just fine (thanks teacake, theacake) but, even though I greased the pan with butter, I forgot to line the base.  Huh, how on earth did that happen? After I slid a knife around the sides it felt like it would turn out, but only 90% of it did.

Pro: good excuse to whip out a spoon and scoff some fresh cake

.

I thought: Can I fix this? Does it need fixing? Can I slice it in half horizontally, flip the bottom and sandwich it with a raspberry filling? Would it dry out too much?

And then saw how that wouldn't be happening...

Con: without the portion on the bottom-end, and being so fresh and soft, it broke under its own uneven weight, splitting like the Titanic (sort of).

Not to worry! Can I cut it into squares and make some little chocolate Lamingtons? Do I have time for that before Bub wakes?

It was now that I began to think of different names for this post. Ice the Site from Orbit, Lemonade-flavoured Chocolate Cake (coz I got 'lemons', yeah?), Creative with a capital C and Guess which half is yours, sweetheart?.

But I looked at the clock and imagined trying to get his done with Bub up and about and my approaching need for lunch... Nope.

Just ice the bastard and get the hell out of there.

P.S. I also learned that with glaze icing, dipping the spoon in hot water to smooth the rough patches doesn't work. It just makes it look like melted plastic.

Still yum.