Don’t laugh, yes you……stop it. I know it leans a little but I couldn’t find my cake leveler. I baked a buttermilk spice cake with cream cheese frosting for Thanksgiving. There were so many mistakes with this cake I don’t even know where to begin. First, you shouldn’t try this recipe unless you have a stand mixer….I don’t. You will also need a few extra hands to pour the oil and drizzle the buttermilk while mixing, plan ahead for this. If you do it yourself (like me) then you may accidentally pour some of the oil into the vent holes of your hand mixer and freak out when it starts smoking and sets off the smoke alarms. Make sure your cake will fit into your cake box before frosting or transporting it could be a problem. Don’t worry if it looks funny, it will still taste delicious. You can find the recipe I used here.
My second contribution this Thanksgiving is something I always bake around the holidays. Challah is a traditional Jewish bread served with the sabbath meals and at the holidays. My family is a blended family of Christian and Jewish faiths so I have always tried to incorporate a little of both in the food. Because I have never found the proper pan to cook this in, the dough relaxes and doesn’t retain that tight braided look of most challahs. I kind of like it this way. I love making bread because of the suspense. You never know if it’s good until you cut it open. This was a good one.
As for other oops, there was plenty. I made baked beans that wouldn’t get done. 4 hours in the oven and 1 1/2 desperate hours on the stove top and they still weren’t done. These were the toughest navy beans I had ever seen. We had to leave so they went as is. Tasted good but a crunchier texture…lol. The stuffing with turkey gravy came out okay, no drama until I picked it up or I should say I tried to pick it up and the aluminum foil pan collapsed and I burnt my wrist saving it. Still it was a good day, good food (lumpias, calamari, ham and garlic shrimp with green beans casserole…yum!) but most of all good company. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving too.
passions and soapboxes 
I’m chuckling at your escapades and the beans that thought they were rocks…
I’m glad everything tasted good, though!
You know, there’s these nifty cans with cooked beans in them. They go by names like Bush’s, Van Camp’s and Heinz. Really. Just open the can, pour into a pan, add goodies like onion, garlic, honey, BBQ sauce and PRESTO! … baked beans in about 20 minutes. Just joking. Well, maybe a little joking.
The cake looks sinfully good.
My sister taught me that the unintended something or other, whenever making something, are what make things “special.” (I had to work really hard just now in that sentence not to admit that we were doing a craft project. Because I still haven’t accepted that I have arrived at the craft phase of my life. Which is stupid because crafts can rock. But I digress.)
It’s a beautiful cake and I love its artistic shape.
I’d love to know what a cake leveler is. My cakes are always lopsided, since my kitchen floor is in a 100 year old house that has shifted over the years, causing the floor to tilt. Even with the oven lifted up on the front as much as possible, it’s not level. Le sigh.
The cake looks divine, and it’s my hubby’s birthday on Wednesday. Might have to give it a shot!
It is a delicious cake. You can get a cake leveler from Michaels. It allows you to measure and slice the layers evenly because apparently I suck at it when I do it by hand, ha ha!
Your description was entertaining but your pictures made everything look de-lish! That cake looks extra yummy, level or not!
Actually, that cake looks pretty appetizing! The ones that have accidents are always the best tasting!
Hi
I love your site. I like the way your bread looks too. I love making bread but it never comes out exactly like it should but it gets gobbled up.
That cake looks awesome! Let me guess. There’s not a piece left.
Um, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a cake leveler.