Disasters in the Kitchen

I often "experiment" with new recipes when we have company. Occasionally a recipe will turn out "okay" but not be really worth repeating. Sometimes, I hit on one that is a real "keeper" and it's made over and over again. Then there are those that are sheer and total disasters! Thankfully, I haven't had too many of those over the years.

On Friday evening, we were having good friends over for dinner. I tried a new chicken dish which was very good, a new appetizer that was time-consuming but worth a place in the recipe file, but then there was the dessert. I had seen this recipe for "Tunnel of Fudge Cake" in the newspaper just prior to Valentine's Day. It was the second place winner in the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1966, and came with a strict warning: do not overbake, adhere to the exact baking times and check your oven's temperature to make sure it's accurate. So, after blending together almost a pound of butter, six eggs, confectioner's sugar, granulated sugar, flour, 3/4 cup of cocoa, and 2 cups of walnuts, I poured the batter into a well-floured bundt pan.


After double-checking the oven temp and baking the cake the required 50 minutes, I removed it from the oven for the hour and a half of cooling time. I finally turned the cake out of the pan onto my beautiful pedestal cake plate and reveled in my efforts. I turned to the refrigerator to get out milk to make the chocolate glaze and when I turned back, I was horrified to see the following sight:


I blinked and looked again....still the same disaster stared back at me. My beautiful bundt cake had collapsed in a heap!!


Obviously, the tunnel of fudge had not baked long enough and the cake didn't have thick enough walls to support itself. But all I could do was laugh!! I picked up the phone and called Hubby who was on his way home from work. "Help!", I said. "Stop at the bakery on your way home and pick up anything that looks good, your choice!" He chose a wonderful chocolate mousse cake and was home ten minutes before our company rang the bell. I did save the disaster for them to see (they are wonderful friends, after all) and we all had a good giggle over my certified disaster.

I think in times gone by, I would have be reduced to tears over such a calamity, but this has made a good story, and a good blog post.