self-improvement spree

M's pasta and R's espresso yesterday, K's kake today - at this rate i'm going to be a fully functioning adult soon!

but before i get ahead of myself, here are some photos for the cake baking process. K made it seem so easy, maybe it is, but i've had absolutely rotten luck with baking thus far and the only thing close to a 'cake' i attempt is tiramisu. because it requires assembly and refrigeration, and not baking. yet after tasting K's chocolate cake i was determined to overcome my oven-phobia (yes, i kid you not) and expand my limited repertoire of 'kitchen things' because 'dishes' would be giving my creations too much credit. many thanks K, for being patient and explaining everything slowly and trusting me to mix the goop with the hand-held coiled-thingum. having only ever used an electric mixer (yes, i'm spoilt that way), this old school mixing felt like a bicep workout.

pre-cake

mixing the dry ingredients with the wet

pouring it into the baking tin

our spotless oven. or not. ooh! you can see that i bake in my pjs!

it's done!

cake still hiding in baking tin

cake covered by paper

upside-down cake

and we very excitedly wolfed down a quarter with ice cream before i remembered to take a photo. so here's the remnants of the 'done' cake. after, maybe, five minutes.

the finished product - check out the texture and the moist-ness. excellent when nibbled warm with ice cream. almost souffle-like but a teensy bit more dense.

think i've found my new party staple. now to just do it myself.