Baking

I have been baking lately. Don't act too shocked. We always knew that I was capable, it is a part of my DNA after all.

 Recently, my ward had a dessert auction to help off set the cost of YM/ YW camp. A few weeks prior to the auction a sign up sheet went around Relief Society asking for the ladies to make something to sell at said auction. I ignored it the first two Sundays that it came my way. I have never been a strong participator when it comes to these types of things. I'm not sure why, I just never have.

The third Sunday the sheet came back around I happened to be sitting next to two woman who eagerly signed their names to the list. One of which I know first hand is capable of following a recipe on Pintrest and have it turn out just like the featured picture.

Very impressive and way out of my league. I don't even have a Pintrest account. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it but I added my name to the list and promptly forgot all about it.

A few weeks later, I was talking to said friend about upcoming events and she mentioned the auction, a small bell of panic went off in my head as I remembered I had signed up to bring a cheesecake.

What was I thinking?

I called Catherine, guardian to my mother's culinary creations and secrets, and she gave me the recipe. It should be noted I have made this cheesecake before a long time ago, in my mother's kitchen, under her tutelage, for one of my dear husband's early married birthdays. That was a long time ago in a land far, far, away in a kitchen much larger and better equipped than my present postage-stamp sized one.

After consulting Andy it was determined that I should make a tester cake prior to the auction in case anything need to be tweaked ( I suspect he also wanted to be able to eat cheesecake) or in case something went horribly amiss there was no need to kill or sicken any unsuspecting ward members, we could keep that type of thing within the family.

The appointed morning came. I carefully measured and followed the directions Catherine had given me and the cheesecake turned out wonderfully. No cracks!! It really was a thing of beauty, it looked exactly like my mother's. Who knew I was capable of such amazing feats of domesticity?

Success!!

On what can only be described as a baker's high. I made Banana Bread Bars with frosting and decided to add them to my humble dessert auction offerings. They too looked amazing. Nothing could stop me now!
I then proceeded to make Banana Bread. I was really getting this baking thing down.

Banana Bread Bars

Flush off of  my domestic success of the previous two days I again carefully followed the directions and measured everything precisely to make the final cheesecake.

And the cheesecake came out of the oven with a crack running down the middle of the top the size of the San Andres fault line.

What the?!!

As I called Catherine I tried to conceal my utter disappointment and panic. There was no time to bake yet another cheesecake, the dress rehearsal was over. I was staring down the barrel of opening night.

Catherine comfortingly lied through her teeth as she told me that cracking on the top of the cheesecake was normal and I could camouflage said crack with some strawberries and whipped cream and no one would be the wiser. Yeah, that might have worked if I was Catherine and was as handy with a whip cream container as she is. This is me we are talking about.

After Andy saw what I did with the whip cream and a practice Oreo cookie he helpfully suggested I cover the top with crushed up cookie instead, saving all involved from what would have surely been a whipped cream covered disaster.

After a harrowing trip from our house to the church, I handed over my cheesecake to a young Scout who apparently did not hear me say to be careful as the cheesecake was not firmly anchored to the plate and it could easily slide onto the floor.

 He almost dropped it right there at the door.

Black and White Cheesecake

Miraculously, my cheesecake survived the trip to the stage and was placed with the other dessert offerings. I breathed a sigh of relief.

The auction started and the bidding came fast and furious. Close to the end my cheesecake came up. I was nervous, not for a good price, but because I had been watching the way the Scout boys were picking up and displaying desserts.

I held my breath as he picked up my plate to show it off. Andy told me to look away. He was nervous too. I heard the audience gasp as the cheesecake slid towards the edge of the plate coming perilously close to the edge of the plate and the stage floor. I felt the pressure on my hand as Andy commanded me to look away. I did as I was told. Somehow disaster was averted and the auction carried on.

The price kept going up, and up. I could not believe my ears! I still had my eyes closed. Finally, a price was agreed upon. $70 for my cheesecake!! As the hand off between Scout and buyer took place I heard another audible gasp and looked up to see some sort of commotion a few tables over.

 I could not see what was happening, but I was pretty sure it meant I owed the buyer another cheesecake to replace the one that had been dropped on the floor.

I was wrong. The cake had indeed slid off the plate and into the forehead of a small child sitting at the table and bounced back into its place on the plate. Luckily, he was part of the buyer's family so no harm was done.

They said it was delicious.