Cake Walk.

In my never ending quest to create holiday traditions that do not cost a fortune or involve materialism - the six year old and I, make a Christmas cake.

Now I know Christmas cakes have a bad reputation here in the US but to me they are a bite of nostalgia. One mouthful instantly transports me to my Granny's kitchen.
I am not a fan of mixed peel, glace cherries or whole nuts in a cake. Neither was my Granny. Her cake was fruity, sweet and topped with delicious icing.

For years now, I have tried to re-create it. Some years I do better than others.
The six year old loves to ice the cake. Placing two plastic trees, a deer and Santa on the cake make her giddy.

Yesterday we began the four hour process. The six year old reverently dragged her stool into the kitchen and donned her apron. We measured and mixed. Sprayed flour, sugar and egg shell around the kitchen and finally spread the mixture into the pan.

I knew right away that it didn't look right. It just wasn't 'cakey' enough.
We baked it anyway.
So if you like a trip to the dentist as part of your cake eating experience - it was perfect. I'm going to submit it to CakeWrecks.

The six year old had gone to bed and I couldn't stomach her disappointment so I went to the store at 10pm to buy the ingredients for cake number two.
It's in the oven now. It looked a lot better going in. I'm optimistic.

I think we will have a beautiful cake to ice. I think the plastic trees will make a gorgeous winter scene. I think it will have cost close to $100.
Thinking back to my original goal - I may have failed.