I tried three different recipes. The first was spongy, like angel food cake. It was just okay. We threw most of it out. The second was better, but still not destined to become a favorite. For the third attempt I chose a recipe from a website that had only mixed reviews, but since it called for whole eggs (not separated like recipe #1 and recipe #2 called for none at all), I thought I'd try it.

I had insisted on making our friend Pat a birthday cake--even though we were moving three weeks ago, when his birthday was. He waited patiently and I began my hunt for a maple cake with walnuts recipe for him for him.

I have issues with making cakes from scratch, muffins and quickbreads--I always seem to manage to end up with really dark edges to everything I try. This third trial of Pat's cake was no exception; the edges were toasty dark, if not burnt in places. I scraped off the worst of it, frosted it with maple buttercream frosting and took it to a potluck lunch, where it got great reviews. Catherine suggested that if I tried putting a waterbath underneath while the cakes were baking, I wouldn't have to worry about the cakes drying out and it would help keep the heat even in the oven. So I did, and Pat's birthday cake turned out just about as perfect as it could get.

Go ahead. Tell me you're not salivating.

And clearly I've found my cord to transfer pics from my camera to my computer, but now I need to find my battery charger. While you wait for my next post, you can enjoy these two videos I took comparing the view of our old place to our new one...

Unfortunately, the video I took as a tour of our old place refused to upload, so I can't share that. (Sorry, Mom!) If you want an indication of the mess that it was, just take a look at this picture, especially around the edges--the whole place was like this.



And Roger did finally upload our wedding for anyone who hasn't seen it (or who wants to see it again--it's pretty short as ceremonies go).