Birthday cake disaster! - uggh...

DansMom wrote: I can't bake! This dairy free, egg-free cake I made for Daniel's birthday is uncooked in the middle and fell into three pieces. The party is in an hour and a half and I've put another batch into the oven, will cook longer this time. Uggh. I guess I just really wanted to make my son his first cake. My sister says she's making a back up cake just in case. I AM SO lucky to have family close by.

On the plus side, we experimented yesterday and today with bites of yogurt and Daniel had no reaction! Every day he'll get a little bit more than the day before---we have to be very careful---but it looks like he may have outgrown his dairy allergy. We know right away because his old reaction was pretty much instantaneous---puffy eyes, clogged and runny nose, sneezing, gagging---scary. Big sigh of relief there, lots more food options to fatten him up. I'm still afraid to hope, even though the first signs are good.

MommyToAshley replied: Aweee Sorry about the cake. Maybe this second one will turn out great and you won't need your sister's back up cake. But, that's great that she is making one just in case, what a great sis you have! Glad to hear Daniel might be over his dairy allergy!

Have a great time at the party and take lots of pics... you know we'll want to see them!

P.S. I always try to do the toothpick trick to see if the cake is done and it never works for me. I just kind of touch the top and see if it still wiggles, heeheee.

If it will make you feel any better, I will tell you about the first cake I ever made for my BF at the time. It was a two layer chocolate cake. The cakes came out of the oven a little lopsided, so I figured I would use extra icing on the side the was lower. So, I evened it up with icing and put the top layer on and then finished icing it. About then, the doorbell rang and I left the room. WHen I went back to get the cake, the icing had melted (I didn't let it cool first --oops) and the first layer slid right off the bottom layer. ANd, then to make things worse, when we cut it open, it wasn't done inside either. LOL

kimberley replied: awww.... sorry about the cake i am sure the next one will be perfect! I have my fingers crossed that Daniel is outgrowing the allergy. My nephew was lactose intollerant and it was so hard seeing all the other kids having ice cream and pizza and he couldn't Keep us updated on his progress and hope he has a great party!!!

kit_kats_mom replied: Awww, I'm so sorry. It may help to know that your birthday cakes may become legend. My mom always made my cakes and there was always something screwed up with them. One year it was a chocolate cake with white icing, the cake flaked so the icing had brown crumbs all in it. One year it was a cake with ballerinas, only there wasn't enough room on top of the cake so there were ballerinas sticking out on all sides. I think it is pretty funny and we still joke about it. I think it's great that she kept trying though.

I think I've inherited the gene too. I now make what I've dubbed the "tantrum cake".

Directions for tantrum cake:
Take cake. Can be warm. Doesn't really matter.
Frost said cake
When frosting doesnt' turn out like a picture from a magazine, take frosted cake and dump into large glass bowl.
Mush with hands (you get a better mush if you are cussing about your ineptness at baking)
Pat flat on top
Refridgerate after you have taken all frusterations out on cake
Pull from fridge when ready to serve
Top with coolwhip
Add candles if desired
Serve with spoon direct from bowl

It tastes the same and it can be a great emotional clenser. I make it at least once a year. I dont always start off intenting to make it but sometimes a perfectly good cake turns into a tantrum cake at some point. LOL

I'm happy to hear that the dairy allergy may be getting better though. That would have to be a tough one to avoid.

kimberley replied: lmbo @ tatrum cake! too funny!

amynicole21 replied: Sorry about the cake, but I bet the 2nd one will turn out perfectly Kit Kat's Mom's cake sounds like my kind of dessert

So glad to hear that his dairy allergy might be letting up! One less thing to have to worry about!

CantWait replied: I'm sorry your cake didn't turn out. Hope the second one works out better.
Glad that Dan is doing better with Dairy products

Julie (jem0622) replied: Allergies make life challenging...but you know what...it's just cake. You made it to a year and he had family and friends to celebrate with him. All he needs is love! Congrats!

Julie

MomToMany replied: Sorry the cake didn't work out. How did it go? Did the 2nd one turn out? I'm glad his allergy is letting up a little.



:rollsmile:Tantrum cake is too funny, Cary! But it does sound yummy!!!

Guest_kit_kats_mom replied: How did the 2nd cake turn out? How was the party? Pictures?

DansMom replied: For the second cake, I let it cook 10 additional minutes and it was fully cooked! I tried the jiggle test---great suggestion. Somehow I thought cakes would be just like meat, where you remove it from the oven when it's just a bit less cooked than you want, because it continues to cook for about five minutes after you remove it. Not so with cakes .

The final cake was incredibly moist and delicious, but did fall apart easily (maybe I tried to remove it from the pans too soon). I ended up with one usable round cake, so I decided to use my sister's cake to feed the adults, and cut my round piece into the shape of the number 1 (got that idea from this website!). Add some sprinkles and a candle---voila!

He didn't eat eat it at all---but he did wear it! I'll post some pics later this week when I have time to find the best ones. There was another dairy allergy baby there, a nine-month old, and he chowed down on the extra cake pieces that I hadn't used. So someone got to enjoy it!

I love the tantrum cake idea!! It sounds delicious!

kimberley replied: glad the cake came out okay. great idea shaping it like a 1! I can't wait to see cake face pics! he must have looked sooooo cute!