Cooking is one of my passions. Similar to my favorite cooking guru, Rachel Ray, I like to eyeball the amount of ingredients with the use of my hands. They are my best kitchen tools. That is why I hate baking because it entails precise measurements of all necessary components. Just miss one and everything will fall apart. For me, cooking should be a free flowing form of expression. Exact measurements take all the fun away. What if I want my food sweeter or saltier? Am I to be bound by rules? Hey, it’s my kitchen and I make my own rules!
My mother must have thought that an instant cake mix would cure my dislike for baking. So, she bought me 3 boxes of Betty Crocker. I hid these well, though, at the back side of the cupboard hoping that I can completely ignore them. But by the time that the cupboard was almost empty of goodies, the cake mixes came to full view again. My husband also started to incessantly nag about telling my mother how I was deliberately letting Betty Crocker waste away.
Hence after almost 2 months, I finally decided to open the first box. Well to tell you the truth, my first try was not so bad. My taste buds, however, told me that there was something missing. This then inspired me to experiment on the second box.
You know, being a Food Network fanatic has its perks. If there is one thing I learned, it is to make any kind of dish taste uniquely by jazzing up the ingredients. So I tried to make the cake recipe my own. On my second attempt, I added a tablespoon of vanilla extract and half a teaspoon of coffee. It’s very surprising that coffee spikes the flavor of chocolate. I also used milk instead of water to dissolve the mixture and make the cake moist. The batter was poured on a rectangular glass dish and was popped inside the oven. Although it was cooked after 35 minutes, it was not completely done yet.
To compliment the variations I have already made, I cut the cooled cake horizontally in half and spread a generous amount of raspberry preserve on one side. Next, I put the two halves back together and pressed them lightly. I also whisked a carton of Nestle cream, vanilla, and sugar for a light and fluffy whipped cream. Finally, I topped this on the cake together with some dark chocolate shavings. Voila! After less than an hour of no sweat work, the outcome was phenomenon!
Our household is composed of 4 young adults... and in less than a day the glass dish was empty. I guess you know what that means!
Praises to the makers of Betty Crocker. I can’t be a connoisseur in less than 2 hours but now I can melt anybody’s heart for sure.
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