Hannah’s birthday was on Friday (Happy 23!). Given that she’s adulting and had to work both Friday and the better part of Saturday, we planned to celebrate Saturday evening. Unexpectedly, our 18-year-old oven stopped working on Friday. An early Saturday morning run to the grocery for a store-bought cake yielded NOTHING. No freshly baked cakes. No frozen cakes. Welcome to Downeast Maine in the summertime.

Rather than waste time running to Ellsworth (a 45-minute drive one-way), I opted to mix up a cake at home and then swing by the office, where we have a small apartment-sized range. Everything went well until I took the cakes out of the oven and both layers collapsed. Under the gun, I brought them home and frosted them – on one of the hottest days of the summer.

My double-layer cake was about three inches tall. The bit of cake I nibbled on tasted oddly like cornbread (my only substitution was almond milk for regular). The heat and humidity had the icing drooping down the sides. Still, I said, “No worries! Ice cream hides a lot of sins.”

I cooked the cheesy potatoes – one of Hannah’s favorites – in the slow cooker since the oven was out of commission. They came out oddly mushy with a bit of a crust on the bottom.

Thank goodness for the lobster and margaritas!

It turns out that ice cream doesn’t cure all. This cake was by far the worst I’ve ever made. I offered to send some home with Hannah – (who loves cake and ice cream), yet she politely declined! 😂

Proof I can make an edible birthday cake!