Haley's First Birthday Cake
Saturday was Haley's first birthday. We had a small family party at our house. I put Haley in a super-cute pink dress. I made Haley's cake and frosting completely from scratch. I took photos of each step along the way. I was excited! Then it was time to dig in. I decided NOT to post the cake recipe. It was not an instant success. The batter was good. The only problem, once I cooked it, it was hard to get it to come out well. I live in "high altitude" Nevada, so baked goods always need adjusting. I had to cook it more than the recipe said. The recipe said bake for 20-24 minutes. OK. I went for 22 to start. It was still pretty liquid in the center. I gave it 4 more minutes. It looked set up, but the toothpick test yielded a wet toothpick. Another 3 minutes later, the edges were brown, pulling away from the pan, and I got a dry toothpick. Lesson learned: shaped pans with uneven depth make cooking a bitch. I cooled it in the pan a few minutes, then