I hope everyone had a happy Valentine’s Day! I wanted to post something fun and gorgeous for the day, but it just wasn’t going to be! I have a lot of wonderful neighbors, and one of them had a luncheon for the ladies of the area.
Valentine’s Day & the Cake of Broken Dreams
I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make the homemade version of Tres Leches Cake from one of our local cafe/bakeries. It would be great for you readers, for Valentine’s, and for our little party.
I made it twice, which I usually do for recipes on the blog. At least twice. One recipe on my blog I made 56 times over a six-month period, modifying it each time before I thought it was good enough to go on my blog! I am obsessed with food and obsessed with making every recipe turn out right for you!
Valentine’s Day & the Cake of Broken Dreams – i had to see the inside!!
But back to the cake. The first test was great, but I didn’t take any pictures. I thought my decorating skills were a little lacking. Then I looked at about a dozen cake decorating videos on YouTube before I made it again! It really was looking pretty good…until I dumped it off the cake stand!
I did finally remake that Tres Leches Cake, then forgot to trim it, so it had uneven layers. And a kind visitor gave me some hints to wrap the pan so the cake turns out evenly, while baking, eliminating that whole trimming process! I just love you guys!! Is there anyone more kind-hearted or more generous than cooks and bakers? I think not!
Caffe Latte’s Tres Leches Cake,
Then I thought it might be fun to show the results and talk about failed food! I bet some of you will never want to eat at my house after seeing some of these pics!! Take heart in knowing that more than a few recipes on my site are Lab Approved!
🐾 Lab Approved
This isn’t the first time I’ve had total food fails! There have been dozens upon dozens. It used to be Gibson (one time I turned my back, and he was licking the bowl of soup I was getting ready to shoot, which I had placed on a low table!) He was a consummate carb addict and ate countless items!
How he managed to eat this Wayside Inn Carrot Cake while wearing a giant cone is still a bit of a mystery! He was wearing the cone because he was recovering from surgery after getting into the garbage someone had left out!
Chance is still not to be trusted, and he is usually confined to the bedroom when food’s around. I mean, just look at that face!
🐾 Lab Approved
There’s no way I could watch him and take a picture of any food at the same time! Just yesterday, he snatched an Italian Beef Sandwich off the counter as I was letting him out through the kitchen door, and he was on a leash!!
🐾 Lab Approved
Another time he managed to snatch one of these Mardi Gras Scones. It was like a drive-by hit! I had to pry his mouth open and managed to retrieve it, still whole. He was trying to hide that giant scone in there! Into the garbage that went!
Chance: Ha! The game is on!
Even Homer has to be watched. Cats are sneaky little devils. She always wants to be right there when I’m taking my pictures. She’s pretty good and wouldn’t DARE to get up on the kitchen counters, but…
Sometimes, I carry food around the house chasing the light, and I think she feels a little more like it’s ok if the food isn’t in the kitchen. In this shot, I turned my back to fiddle with something and *bam* there she was! Very delicately giving this Fromage Fort a little sniff.
Fromage Fort – as good as any reason to be careful where you eat – Homer knows she’s not allowed on the counter but couldn’t resist the smell!
And my human family members have been just as bad. Outrageous, even. Getting into things that had to be refrigerated, even if there’s a note on them. I mean, really, who eats chocolate pudding from the fridge at 9:00 a.m. in the morning? No offense if you do…
Or 12 of the 14 muffins that were just baked and cooling on a rack? They were there for an hour. An hour!! Twelve muffins!! Or grabs a fork and digs into a whole pie? Or eats all the decorations off the top of a layer cake? Or one of the four carefully crafted Budinos with Plum Marmellata for our dinner party of four people? I stepped away when photographing and came back to find three.
Polenta Budino with Plum Marmellata
Honestly, you’d think everyone was starving to death, animals, and people! Which I can assure you, isn’t the case! Funny, now that I think about it, Chance is the only one who couldn’t stand to lose any weight. Maybe someone should confine ME to the bedroom when food is around! It’s a new diet, folks!
Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and as my neighbor said, Valentine’s isn’t just about sweethearts, it’s about love, and we could ALL use a little more of that. 🙂 And hopefully, a few chuckles!
Mollie
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