Pink does not always equal perfection!

Today the girls and I spent the afternoon with a longtime favorite...the Easy Bake Oven. When I was a child I had one of these splendid toys and spent many hours making minature cakes and cookies. To my underdeveloped taste buds they tasted like bliss. I am not sure what word my Mom would use to describe them but my guess is that it isn't quite as complimentary. So, when Annie asked for one of her very own, I could hardly wait to run to Target and buy one. I was so excited for her to unwrap it on Christmas morning. I wasn't so excited about the $6 mixes that I just knew we would fly through in a matter of days. In the end I did manage to make her Easy Bake mixes last for a few months before the Easy Bake Oven was relegated to a shelf in the laundry closet.


My husband, being the wonderful Dad that he is, found a website online that had homemade recipes for the Easy Bake Oven! Annie begged me for months to please let her try one. I resisted, mainly because I didn't want to deal with the mess or the inevitable fighting that would ensue between Annie and Megan. Finally, after months (seriously) of pleading I gave in. As I was preparing lunch today I mentioned to Annie and Megan that we could make a cake in the Easy Bake Oven. Screeching ensued! Me, being the awesome Mom that I am, wasn't just going to make a plain old chocolate cake either. We were going to be making something called "Barbie's Pink Cake" to be topped off with "Barbie's Sparkle Icing". It was all going to be pink! Could anything be any better? I love all things pink and if I can manage to turn my food pink, I will. So, we mixed up the cake batter.

Do you see that? That is some seriously pink cake batter! I was giddy with excitement! The best part was that, one dip of the finger later, I was able to confirm that it was indeed edible! Now, it certainly wouldn't be descibed as blissful but edible was ok in my book. We filled up the teeny tiny pans and baked the layers of our pink goodness.

In the meantime, we began mixing "Barbie's Sparkle Icing". Annie and Megan were none too thrilled with the smell of the vegetable shortening, but I assured them that it would all taste fine in the end. How could it not? There were 2/3 cups of powdered sugar in the recipe! I couldn't have been more wrong! That icing was one of the most foul tasting creations that has ever crossed my lips! The girls agreed...



Of course, me being the culinary genius that I am, iced Annie's cake prior to tasting the pink goo. So, while her cake looked pretty it tasted and smelled awful! Poor Annie. We did manage to take a photo because it WAS a pretty cake.

I am never one to not learn from my mistakes, so we wised up when it came time to ice Megan's cake. I dug out a trusty tub of Betty Crocker chocolate fudge icing and we went to town.






While Megan's cake tasted MUCH better, it didn't quite have the dramatic effect that Annie's did. Somehow I am guessing that if Barbie had to choose, she would have gone with the pink cake. Afterall, she is a woman and women always pick fashion over function.