Fast and Easy Cake

Life often interferes with our plans.  This happened to me the week of my son's birthday.  I simply ran out of time to do all the things that needed to be done.  My plan was to make and decorate him a special cake.  I made the icing and colored it with the colors I was sure to need, but then I had too many interruptions, repair men, things that needed my time and attention.

When I knew I wasn't going to be able to decorate the cake, I thought of going to the bakery and buying one.  Again, I never got time to do it.  When you're needed everywhere, even a small thing like going to the store is too much to add.

So during dinner one night I whipped up the cake and got it in the oven.

Later that night after it had completely cooled, I opened a can of Comstock cherries and spooned them over the first layer of the cake.

Then I used the white icing I'd made, doing the Better Crocker thing and just swirling it all over the cake.  After that I spooned the remainder of the cherries over the top of the cake allowing the syrup to flow over the sides and pool on the plate.

It was sweet, deliciously tasty, and complete and ready on his birthday.

The kids didn't mind that I hadn't spent hours on it.  To them it hit the spot. 

Decorating is an art.  It takes time to plan and a lot more time to make all the flowers, ruffles and edges that go into the edible art.  I used to be quick with making the cakes, but I'm out of practice.  Every now and then I'll bake and decorate something that gets oohs and aahs.