It All Adds Up

This was my second attempt at working with fondant. I made the Lightning McQueen cake as a warm up for this cake. I wanted to get a feel for working with fondant before I used to it to make a cake for someone else. When I made the Lightning cake, the fondant was tricky and a little sticky, but I survived. This time around my circumstances conspired against me as I was under time pressure and the temperature exceeded 30°C, (over 90°F). To begin I made another Dorie Greenspan cake, (Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday cake with Chocolate Malt Buttercream icing and my own fruit compote in the middle) to build my fondant upon because previous experience told me that the inside had better be good to make up for fondant’s less than desirable taste. The cake making went well but the fondant and I did not enjoy the heat and both felt as though we were melting. What made it even more difficult to work with was that once again I had a lofty, unrealistic vision of what my Batman cake was supposed to look like. I wanted it to be perfect; with a flat, ripple less surface, a little Batmobile, ruler straight edges on the buildings, an elaborate skyline and a happy birthday sign. As you can see, the end result was far from what I had imagined.

However, this is one of those rare situations where I suppose I can live with less than perfect results. I wasn’t asked or paid to make this cake and I wasn’t expected to either. I was making this cake because I wanted to, because I wanted to make someone happy. I don’t want to use the expression “it’s the thought that counts” because I really hate how that sounds, but essentially that’s what it comes down to. Some people are impressed by things that cost a lot of money, (and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t to some extent as well, I mean I wouldn’t turn down a trip to Fiji) but little thoughts and gestures add up in ways that big things rarely do. That’s why we remember the small things that make our day, random stories that other people wouldn’t appreciate nearly as much as we do. In a world that’s increasingly automated, doing things for people that make them feel like an individual means something. Facebook will tell you when someone’s birthday is but it won’t make them a Batman cake. An email can tell a friend you’re thinking of them, but a handwritten letter does it better. Sharing your candy will make someone happy, but picking out their favourite flavour means you’ve been paying attention. Doing things that you haven’t been asked to, these little acts make a world of difference. At least they do for me.

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Cake + Dorie Greenspan + Fondant + Batman