The Cupcake Competition

Doberge Disaster

"Eleanor, look at this!  It's a recipe for chocolate doberge cake, and it looks delicious!" My sleepover was over and I was having a playdate with Allison.  

"Wow!  That looks so pretty!" I exclaimed. 

"Once I went to New Orleans and had doberge cake there.  It was really delightful," Allison added. 

"Cool!  I've always wanted to go to New Orleans!  Hey!  Let's try making the doberge cake together," I suggested.  Allison was reluctant, but soon became more excited.  

"I can't wait to see what it looks like," Allison said, taking the measuring cups out of the cabinet. 

"Me neither," I said pulling some ingredients out of the pantry.  We worked together to finish the cake... at least most of it. 

"Whew!  I'm tired!  Let's take a little snack and water break," Allison suggested.  I agreed and pulled some chewy chocolate cherry cookies out of the cabinet. 

"Wow, lots of c's," Allison laughed, looking at the box.  I handed Allison three of the medium-sized cookies and took three for myself.  The cookies were delicious, but soon we needed to get back to the cake. 

"Hmmmm... where were we?" Allison asked.  I wasn't sure, but I told her that we were on the butter.  Allison took it out of the fridge and pulled out a stick.  We touched it up just right and added it to the bowl.  We stirred the mixture and poured it in the pan.  

Finally the cake was done.  We had mom take it out of the oven since it would be so hot.  We tested the cake to see if it was fully baked.  It was; the toothpick came out clean as it ever can be. We let the cake cool, then spread on the frosting mom had made.  The fluffy cocoa frosting looked beautiful on the dark brown cake.  

"Can we help you with supper, mom?" I asked.  

"Sure, thanks.  Then supper will be ready sooner which will mean that you and Allison can taste your cake sooner," mom replied, pushing the cutting board and a pile of vegetables towards us.  We started chopping the vegetables.  

"What are you making anyway, Mrs. Jackson?" Allison asked. 

"I'm making my secret recipe vegetable stew," mom said.  Allison made a face, but tried to hide it as well as she could.  Mom laughed.

"It may seem gross, and I don't blame you, I used to not like it either, but it's actually really good," mom said.  Together we finished making the stew.  While it cooked, we watched Looney Tunes while we waited for supper.  Finally, it was ready and we all seated ourselves at the table.

"Wow, this is really great!" Allison exclaimed. 

After dinner I went to get the cake and plates.  Allison grabbed some forks and helped me bring the plates to the table.  I was so excited to taste the cake.  Finally everyone was served.  I got a huge bite, and stuffed the cake into my mouth.  I immediately spit it out, and so did Allison.  

"This is gross!" We yelled.  Then I remembered.  Looking at Allison, we shouted in unison: "THE BUTTER!!!"  We explained to mom and dad how we had taken a break, then forgotten where we were in the recipe. 

"Wow, maybe we should take a baking class or something," Allison laughed as we gathered up her things after dinner.  We had now seen the funny side of the whole thing, and we happily grabbed her things and took them downstairs to where her mother was waiting.  I hugged Allison and told her goodbye, then headed upstairs to get ready for bed.  When I was seated in bed, I picked the up the newspaper, then gasped.