PlazaJen: Passion Knit

For once, I'm not talking about the band.
Right now, I can smell cake baking.... and this is one helluva cake, if I dare say so without seeming too preening or apt to pull a muscle as I pat myself on the back.

My friend Shelley's wedding shower is today, and I said I'd bring the cake. And for once, not CostCo cake. I wanted to make a cake. I don't bake desserts a whole lot, but I'm pretty good at all adventures in the kitchen, and committing to the time & creation of this cake was important to me. Now, one of the helpers in this shower immediately asked me to please make the cake co-ordinate with the invitations, OR the cups, plates & napkins. Um, let's see, NO. I'm just not that girly-girl or matchy, I guess, nor do I take direction well. Besides, I already had a vision of the cake, and when I get my visions, people just better get out of the way.

Shelley loves strawberries, so it's a white cake with strawberry jello added in, PLUS, pecans, coconut & mashed strawberries. Frosting will be cream cheese, and the cake will be topped with white edible glitter & a layer of fresh sliced strawberries. Oh, and I doubled the recipe (and took some liberties with it) and am baking it in two enormous 10-inch silicone cake pans, and will cut the cakes in half, so it's four layers.

LOOK OUT, I have a vision. I will take pictures. You will fall down at your computer monitor and I'm warning the glucose-intolerant, you will feel the sugar.

And, last but not least, as most things are with me, there's meaning within the cake. The subtle joke is that Shelley used to buy Jell-o in the deli in our building when we both worked together, and it was topped with whipped cream, and she'd always talk about how she wanted some pecans on her jell-o, because that's how they always ate their Jello in Texas, which always made me shriek, because we have many uses for Jell-o in the midwest, most of which involve floating items and molds, but putting nuts on on Jell-O is just plain wrong. I apologize for my inconsistent capitalizations in the word "Jell-O" as well. Anyway, she liked nuts on top for the crunch, and finding a recipe that uses (jello) and pecans seemed absolutely perfect to me. I know she'll find it funny, and if the batter is any indication, the cake is going to rock. JUST LIKE THE BAND.