Ryan made a plan to bake a Red Velvet Cake from scratch for his dad's dinner party tonight. Baking is a fairly new activity for Ryan and I could tell it was a little outside his comfort zone. He asked me to be his mentor today as he baked the cake. Problem is, Ryan and I both suffer from the same affliction. We are both stubborn, controlling perfectionists. Put two of us in the kitchen and let the fireworks begin. Kaboom!
The cake came together well. We popped it into the oven and then tackled the frosting. How difficult could a cream cheese, mascarpone, whipped cream frosting be? Aaaagh! Difficult a plenty! It started off well enough. We creamed together the mascarpone and cream cheese, then we added the powdered sugar and vanilla. No problem. Last came the whipping cream...the dastardly, darn whipping cream! And our nice smooth frosting became a curdled mess.
Ryan was frustrated. I was frustrated. He had spent $25 on the ingredients and now he just wanted to throw it away. I couldn't let him fail. Kaboom! We argued back and forth and then I stormed out of the house to pick up more frosting ingredients. While I whipped up a new batch of frosting, Ryan sulked in his room. I called him out and together we iced one hell of a cake. He came up with the idea to add sugar sprinkles to mimic the look of a baseball to commemorate the trip he and his dad are taking next week to Wrigley Field in Chicago. Great idea!
As Ryan headed off to his dad's, he gave me a hug and a smile. I think he was proud of his cake and I was proud of him. He stepped outside his comfort zone, stumbled and ultimately persevered.
Many hugs,
Kathy
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