This whole packing thing isn’t not going over as well as I had hoped. I didn’t bother renting a truck because I figured that I didn’t have that much stuff. Well, as today wore on and my stuff went into boxes, I’ve been shocked at just how much I’ve accumulated over the past few years.
I’ll write more about that another day. For this post, I want to post pictures of the results of a bit of a diversion I had late in the afternoon. Packing was going slowly so I went downstairs to see what was up with the rest of the family. My mother had set out some ingredients because she had plans to make a pineapple upside down cake. Sensing it as an opportunity to get away from the nightmare of packing, I offered to do the cake myself. She easily agreed, meaning that I got my needed distraction. The cake part of the recipe was a basic sponge cake. The following two pictures show the results.
Looks great, tasted better.
I want to share an important point about any airy batter like a sponge cake batter. Once you whip the egg whites and sugar to the point where you get those familiar stiff peaks, you have to be very careful when you add the rest of the ingredients. Put down the hand mixer! You do not want to beat the rest of the stuff in. If you do, you’ll beat all of the trapped air out of the batter and end up with a collapsed dense mess. You’re supposed to add the other ingredients a little bit at a time. Each time you add something, just fold it in with a spatula. Don’t stir it, or whack it. You want to keep the air in as much as possible. Once it’s all together you should end up with a light and airy goo. If the goo isn’t airy, you’ve got a problem.
Anyway, that’s all. Tomorrow is a big day. I should be getting my keys. After that, I’m going to start the long arduous process of relocating my stuff. I’ll keep y’all posted.
Possibly related posts:
2 comments
Katana says:
Tue. August 4, 2009 at 10:24 pm (UTC -5 )
pineapple upside down cake is my favorite!! My mom, and her pinoy friends always used to make it when we had family gatherings and I have to say that if I could make ti myself… I would!
Jay says:
Fri. August 7, 2009 at 12:48 am (UTC -5 )
Just takes two skills: caramelizing a sugar syrup, and putting together a basic sponge cake. The cake bit is the hard part, but even then it’s easy if you know a) how to separate eggs, b) know how to use a hand blender, c) have patience to get the eggs to do weird and awesome things.