37 Things: Bake a 3 Layer Cake

I like to challenge myself on my list of 37 Things I Want to do Before I Turn 38. A 3 layer cake, while not rocket science, does require some special tools. You need 3 cake pans. (Unless you want to bake in stages, which I don't.) You need an offset spatula to apply frosting to the cake. You need a piping bag to decorate the bottom edge. You need a pound of butter.

You also need a big crowd to eat it all so you don't feel like a pig. Last night we went to a dinner party and I knew it would be perfect timing for this cake.

I am not a big cake eater in general. I prefer cookies or chocolate.....or whiskey. But a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting is really delicious and worth the time, once in a while anyways, to enjoy. My friend Rosie took all these fabulous photos of me serving up the cake. I look like I am seriously focusing on this cake!

The key to cutting cake is a clean knife. Dampen a tea towel with hot water and wipe the blade between slices. It makes the cake slices look sharp and elegant.

I love the look of red velvet. To me, this is what cake is supposed to look like: slightly magical and unreal. And with red and pink sugar sprinkles.

I just love looking at this cake. Maybe I should make it my screensaver because I probably won't be making another one any time soon. (A pound of butter remember! And I worked out at the gym yesterday for over an hour and a half to prepare myself for this cake.)

And I did cheat slightly with the recipe. The batter was supposed to be for a 2 layer cake instead of 3 but I just divided it up into 3 pans instead of multiplying the recipe. A cake made with 3 full layers would have been truly gigantic and completely unnecessary. This cake was perfect in my humble estimation.
I notice that I am mostly focusing on the food items on my list. Perhaps I need to make 2 lists each year: one for food and one for everything else!