Two Cakes Are Better Than One

So when I made my impromptu striped cake back in December, I posted it to a Facebook group of fellow military spouses in the area and I got some really incredible responses. I filed away several names for future recipients, and that's where this story begins....

I had two particularly compelling nominations - one for a friend/neighbor who took in not one, not two, but THREE children during a time of crisis, and another for an online auction meant to raise money for the adoption of two Peruvian siblings. I knew I wanted to make a cake for both of these causes, but I wasn't sure exactly how to execute submitting photos ahead of time for the auction while also having a fresh cake for whomever bids on it. So, that's where these two nominations come together -

I decided to make two identical cakes! I researched recipes for a while, wanting to make something extravagant enough for someone to want to bid on it, while also being basic enough to cast a wide net and be appealing to a large number of people. I finally landed on salted caramel - who doesn't love salted caramel?

I didn't have too much of an idea for design other than I definitely wanted to make it a drip cake (one of my favorite techniques, as you can probably tell from my past cake photos), but I decided to use another one of my Cake by Courtney cake combs to add some texture, and I just LOVE how it turned out. Texture combs have been my jam recently... such an easy way to add dimension to an otherwise simple design.

So cake #1 went to a woman nominated by her neighbor, Crystal. Crystal told me a remarkable story about her mother-in-law needing an emergency craniotomy down in Florida. She panicked about how to get down there in time for surgery while also juggling her three children. Her neighbor, Shannon, didn't even skip a beat and offered to take them all... on top of her own three kids... and being a full time RN! Shannon updated Crystal with photos of all of the kids having fun throughout the weekend so she was able to keep her focus on her mother-in-law without worrying about her kids at home. Wow! What an amazing friend! When I messaged Crystal that I had made a cake for Shannon and her family I also learned that Shannon's husband had recently been affected by the rapid deployment, which made it even more appropriate for her to receive a sweet surprise!

This story struck a cord with me for many reasons, but one of them being that it was all too familiar. About 20 years ago, my Uncle was diagnosed with Leukemia. He and his wife had two young children (one a year younger than me and one a year older than me), and my parents took them both in while my Uncle underwent intense chemo and radiation in Boston. I knew my Uncle was sick, but the thing is, I don't remember that being the focus while my cousins stayed with us. My Mom made everything feel so normal - she signed us all up for summer camp, we had family dinners together and had regular playdates with neighbors and family friends... it seemed so effortless. Of course, now that I'm much older I realize how difficult that must have been for my parents - to manage four children and keep our minds off of a terrifying situation happening in our family. Their willingness to double their number of children gave my Aunt the ability to stay with her husband in Boston while he was sick, and it gave my Uncle the ability to focus on getting better while having the peace of mind that the kids were being taken care of and having fun... Not unlike what Shannon did for Crystal!

So cake #2 is being donated to an online auction that is raising money for a local family adopting two siblings from Peru! I plan on making the exact same cake that I made for Shannon for this auction, so I was able to use photos of cake #1 in the auction posting and I'll actually make the second cake once I know who the highest bidder is! This cake could be YOURS (assuming you are within driving distance of Southern Pines)! You can bid on this fantastic salted caramel cake starting at 6AM on January 31st through 10PM on February 2nd. There are COUNTLESS other items to bid on at the auction (many of which have the option of shipping) and all of the proceeds go to a wonderful cause! If you have questions, please visit the Facebook group link above, or message me individually. I can't wait to see the Morski Family bring these two kiddos home from Peru!

Baked with love,

Emma