Scouting, Volume 68, Number 4, September 1980 Page: 28
98 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The /Great
ake
ebaele
BY ROBERT L.
GIROUARD
Illustration by Tom Eaton
"Our chocolate-
cinnamon cake emerged
from the oven right on
schedule, smelling
delicious . . . and dented
with a hideous
concavity."
d3IE>
UNTIL A MONTH ago, I had never
baked a cake. But then, I'd never been
invited to participate in a Cub Scout
pack's annual father-and-son cake-baking
contest before.
The motif of this year's bake-off was the
sea. So, naturally, one of the prize cate-
gories was "Saltiest," to be awarded to the
cake that was either the saltiest or that best
capitalized on the nautical theme. Other
categories included "Tallest," "Flattest,"
and "Yummiest."
"You can't be serious. I have to do
this?!" I protested.
"I'm afraid so," my wife said, gesturing
to our nine-year-old Mark, whose eyes
were filled with imminent disappoint-
ment, a "don't-let-me-down-Dad-please-
or - I'll - never - speak - to - you - again -
and - besides -1 - know - you - can - do - it"
look.
"All right. If I must, I must."
We pored over the cookbooks, looking
28
for a recipe complex enough to satisfy the
palate of a jaded bake-off judge yet sim
pie-minded enough to be mastered by two
rank amateurs.
He sifted flour and sugar like a pro. I
un-yolked eggs amid admiring comments
such as "Gee, I didn't know you knew how
to do that! Pretty tricky."
Everything was fine until we got to the
penultimate instruction: "Fold in egg
whites."
"Dad, you threw the whites away ear
lier. What do we do now?"
We broke four more eggs, that's what,
allowing me once more to demonstrate
how well I could separate whites from
yolks.
I knew now that it would be wise to hold
onto the yolks—just in case.
We had, accompanied by minor devas-
tation wrought upon the kitchen, succeed-
ed in making a chocolate-cinnamon cake.
While it baked, we thumbed through
frosting recipes. The cake smelled
delicious baking. Its aroma goaded my
optimism, causing me to throw all caution
to the winds. Could we be satisified with
bland, basic white frostings? Nay! We
were suddenly in hot pursuit of the
'Yummiest" prize.
"Mocha-rum frosting—that sounds in-
teresting," I said. "Besides, it has a sea-
faring ring to it."
The chocolate-cinnamon cake emerged
from the oven right on schedule, smelling
delicious . . . and dented with a hideous
concavity that, to me at least, was as
deeply depressing as the Slough of
Despond.
"It fell," he said sadly.
"Big deal," I said. "We'll just trowel
some extra frosting into the spot where it
dips, and the frosting will harden even-
tually, and who'll know the difference
anyhow? It's how it tastes that matters,
right?"
"Well, O.K." he said, not quite
convinced.
We plunged into making the frosting.
The butter, still too hard, chose to cling to
the beater's blades, rather than associate
with the other ingredients. Moisture was
clearly needed, for what good was frosting
that was too solid and powdery to spread?
The egg yolks! In the bowl they went.
(continued on page 30)
September 1980 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 68, Number 4, September 1980, periodical, September 1980; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353701/m1/28/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.