Thunder Cake - Funny Cake

For the fourth of July I made a cake for a celebration at my parents; and I chose a chocolate cake for Thomas. I often think of chocolate cake a more of winter dessert, but this recipe has a fruity flavor because of a secret ingredient.

I found the recipe in the back of a children's book Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco when I was teaching Kindergarten. The story is about a little girl who is afraid of thunderstorms, so her grandmother teaches her to make this cake and while getting the ingredient to do all sorts of things she is scared of. While the cake is baking her grandmother points out that the little girl did all sorts of brave things, even though she was nervous, so she didn't need to let the thunder, which is just noise, scare her into being unable to do anything. Patricia Polacco tells the story better, and illustrates it too, so I would recommend reading it.

However, I will write share the recipe.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together:
 2 1/2 cups cake flour (though I use all-purpose flour and it works fine)
1/2 cup dry cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

In a separate bowl, cream together:
1 cup shortning
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, separated (blend the yolks in; beat the whites until stiff and then fold them in.

Then mix in:
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes (secret ingredient - it adds moisture and the fruity flavor)

Mix the dry mixture into the creamy mixture.
Bake in two greased and floured 8 1/2 inch round pans at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Let cool, then frost with chocolate butter frosting and top with strawberries.

I followed the recipe until the last line. I did not frost it with chocolate butter frosting. I had a grand plan of covering it with whipped cream and decorating it with strawberries and blackberries (that were really dark blue) to make it look somewhat patriotic. And for a yummy twist, I thought I would put strawberries between the layers. Well... let just say I didn't take any pictures for a reason. It didn't quite turn out that way.

First, I iced the top of the bottom layer, added the sliced strawberries, then added the top layer. Unfortunately, the trip out to my parents was rather warm and the icing melted and the top layer slid off and all the strawberries slid out. Second, I wanted the whipped cream to be fresh, so I was going to add it right before I served it. But I forgot to get the whipped cream out of the freezer. So Mom said to microwave it for a few seconds. The little information screen doesn't work on her microwave, and I was doing a bunch of other things and the whipped cream ended up melted into... what I thought looked like baby spit-up. I took the juice part and used it as a glaze, then decorated it with strawberries and blackberries and everyone, who didn't know what it was supposed to look like, said it was very nice. And everyone, even those who did know what it was supposed to look like, said it tasted yummy.

I had some. It was good. But I laughed all while eating it.

Moral of the story: When making a cake, always follow all the directions!