bake my cake 2013: lan’s cake

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You might remember Lan from… well, from everything. The woman likes to compete. Most recently, she was a finalist in Pumpkin Carve-Off 2012.

Lan sent the following note with her entry:

dear movita,

last year i made you tiny cakes for your birthday and still lost. i must be a glutton for punishment because this year for your graduation i made you tiny cakes uh-gain. cus you know, one loss wasn’t enough!

happy graduation to you! congrats, you’re finished!

Then she sent another email to tell me that she had made a spelling mistake on the watermark for one of her photos, and I felt a little better about the huge stain on the front of my t-shirt.

Lan has a blog called morestomach. You should probably visit her over there – it’s pretty awesome. Lan is one of those disgustingly talented people who blogs poetically and takes perfect photos. She doesn’t tell stories about toilets like I do. I kinda want to hate her, but she makes it really hard what with being all supportive and stuff.

Now, look at that cake. Seriously. So elegant and understated. (Like the shoes I bought for graduation.) Do you see its size in relation to the spoon? It’s teeny tiny! Are those alternating layers of white and chocolate cake? Or is that chocolate fudge? Which part is the peanut butter? PB stands for peanut butter, right? Is that peanut butter buttercream on top? And is that chocolatey fairy dust sprinkled on the surface? Wait! What is on that red plate in the background? Some sort of decorated log? IS IT A DECORATED LOG?

This cake is an enigma. That’s the best sort of cake. A treat placed before you, begging you to dive in. That’s one of the reasons I love cake – the big reveal, the first bite, the oohs and aahs. It’s a gift. It’s an adventure. Like baking school! I mean, did any of us actually think I’d graduate? No way!

Thanks for the graduation cake, Lan! It is epically gorgeous.

If you love Lan’s cake as much as I do, you’ll be able to cast a vote for it on Monday, June 17th, 2013.