Making Cakes
4247 Maplewood Dr.
Saturday, December 29, 1995
4:30 PM
“All right,” Dotty said as she carried the Easy Bake Oven into the kitchen, placing it on top of the counter. It even looked like an oven, she thought—a bright pink oven—there was even a little stove on top with little burners—they called that the warming tray. “Now the first thing we need to decide, Jenna— is how many cakes we want to bake.”
“Umm…how about twenty?” Jenna suggested.
“Twenty?” Dotty repeated, raising her eyebrows. “Darling, we don’t have enough people to eat that many. How about we make four—one for each of us?”
Jenna grinned. “That sounds good. Can we make them chocolate? And decorate?”
“We certainly can,” Dotty told her, her mind racing. She had some frosting in the cupboard, she knew, along with those red and green sprinkles which had been left over from the cupcakes Amanda had made for Jenna’s class party. “First let’s get all our ingredients together—”
SMK SMK SMK SMK
The sounds of Burl Ives singing ‘Have a Holly Jolly Christmas’ on the radio filled the kitchen—the stations always played Christmas Carols until after New Year’s day. Dotty hummed to herself as she put everything on the counter in front of the little oven. Child-sized mixing bowls, little plastic spoons—all pink, of course. Even a spatula—these people had certainly thought of everything. The batter came in little packets; according to the directions you just had to mix with water and stir. It sounded simple enough. She unplugged the toaster, plugging in the oven to let it warm up.
“It’s still snowing,” Jenna announced as she came into the kitchen. “I looked out the window and it’s snowing really fast.”
“Yes, I know,” Dotty could see it from the kitchen window—an almost solid wall of white. “Come over here and we’ll get started—just stand on the little footstool so you can reach everything.”
“Okay.” Jenna stood on the stool next to Dotty. “Can we use this, Grandma? It was in the pantry.”
Dotty looked at the Ziploc bag that Jenna held—Amanda had written ‘Cake Decorations’ across the front in black marker. Though some of them looked a little big to be in a cake that was basically cookie-sized, she thought. “We’ll see,” she told her granddaughter as she took the bag, putting it aside. “But I can write everyone’s name on the cakes with a frosting pen and you can put sprinkles on.”
“That’ll look pretty,” Jenna agreed. “What do we do now?”
“Here.” Dotty poured the chocolate cake mix into the little bowl, along with two tablespoons of water. She handed the bowl to Jenna along with a wooden spoon. “Just stir this and then we’ll pour it into the pans.” They had two packages of mix, she reasoned—that should be more than enough for four little cakes. “Don’t eat that now,” she warned, as she saw the spoon halfway to Jenna’s mouth.
“But I wasn’t,” Jenna protested, her dark eyes wide. Her expression reminded Dotty of Amanda at that age—she’d always been able to tell when her daughter was hiding something. “I was just looking.”
“Well you’ll have plenty of time to look after.”
“And in other news, severe winter weather continues to pound the eastern part of the country,” the radio announcer said. “Motorists are being urged to take extra care while driving—and unless you have a reason to be out we suggest you stay at home…”
“Mommy and Daddy will be all right driving, won’t they?” Jenna asked suddenly. “I mean, in the snow and all?”
“Darling, of course they will. Trust me, your parents are very safe drivers.”
“But why did they go to work on Saturday?”
Why—Dotty hesitated briefly. She couldn’t say the real reason—it wasn’t like she knew the details anyway. “It was just—it was urgent film business, that’s all. Very urgent” she said finally, adding a silent prayer that both Lee and Amanda would come home safely. “How is that batter coming along?”
“I think it’s done.”
“Let me see.” Dotty glanced over at the bowl—no lumps that she could see. “I think we’re ready to pour it into the pans.” She’d already sprayed the two pans with cooking spray—she watched as Jenna spooned the batter in. “Be careful not to pour too much, Jenna—don’t fill them up all the way.”
“I won’t.” Jenna finished pouring. “Next we put it in the oven, right?”
“Right,” Dotty replied. “And we just cook one at a time—no, not like that,” she said as she saw Jenna with the door open, ready to push the cake inside with her bare hands. “Let me do this part—you’ll burn your fingers.” She pushed the cake inside with the spatula, making a mental note to tell Amanda that Jenna shouldn’t use the oven alone—at least not until she was a little bit older. The way the oven was set up was an accident just waiting to happen. Dotty shut the oven door.
“How long does it take?” Jenna asked.
“About ten minutes,” Dotty told her. “We can make more batter while we’re waiting. What icing do you want to use?”
“I think maybe strawberry,” Jenna pointed to the container. “That would taste good.” She picked up the plastic Ziploc bag and opened it, pulling out a small plastic object. “Can we use this for Daddy’s cake?”
Must have been left over from Thanksgiving, Dotty thought, turning it over in her hands. A little plastic Scarecrow. It would be a little big for the cake, but still, when Lee saw it on his cake…she glanced over at Jenna, who stood there waiting for an answer.
“I think it would be just perfect.”
The End
Easy Bake Oven : http://www.hasbro.com/easybake/default.cfm?page=history
Scarecrow Cake Ornament : http://www.amazon.com/Thanksgiving-Scarecrow-Inch-Cake-Decorating/dp/B000X7RDQY
Story Notes:
*The usual disclaimers apply—the idea for the story goes to Cheryl, and big thanks to Cheryl and Jan for brainstorming help. Hope you enjoy :)*