Abomination Cake

Inspirational song: Everybody Have Fun Tonight (Wang Chung)

The birthday cake was truly an abomination. As promised, I added layers in penance for each week delayed, and then threw on a whole bunch of decorations on top just to make sure it was out there. It was good, though. So good. I'm pretty sure I have been in a diabetic coma since about 8:30 this evening, since I got through most of my piece of it.

I will not use the same brownie mix as crust next time I make a cheesecake. I didn't bake it all the way before the cheesecake batter went in, and in the gentle water bath, the brownie mix just turned into fudge. It was impossible to remove from the base of the springform pan, even after chilling overnight and sitting for an hour in the freezer. I had to scrape it off and pat it onto the inverted cheesecake layer, and then flip it onto the foil-lined serving board. The cherry compote layer worked out better. I thawed cherries that we picked last year, boiled them briefly, then pulled out the fruit and boiled down the juice in the pan to reduce and thicken it. Then I added sugar, and finally gelatin and a little maraschino liqueur. While that chilled and set, I made a chocolate mousse layer. I checked on it in the fridge, and it slid a half an inch or so off to one side, like the cherries acted as ball bearings.

To decorate it, I shaved a dark chocolate bar on the top. Then I made 8 blobs of whipped cream, stuck mint leaves in each one, placed a pitted, fresh sweet cherry on each, and then shook tiny sprinkles over the whole thing. It was ridiculous. And our dear friend whose birthday cake it was absolutely loved it. Everyone did, even the people who couldn't eat a whole piece in one sitting. (Me, I gave up on the fudgy base. It was too much.)

Game night was a little scattered tonight, and hard to follow, but only partially because of me and my sugar bomb. We all have so much going on, and for once, mostly good things to have side-conversations about. Plus Valerie was running around being adorable. Maybe if we play again next Wednesday, we can focus a little more on the game. If I make another snack, I ought to stick to protein. I'm sugared out now.