If you give a mouse a cookie...

He's going to ask to upgrade to cake.

My coworkers have apparently become quite spoiled. Justin informed me the other week that "there hasn't been cake in awhile." A subtle hint. It was actually true... there were too many events at which to showcase my cakes, so the lab got the short end of the stick and missed out. Lucky for them, the cake from two weeks ago had no VIP appearances to make, so they got this cake all to themselves.

The cake was Toffee Nutmeg Cake. Interestingly, toffee was not a component of the cake at all. It was almost entirely flour (3 cups) and brown sugar (1 pound. No seriously) serially diluted into 3 separate mixes, which in the end condensed down to 2 separate mixes: the cake, and the top. I was unconvinced that two dry, powdery mixes would make a cake, but... you know how the saying goes... remember the Tomato Cake. So I didn't ask questions, layered the mixes in the pan as instructed, and put it in the oven to bake.

I should note that I was supposed to use a 9" tube pan with a removable bottom. But I'm not privy to such luxuries, and cash is tight, so I improvised and used my springform pan. Besides, we bought that pan for this project, so I'm going to get good use out of it. The cake came out fine, probably just slightly less pretty. But I was fairly certain it wouldn't survive long enough in the office for anyone to notice.

It was indeed well received, and went quickly. It was delicious... the cake was soft and spicy, and the topping was a crispy toffee-like layer full of pecans and brown sugar with a crunch that contrasted nicely with the texture of the cake itself. By the time I went home, it was entirely gone. I thought perhaps I'd satisfied the lab cake craving for awhile, but one of the postdocs checked every day for the rest of the week on the "off-chance there might be cake." Sadly, they're in a cake dry spell again. I'm sure I'll hear about it soon enough.