Simple Man

Be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can?
                                      --LYNYRD SKYNYRD

My husband is what I would call a simple man. Jeans and t-shirts. Sneakers. Buzzed hair cut. Beer and coke. Golf and basketball. Peanut butter and Doritos. Meat 'n' taters.  So, what kind of cake would you expect for a simple man to want for his bithday? None other than yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Every year. After year, after year, after year.  Makes life 'simple'.  So, this year, of course, Cari and I baked his birthday cake together.  And, of course, she had a blast.  Anything with chockit. Heck, anything having to do with baking. But, this year, we put in a little surprise for him.

"Surprise!! Ms. Betty Crocker" Cake

What you need:
1 box yellow cake mix
Canola/vegetable oil
Water
Eggs
1 container of whipped chocolate frosting
6 oz Ghirardelli Chocolate chips
3 oz crushed Heath peices

What to do:

Prepare cake mix as directed on the box, using 2 8-inch round cake pans to create 2 layers to the cake.

To do this, first, put this little guy down for his nap.

Get out your supplies.

Grease two 8- or 9-inch round pans.

Flour them up.

Give them a shimmy shake shake shake.

In a large mixing bowl, dump in the boxed cake mix.

CHEERS!!! 

Dump in the oil, water, and eggs, as called for on the box.

Mix it all up.  Using an electric mixer makes it a little easier on the muscles, but if you're needing to burn off some calories that you are about to eat, by all means, mix 'er up!

Distribute evenly between the two pans.

 What do we do next, Mommy?

Give the cakes some good vibes so they bake evenly in the oven.

Work on self control as you smell the aroma of yellow cake.  Mmmm....

Bake as directed on the box. When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Then place the bottom layer on a wire cooling rack.  Leave the other in the pan so that it stays warm.  Place a good amount of chocolate chips and crushed Heath peices on top of the bottom layer.  This is what will bind the two layers together instead of frosting.  So much richer, and SURPRISE! What yumminess.

 Don't forget to sample some! That's the best part!

Carefully arrange them in a single layer on the cake. You will see some of them start to melt.

Doesn't that look delicious?

Once you've got all your goodies on the cake, then take the top layer out of the pan and place it on top of the bottom layer. Check on it to make sure it is doing what it's supposed to - look yummy, get melty, and smell delicious.

Can you see some of them melting already? Let the cake cool completely on the wire rack before frosting.

Once the cake is cool, transfer to a cake platter.  A trick to keep your cake platter clean while you frost: tear off 3 sheets of wax paper and place on top of the platter, leaving just the center of the platter exposed - something for the cake to stick to.  Frost your cake, and when done, slide the wax papers out from underneath the cake.  Whalaa! Clean plate.

Resist the temptation to eat the frosting until you are done with the cake.  Another practice in self-control.

Reward!

Be proud of your creation. Tell it sweet little nothings.

It was at this point that I asked Cari continually to put the chair away because we were all done. When she incessantly refused to listen to me, I looked at her and said, "Cari, you need to learn that when we are done, it's over" to which she promptly, and perfectly, replied, "Mommy, you need to wearn dat when we are done, we EAT IT!" Well said, my dear, well said.

When the little brother wakes up from his nap, taunt him with your chocolate covered face and tell him he cannot have any because he's a baby. But continue to stick your face in his so that he can smell the goodness of gooey chocolate.

Belt out the tune of Happy Birthday in your most joyous voice while exhibiting patience to not dig into that delicious cake you worked so hard on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, last, but not least, enjoy every bite of it with the person whom you worked so hard for.

Can't wait til next year when we have both little ones working on your cake!!!!! We love you!