I Have Another Poppy Cannon Moment

The weekend was kind of a quiet one, which was nice. For some dumb reason, I decided Saturday morning to whip up a cake specifically for the husband from a recipe I'd received on Thursday or Friday. Why dumb, you ask, Gentle Reader? Because I decided to do it before heading to the gym Saturday morning.

Brilliant idea, non?

Here's the recipe:

Raspberry Angel Cake1 16-oz. package angel food cake mix
1/2 t almond extract
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 0.3-oz. package sugar-free raspberry gelatin
1 12-oz. package frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
1 T sugar

1. Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions.
   
2. Fold in the extracts.
   
3. Spoon two-thirds of the batter into an ungreased 10" tube pan.
   
4. Add the gelatin powder to the remaining batter, then drop it by tablespoonfuls over the batter in the pan. Cut through the with a knife to swirl.
   
5. Bake and cool the cake according to the package directions.
   
6. Before serving, combine the raspberries and sugar and spoon over cake slices.

Yield: 12 servings (one serving is one slice with 2 T of sauce)

Nutritional Info
Calories: 155
Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 224 mg
Carbs: 35 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 4 g

The Faudie's Futzings
Aside from not making the raspberry sauce topping (we have some leftover raspberry sauce from Central Markup from our anniversary cake), the only futzing I did was, in fact, an honest mistake.

I made the cake specifically because I had a box of raspberry-flavored Jell-o in the pantry that the husband never ate while recuperating from his surgeries back in November. Well, I didn't realize until I was opening the package to get to the little brown paper envelope of dessicated horse hooves combined with artificial raspberry flavorings that the Jell-o was not the sugar-free variety. No, I'd spoiled the husband and bought him regular Jell-o for his recuperation.

Did the sugar change the recipe? I suspect it might have a little. The fond on the cake was a lot darker than I think it might have been if the Jell-o had been sugar-free. And since the sugary variety of Jell-o powder is a lot denser than sugar-free Jell-o powder, the batter with the Jell-o sank pretty quickly into the regular batter.

Heh, speaking of sinking and batter, always check that your tube pan isn't bent or warped or otherwise damage so that it's going to leak, Gentle Reader. Batter started oozing out the bottom of mine as I was preparing the raspberry-flavored batter, and it leaked more when I put it into the oven. So not only was I a bit harried Saturday morning as I tried to get the cake made before heading off to the gym, we all had to contend with the smell of burning angel food cake and Jell-o. Yum!

So why's this a Poppy Cannon moment? Because I frickin' used boxed this and boxed that and whipped topping--yes, whipped topping, not real whipped cream--to make a dessert. How...suburban and 1950s is that, Gentle Reader?

What's crazier still is that the angel food cake mix I used--and HEB store brand instead of a Betty Crapper or Dinky Hines or Pillsblechy--had two pouches inside: one for the powdered egg whites and one for the flour mix. Yes, Gentle Reader, I had to whip up my own egg whites to stiff peaks before adding in the rest of the mix. Talk about pressure! I can never whip egg whites from eggs to any kind of peak. How the frig am I supposed to do it after adding egg whites to water?

Sheesh, I am incompetent.