Stars Hollow Unseen
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this
Babycakes
The two Gilmore girls stood in the kitchen staring at a recipe book in puzzlement.
"I told you this was a bad idea," Rory sighed.
"Hey! Enough with the pessimism, missy. We can do this."
"We're Gilmores, baking is not in our genes. We have been preconditioned to fail as chefs."
"Is somebody speaking? It can't be Rory, because the Rory I know would never so heartlessly discourage her mother from trying something new."
Rory made a disgusted noise. "Fine. Go ahead and make the cake. But don't blame me when we are eating charcoal."
Lorelai grinned triumphantly. "And when we are eating spongy goodness I promise to rub it mercilessly in your face."
They proceeded to get the ingredients out of the cupboards and place them neatly on the counter. Lorelai rolled up her sleeves and put on the red polka dot apron she had bought especially for this little experiment. Rory popped in a Motown album – what Lorelai defined 'cooking music' – and they were ready to bake.
"Ok." Rory studied the recipe for a minute. "We will be making a classic English Victoria Sponge Cake. First, we need to cream together the butter and sugar."
"Gotcha," Lorelai said, haphazardly measuring them and throwing them into a large bowl.
"Mom!" Rory cried. "What are you doing? You're putting too much sugar in!"
"Relaaaaax grasshopper. Everyone knows these recipes are just basic guidelines. And you can never have 'too much' sugar."
Rory rolled her eyes.
"Kay, now what?" Lorelai asked once she had beaten the mixture.
"Umm, three eggs."
Lorelai cracked them and into the mixture they went, along with a bit of shell. Lorelai cursed under her breath and grabbed a spoon, struggling to get the indomitable egg shell out.
"I knew we should have called Sookie to help us." Rory muttered.
"Got it!" Lorelai called victoriously. "Now, continue."
"Flour."
"Done and done! Now what?"
"Now we pour it into the cake tins and put it in the oven."
Once the oven door was shut with the raw cake mix safely inside, Lorelai tore off her apron.
"Shall we finish watching Babycakes while we wait?"
"Um," Rory bit her lip worriedly, "maybe we should stay in here and keep an eye on the cake."
"Rory, sweetie, stop being such a worry wart. Now come on, Ricki Lake is waiting."
Over 30 minutes later, a warm smell wafted into the living room. Rory wrinkled her nose.
"Mom, can you smell…burning?"
"Crap, the cake!"
They rushed into the kitchen and wrenched open the oven door, getting a faceful of smoke in the process. Lorelai tossed the cake onto the counter and they both looked mournfully at the half – burned cake.
"Well…it's only slightly burnt. It's still edible." Lorelai said hopefully.
"I don't know," Rory replied dubiously. "It looks a little flat. The cake in the picture is double the size. What flour did you use?"
"Plain," Lorelai said defensively.
"Did you use baking soda?"
"…ah."
Lorelai cut a small slice and popped it in her mouth. She immediately spat it back out. Without a word she tipped the entire contents of the cake into the trash.
"So," She turned to Rory. "Westons?"
"Oh yeah."