How To Bake a Cake
It was hard going back to a normal daily life after Vanellope's dad passed, but her mom was determined to make it happen. When the Sarge asked what she'd like to do one Saturday, Vanellope jumped at the chance to bake a cake.
"That was always your dad's thing," said Sarge, a regretful note in her voice. Even with his tough, marine exterior, Brad had a bit of a homemaker streak. Having 3 older sisters growing up and raising a daughter as a single father contributed to that.
"Yeah." The 7-year old agreed, frowning. She looked up at her mom, touching her arm comfortingly. "But you can learn!" She snatched the cake mix box and pointed to the pictures on the back. "Look, it's really easy. All you do is mix these 3 ingredients with the cake mix and wala! We have a cake!"
Sarge scrunched her face up. "I don't think it's as easy as that."
"Well, we're not gonna get anywhere unless we try," Vanellope pointed out, sweeping a hand to present the kitchen.
Sarge glanced over the ingredients with determination then smiled at her daughter. "Mission on, cadet."
Vanellope squealed, hopping off the step-stool she had pushed against the cabinets. She retrieved the eggs and butter from the fridge while Sarge pulled out the mixer and measured the half cup of water they needed.
Vanellope clapped her hands together as she announced, "Here we go!"
Sarge let her pour all the ingredients and even allowed her to crack the eggs, much to Vanellope's delight. They had to fish out a few pieces of shell with a spoon, which Sarge joked the shell would just add a crunch to the cake.
"Is the mix supposed to be that clumpy?" Sarge asked after they had mixed the cake batter for exactly 2 minutes like the instructions worded.
Vanellope pulled a face. "It was always smooth when me and dad made it."
"Easy my tush," Sarge hissed under her breath as if the cake had wronged her.
Vanellope just shrugged, and proceeded to soak the two round cake pans with butter spray. They worked together pouring the batter into the pans, Sarge holding the bowl as Vanellope scrapped the batter out with a spatula.
With the timer set, they on the kitchen counter side by side licking away the remaining batter from the bowl, spatula, and beaters. Vanellope squealed as Sarge scooped up a finger of batter and whipped it on her cheek. She did the same to Sarge as she grinned ear to ear. Sarge narrowed her eyes, and Vanellope was off with a shot as her mom chased her around the kitchen.
So much had changed since Sarge became a part of their family a few years back. Her dad was always precise about how to do everything. He was loving and playful, but a bit of a perfectionist and neat freak. Sarge was only strict and to-the-book when it came to her job as a marine sergeant. At home, she was relaxed and didn't care if there were clothes lying in a pile on the floor. Sarge and her dad had clashed a few times about their different home lives, but they'd found a way to finally have a content medium.
The timer dinged and Sarge pulled the pans out. Vanellope suggested checking the middle with a toothpick. The toothpick came out clean. "I guess it's done?"
Vanellope shrugged again. "We'll find out when we eat it."
It seemed the cake baking had gone pretty smooth so far until Sarge couldn't figure out how to remove the cake from the pan. "How the heck-" She tried sticking a fork under it, but couldn't get the cake raised enough and burned her fingers in the process, leading to a string of incoherent swear words that made Vanellope giggle.
The only other way they could think about getting the layers out was to turn the pans over and dump them on the counter. The first layer came out clean and Sarge gently set it on the cake holder. They didn't have the same luck with the second layer. It fell out the pan, splitting in two. Sarge stared at it mouth open catching flies, then another string of incoherent swear words flew out of her mouth.
"Now what do we do?" Sarge asked then groaned as she remembered she was asking a 7-year old.
Vanellope tapped her chin for a moment then snapped her fingers. "Let's glue the pieces together with frosting! That way, there will be even more frosting to eat!"
Sarge rolled her eyes. Somehow it always came down to adding more sugar to anything consumed.
They pieced together the two halves with the chocolate frosting then spread the frosting over the entire cake. They stood back admiring their work.
"I have to say," Sarge said as she sliced into the cake, plopping a huffy piece onto Vanellope's plate, "looks like we did a pretty satisfactory job."
Vanellope bounced on the balls of her socked feet, accepting the generous slice. "Next time we can make homemade frosting!"
Sarge paused the knife halfway through the cake. "Negatory, cadet." She finished cutting her slice. "Let's not push our luck just yet."
Vanellope shrugged, happily devouring the yummy treat.
A loud crunch came from Sarge as she chowed down on the first bite. She pushed out the misplaced shell with her tongue into a napkin. "There's the crunch."
