AN:
Haven't had any real good ideas for this series, so I took a reviewer's idea. Kuroi tsubasa no tenshi suggested that I have the trio baking a cake, so here it is!
This conflicts with my headcannon, because I think that Dick is a great cook/baker because his mother used to cook in front of him and he picked up things. That, and he lives with Alfred. But I wanted this to be funny ;)
Also, just came in from a run, so I'm kind of out of it, so sorry for any typos.
Enjoy and review!
~Zara
Chapter 11: Cakes and Sidekicks
Warnings: none. And in case anyone is wondering, the cake recipe is real. It's the one I always use ;)
Dick sat on top of Wayne Manor's kitchen counter, feet kicking against the cabinet every once in a while. The dark haired teen was engrossed in reading a slip of paper, tongue poking out slightly as he took in the words. His fifteen-year-old companion was at the refrigerator, taking out sticks of butter, eggs, and a carton of milk.
They both looked up as they heard the doorbell ring, the chime echoing throughout the mansion.
"That'll be Roy," Dick said, going back to his reading. "Walls, could you-"
Wally was already gone, opening the door to let the eldest of them in. He returned barely a few seconds later.
Roy came into the kitchen after hanging his hoodie up in the foyer.
"Hey," he greeted, ruffling the youngest's hair. "We getting started?"
"Well, yeah, Roy Boy," Wally snorted. "We've only been waiting for you."
It was chilly autumn day, and the older inhabitants of Wayne Manor were out. It was Alfred's birthday, and the three teens had wanted to prepare a birthday cake for the elderly man. Bruce had agreed to keep the butler out of the house for the day.
"You only got here like ten minutes ago," Dick reminded the speedster, swatting his arm as he set the paper he was reading down. "Okay, I think I get what we have to do."
"Great," Roy said, washing his hands at the sink.
"Okayyy…" Dick said, scanning the paper again. "Wally, heat the oven to 375°."
The speedster zoomed over to the oven and turned the knob till the digital numbers read the correct temperature.
"Done!" the speedster sang out, zipping back over to the other two. "Now what?"
"We need to soften one and a half sticks of butter," Dick replied as he extracted the electric mixer from the bottom most cabinet. "Roy, could you measure out one and three fourth cups of sugar?"
"What's the matter, Boy Wonder?" Roy grinned, taking the sugar out of the cabinet near the fridge. "Can't reach it your- ow!"
Roy yelped as a hard object struck him in the back of the head. Turning, he saw that it was a stick of butter.
He scowled as the other two howled with laughter. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'm surprised you didn't throw an egg."
"You want me to?" Dick questioned, holding the item as Wally stuck the butter in the microwave.
"No," Roy said quickly, pouring sugar into measuring cups. "Can we just continue?"
"Yes, we can," Dick said, "just no more insults to my perfect height."
Roy snorted. "Of course." A sudden yelp sounded and the two turned to the younger redhead.
"It melted!" Wally shrieked, pointing inside the microwave. Dick hurried over and peered into the microwave before facepalming.
"Wally!" he groaned, "you're suppose to put the butter in a bowl!"
"Oh. Well, how was I suppose t'know?"
"Common sense?" Roy muttered as Dick took more butter out of the fridge.
Wally heard him, and he stuck out his tongue as Dick wiped the residue of butter from the microwave and put in the new sticks.
"Now then," he said, referring to the list again. "We need two and a half cups of flour."
He picked up the sack of flour that was already out on the counter and made to pour some into the steel measuring cups but a pair of flailing hands suddenly entered his view.
"I wanna do it too!" Wally whined, making grabby motions for the flour.
Roy let out a sigh as the two proceeded to fight over the flour, a squabble that ended with both of them covered in the white powder.
"I'll do it," he interrupted, snatching the sack away from them and measuring out the right amount. "Now what, Boy Baker?"
"Shut up," Dick snapped as he scanned the recipe again. "We need to mix that flour with two and a half teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt."
Roy dumped the flour into a mixing bowl as the microwave beeped, signaling the butter was softened. Wally added the salt as Dick poured the baking soda in.
Wally stirred the dry mixture as Dick retrieved the butter. Roy read the list this time.
"You have to beat the butter on medium speed for half a minute," he informed the acrobat, who deposited the softened butter into the mixer's bowl (AN: I'm talking about those $400 Kitchen Aid mixers btw, not the hand-held kind). The thirteen-year-old proceeded to switch on the device, a soft whirring noise filling the kitchen.
"Oops!" Wally said, and the other two looked around again to see Wally sweeping up a bit of the dry mixture off of the counter. "I dropped a bit." He went on to add more baking powder into the mix.
"How do you know you didn't drop the salt or flour?" Dick asked, eyebrows raised. "You mixed the stuff."
"Can't make much of a difference," Wally said, shaking a bit more baking powder in before setting the container down.
"Right…Well, we need to add the sugar now," Roy said, motioning towards the mixer.
Dick poured the sugar in as Wally came over.
"That's not nearly enough sugar!" the speedster exclaimed. He picked up the bag of sugar and dumped some more into the mixing bowl.
"Wally!" Dick and Roy said at the same time.
"What?"
Dick sighed. "Never mind. We need to let the sugar and butter mix for about two minutes."
"And you need three eggs," Roy reminded him, putting dirty measuring cups into the sink.
"I got 'em!" Wally said, speeding over to the fridge. "Heads up, Roy Boy!"
Roy spun around to see three eggs flying at him. He caught two of them, while the third one proceeded to land (and crack open) on his forehead.
The younger two roared with laughter again as Roy grumbled, wiping off his face. "Why do I put up with you two?" he muttered.
"Because we're adorable," the ebony and redhead said simultaneously, putting their heads together and grinning.
Roy cracked a smile. "Right. Of course."
Dick handsprung to the fridge, taking out the last egg. He cart wheeled back to the mixer, egg safely in hand.
They each cracked in an egg each, and then watched as the yellow yolks blended in with the already pale yellow mixture.
"Vanilla!" Wally said in a sing-song voice, and Dick vaulted over the counter to get to the small brown bottle.
He measured out one and a half teaspoons of the sweet-smelling liquid and then poured it in, glancing at the recipe again.
"Almost done!" Dick said. "Now we need to- do you guys smell that?"
The two gingers sniffed and realized what Dick meant. The air smelt like burnt…metal.
"Wally…" Dick said slowly. "Did you make sure the oven was empty before turning it on?"
"Uhhh…"
Dick facepalmed again as Roy hurried to the oven and opened it, a blast of smoke coming out.
"Nice, Flash Boy," he snorted, taking in the skillets that were sitting in the oven. "Real nice."
"How was I supposed to know?" Wally exclaimed, throwing his hands up as Dick carefully extracted the three pans, now wearing kitchen mitts.
"Common sense," Roy said again, shaking his head as Dick let cool water run over the burning hot pans.
"Anyway, we need one and one fourth cups of milk," Dick said, taking the oven mitts off.
Roy measured out the milk and added it to the mix while Dick consulted the list again.
"Now we just add the dry mixture and let 'em blend!"
"I got it," Wally said, picking up the bowl of dry mix and pouring it in.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to just make a boxed cake?"
"No!" the other two shouted immediately.
"Roy, this is Alfred," Dick emphasized. "Would he ever make a boxed cake?"
"Nah," Roy admitted. "I get your point."
"And besides," Wally added, turning off the mixer, "we're practically done!"
"We need to grease two eight inch pans," Dick said, tossing an unwrapped stick of butter to Roy as he took out the correct pans.
He straightened up and set the pans on the counter as Roy greased them. Wally poured the batter in.
"That was a piece of cake!" Wally exclaimed as Roy put the filled pans in the oven. Dick rolled his eyes.
"Very creative statement, Walls," he giggled. "Don't forget to set the oven timer. They have to bake for thirty-five minutes."
"That long?" Wally whined. "What do we do until then?"
"Well…we could make frosting," Dick said. "That should be easy enough."
"I doubt it," Roy muttered, setting the oven timer. "What do we need for that?"
"Hmmm…well, I know Alfie likes ganache," Dick said, shuffling through a small red recipe box. "Here it is!"
He smoothed out the recipe. He read aloud.
"We need…eight ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, one and one fourth cups of heavy cream, and one tablespoon of light corn syrup."
As he spoke, Wally zoomed to the closet and extracted the two non-perishables while Roy took out the heavy cream.
"Now what?" Wally asked as Dick took out a knife to cut the chocolate up with.
"I'll chop the chocolate while you…" he peered at the recipe again, "pour the cream and corn syrup into a small saucepan."
Wally did so and then turned to Dick again. "Now what?"
"Take out another mixing bowl for the chocolate," Dick instructed, and Roy did so. Dick deposited the chopped chocolate into it and then looked at the recipe again.
"You have to bring the heavy cream and corn syrup to a simmer," he read, "and once that's done, pour it over the chocolate."
After a few minutes, steam was coming from the saucepan, and Wally took it and poured it over the chocolate.
"Stir it until it's all smooth," Dick said, putting the knife in the dishwasher.
Wally did so and then stared dreamily at the chocolaty stuff. "Mmm…"
"Stop," Roy said, slapping Wally's reaching hand away. "You won't leave any for the cake."
"Are those done yet?" Wally asked hopefully, glancing at the oven.
"It's only been like fifteen minutes, dude," Dick snorted, taking something out of the fridge. "And since I knew that you wouldn't be able to keep your mind off the cakes, I bought these…"
He took out a two dozen box of cupcakes. Twenty-four sugary delights sat there, covered in blue frosting.
Wally let out a shriek and then squeezed Dick in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah," Dick said, squirming to get out of Wally's grip. "Now c'mon, we can eat these while we watch the new Mission Impossible movie."
About twenty minutes into the movie, the trio heard a small exploding noise. Looking warily at each other, they ran to the kitchen.
The oven timer went off just as they entered. It was emitting smoke.
"What happened?" Dick coughed, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Let's see," Roy said, walking over and opening the oven door. He peered inside.
Their "cakes" were what had caused the exploding noises. Due, no doubt, to the extra baking powder Wally had added, the cakes had literally exploded, leaving residue on the top of the oven.
"Well," Dick sighed, "we should have guessed something like this would have happened." They heard the front door open just then.
"Crap!" Dick whispered, looking around. The counters were covered in a mix of flour, baking powder, and sugar. Bits of butter smeared the inside of the microwave, and a haze of smoke hung over the whole kitchen.
The three hurried to clean up the mess, but Alfred and Bruce had already walked in.
"Good heavens…"
The three teens froze, Wally wiping the counter, Roy at the garbage throwing away bits of butter, and Dick trying to wave smoke out of the kitchen with a hand towel.
"Ummm…" the three said sheepishly as one, and at that moment, the smoke alarm started blaring. They looked at the two older males. "Happy…birthday?"
I really don't like it. It was boring and not that funny…sorry!
Leave a review please!
Also, ganache is a glaze, not a frosting, in case anyone cares ;)
I'm not the only one who gets major Dick Grayson feels when I watch the male Olympic gymnasts, right?
Right?
Whatevs, I'm gonna go now ;)
PS. I MADE A DICK GRAYSON COLLAGE! I PRINTED OUT PICTURES OF DICK AS ROBIN AND NIGHTWING FROM ALL THE CARTOONS AND COMICS AND PASTED EM AND THEN PUT GLAZE OVER IT TO MAKE IT LOOK SHINY AND GOSH, IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND I WAS SO PROUD OF IT AND NOW I CAN LOOK AT IT EVERY NIGHT WHEN I GO TO BED…that is all.
~Zara