Made my cake and ate it too

There can be nothing more nerve wracking (for me) than taking something to a pot providence (I don't believe in luck). Last Sunday, I went to my first pot providence at my new church, and I was SO nervous! I spent all week fretting over what to bring. I don't know about you, but I always like to bring something different to pot providences. Something I wouldn't normally eat or at least something I haven't eatten in a while. I love pot providences for the most part, and it's kind of funny that no matter where you are, it seems there's someone who brings fried chicken and green bean casserole. Mind you, this isn't a complaint, just a joyful observation.

I figured I should bring a cake of some kind. After deciding to make cake, I then was plagued by the nearly endless possibilities of the cake world. For an Easter gathering, I made a lavender-almond bundt cake with a green tea-poppyseed glaze. It was fine, but not suitable for this larger gathering. As I was wandering the aisles of a store, looking for inspiration, I came across some amaretti cookies that were only $1.50 a package. Woohoo! Hello inspriation! After grabbing the bag, I vacated the store (everything else was so overpriced, I couldn't stand to be in there another second), and went to a more reasonable grocery store with variety.

I'd never actually had amaretti cookies, but I had a "feel" for how they would taste, so I worked off of that. This is the flavor palate I worked up in my head: almond, apricot, chocolate and maybe coffee. I got regular chocolate cake mix (forgive me, but I just didn't feel like putting forth the effort to do it from scratch), a jar of apricot spreadable fruit (not the sugary jam or preserves), chocolate frosting, and almond extract. Once home, I made the cake according to the package.

Once I pulled them out and let them cool, I spread the apricot filling over the top of one layer, sprinkled them with crushed amaretti.

The second layer then went on and everything was given a chocolate frosting bath. To trim the cake, I made an almond buttercream. Just as I was getting ready to practice making nice buttercream shells around the boarder of the cake, I discoverd that I left all of my decorating tips in Waco. SIGH. I just loaded a bag with the frosting, cut the tip and hoped for the best. It didn't turn out too badly (I think).


Side veiw


Much to my relief, the cake was a hit...or at least the people at church are very nice. ;)