The Voyaging Storyteller

I have a confession: I am not a baker. I’m very good at eating other people’s baked goods, but actually baking? Not for me.

However, my friend Khylie recommended a family recipe for a breakfast cake, other friends tried it out, everyone was gushing over how good it was, and, well, I was peer-pressured to try it myself.

Even though baking isn’t one of the things I do.

Peer-pressure is powerful, y’all.

Also, it’s the holiday season, and baking is a very proper thing to do in this time, and since I am most assuredly a proper individual, did I really have a choice?

No, I didn’t.

Now, you’re probably wondering, what’s a potica cake? It was originally a Slovenian pastry that snuck into Poland, where my friend Khylie’s mother’s family is from. Her family bakes this cake every year for breakfast on Christmas morning, and this family-tradition sentimentality was a large factor in my baking decision.

I only hoped I didn’t mess it up. 🙈

***

I’ll have you know that mixing things is much harder than it sounds. Especially since I don’t have any fancy electric mixers and had to do everything with my trusty wooden spoon and metal shifter thing.

However, after much stabbing and whacking and tugging, I managed to cream butter and sugar with my bare hands. I then added eggs, vanilla, and a whole tub of sour cream, which made me very nervous. Surely, I thought, that was way too much sour cream for a cake. Surely, this whole sticky yellow nasty looking concoction will end up horrible to the palate.

My Papa, who has lots of culinary expertise, assured me that pre-baked goods usually don’t look or smell the most appetizing. So I soldiered on.

As I was happily measuring out flour and baking powder and all that goodness, my brother Micah pointed out that I was reading the measurements incorrectly. I’d thought 1-1/2 tsp of baking powder was a range that you could choose from and picked an amount in the middle. Turns out, recipes are not that flexible, and 1-1/2 means exactly one and a half teaspoons. *face-palm* Not my brightest moment.

This meant I’d added way, way, way too little sugar and vanilla in the beginning. I frantically dumped in the correct amount, stirred some more, and hoped for the best, very grateful that Micah caught my mistake before the cake went into the oven.

Next came the filling, which proceeded smoothly and also cheered me up since it actually looked nice and sweet. Then, with the help of Papa’s stronger and more skilled hands, we mixed up the batter and poured the filling on top.

After some clumsy slicing and carving, we ended up with a fairly decent looking cake thing. It went into the oven and sent a heavenly aroma of cinnamon and golden goodness throughout the house, which gave me great hopes for the taste.

Finally, we took the cake out, sprinkled powdered sugar on top (which honestly makes everything look delicious) and cut out several slices.

You have no idea how happy I was to see the insides had the right texture and moisture. We could’ve sliced the filling deeper into the batter, but for my first baking endeavor, I was very proud.

I was even prouder when, to my surprise, it tasted as delicious as it looked! Such a perfect breakfast cake, nice and thick and not too sweet.

You know, something that struck me during this process was how patient you have to be. During most of the preparation, the batter and filling looked and smelled rather hideous. It was only until the cake was sent into a hot, burning oven that it grew and blossomed into something delicious.

Isn’t this how God sees us humans?

We’re creatures full of sin, a mixture of ugly batter and filling, but we have so much potential for good. God patiently cultivates the right ingredients for the cake of our soul, knowing that the product will turn out wonderfully, just as He planned. Often, our lives are tested by fire, through hardships and difficulty, in the oven of pain and suffering. It’s hard to trust that God knows what He’s doing. But these times don’t last forever. We emerge from these trials better and more righteous souls than before, all because God didn’t give up on us when we were just plain, nasty, sticky batter, all because He was willing to give us temporary pain so we can enjoy everlasting blessing.

I think baking just might become my thing.

***

If you think that cake looks yummy, here is the recipe I followed! Once again, shout out to Khylie for sharing it with me. 😊

Part I: Batter

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1-1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 pint (16oz) sour cream*

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 cup flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs one at a time.

3. Add sour cream and vanilla.

4. Shift flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

5. Add to cream mixture. 

Part II: Filling

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp. flour

1-1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix these together in a separate bowl. 

Part III: Finishing

6. Pour batter from Step 5 into a greased and floured angel food cake pan

7. Pour filling on top

8. Twirl filling into batter with a knife for a marble effect – do NOT over mix in the filling. Just twirl one or two times around the pan.

9. Bake at 350 for 1hr. & 15 minutes (it’s okay to bake for just 1hr for a moist cake). 

10. Enjoy!

*do NOT use low-fat products

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That is all for today! If you end up making this cake (which you really should – if I can do it, you definitely can) – be sure to let me know how it goes! 😉

Until next time,

Bon Voyage!