Pumpkin-shaped cake

This cake is the exact opposite of the pumpkin cupcakes. Those: looked bad! Tasted good! This: looks great (though a crappy cell phone pic)! Tasted awful!

I set out to make this cake for no reason whatsoever. I simply wanted to attempt covering a sphere cake in fondant. So I made a boxed cake and frosted it with canned frosting. Then I got lazy and left the cake in the fridge for three days. Then I remembered that I was having my family over for dinner the next weekend, so I wrapped it and put the cake in the freezer. I took it out five days later. So...made, refrigerated, frozen, then thawed, all from a mediocre mix to begin with.

This cake looks great...from one side. See, I was a bit overzealous with the fondant and I rolled it out way too big. So it all sagged and ripped when I put it on the cake. Also, I don't think you can cover a spherical cake with fondant without making a seam. I read instructions on a website that were basically this: "Cover the cake in fondant." Okay! Reality: not that easy. So it was a mess. I covered one side with leaves, which disguised the woodginess. The other sides I was too lazy to cover. It's like the Ace of Base song says..."don't turn around!"

So! Looks good, tastes bad. That's the caveman verdict.

Pumpkin cupcakes

They're not much to look at, but they were delicious. I topped them with a mediocre chocolate frosting. Martha Steward failed me there. She fails me surprisingly often when it comes to baking. This frosting was kind of drippy and thin. It just didn't have a nice texture. The instructions said it was good for piping but if I'd tried to pipe this it would have looked like a big mess.

If I'd thought about it, I'd have tried a maple frosting. If there's one thing that can almost replace chocolate, it's maple. Or toffee. Perhaps I'll branch out from chocolate eventually...but don't hold your breath.

Ding Dong...Pizza Delivery

Did someone order a pepper, mushroom, and pepperoni pizza?

I made this for a party, and put it on the counter when I walked in. Later on, someone came up to me:

"I said to Irving, wow, she should put that pizza in the oven! Who brings a raw pizza to a party?"

And upon cutting into it, he discovered that it was, in fact, a fully baked chocolate chip cookie decorated to look like pizza.

I liked it. It tasted good. I've also decided that I am a big fan of disguising food to look like other food. I made Bakerella's hamburger cupcakes this summer, but I didn't get a picture. Next up: spaghetti, I think. A bowl of spaghetti.

My only beef, so to say: for the love of pete, I cannot color frosting red. It's always pink.