Flops to Tops: Bake once, bake twice - nice!

Mishaps in the kitchen, DIY projects gone horribly wrong, or picture-perfect crafts turning out not-so-crafty. We've all had them - FLOPS! The question is what did you do about them? Throw in the towel, start over, try again? It's the Flops to Tops feature at LeMOMade where we celebrate turning slip ups into success stories.

This is the story of two little lamb cakes. One, a fine nicely-frosted fellow, ended up on the Easter buffet. The other, well, he turned into toast, french toast that is.

It was Good Friday. I was mixing up a big bowl of poundcake batter with the help of my freckled-face son in preparation for making the most beautiful lamb cake EVER! The Kitchen Aid did its job and the cake pan was all buttered up and ready to go. I filled the pan, tied it with string, popped it in the oven, set the timer, then hoped and prayed.  I prayed the little lamb would slip right out of the pan without mishap.

Ding! The timer went off. Hmmm, some batter leaked out of the pan. No worries though because a cookie sheet caught the mess. We let the cake cool, then came the moment of truth. Did the little lamb come out of the mold without harm?

Duh Duh Duhhhhhh . . . the suspense is killing you I just know it. The little lamb flopped. He stuck to the pan, one ear fell off, and due to an unfortunate baker's error - he had no face! "We can just fix him up with frosting," I suggested to the kids. NOPE, completely unacceptable to the pint-sized connoisseurs of fine baking in the house.

Thanks goodness for the big bowl of batter! (Tip: When making a molded cake prepare extra batter just in case) So I washed the pan, which btw is a pain in the lamb's butt, and I lubed it all up again for take two. Fill, tie, bake, wait, pray, cool, unmold . . . TA DA! Except for part of an ear falling off, this lamb was good to go. Rejoice, be glad, and use a toothpick and some frosting to re-attach the ear. We frosted the cake, then added green eyes and a cute pink nose with jellybeans. We made green grass with coconut and food coloring, then decorated the plate with the grass, some jelly beans and chocolate eggs. Done!

Now, you might be wondering what happened to the first flopped lamb. After we nibbled on the overflow of cake,  we wrapped him up then put him in the freezer for two weeks or so.  About a week ago, he rose from the dead so to speak to become a tasty dinner of french toast pound cake with fresh sliced strawberries. YUM!

*I used a recipe from this story in the Chicago Tribune's Good Eating section for the poundcake, but you can use your own recipe or a store-bought poundcake - even easier!

To make the French Toast:
Whisk 2 eggs with about 1/2 cup of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Dunk 1/2-inch-thick slices of poundcake in egg mixture and fry in butter over medium heat until golden brown. Flip and repeat. Serve with your favorite french toast toppings.

Do you have a baking or cooking mishap that you creatively turned into something good to eat? Other flops? Tell us about it. See the Share Some Sips section on the left.