Hostess Tips #7 & #8

Every year when my family goes down to Captiva Island for Labor Day, I end up making a red velvet cake to take down there with us. We always have more than enough food and desserts, so I don't feel too bad if it is not perfect, or if it tips over in the car. The homemade ones are the best, but we can always buy one down the road for a pretty penny if it really gets ruined. This year, we came close to having to do just that....

Hostess Tip #7: Don't trust an oven you've never used before. And...

Hostess Tip #8: Don't go lay out by the pool while you are making a red velvet cake in an oven you have never used before.

This year, I decided to bring all the ingredients and make it fresh at the house where we were staying. I prepared the cake as normal, and was excited to use an oven that easily held all three pans on the same rack. I set my cell phone alarm for 10 minutes before the 3 cake rounds were supposed to be done, but as I stepped foot into the house to check on them, I smelled burning cake. Frankly, I am amazed the smoke alarm didn't go off! They had baked unevenly, and overflowed onto the elements on the bottom of the oven, which may or may not have been the reason the breaker tripped and it took us a few hours the next day to determine why the oven and stove weren't working. Needless to say, it took me 20 minutes to clean the hot oven, and a few hours to air out the house. I ended up using the three cakes, by shaving them down to even layers, and icing them, however, it ended up being the UGLIEST cake I have ever made in my life. I didn't even take a picture, it was so bad. However, I'm pretty sure it was one of the best red velvet cakes I have ever made, and it was gone by the second night of our long weekend.

Note to self: Make it ahead of time in your own oven, when you know it cooks perfectly every time.