For the first time ever, I baked a cake. Not just any cake. I’ve baked that kind many times. This one was different. And it was an epic fail.
I couldn’t be prouder.
Backstory: My daughter is an epileptic, and she’s been seizure-free for three years. While she has weaned down from five anti-seizure medicines to two, she would, ultimately, like to be med-free. The Ketogenic diet has proven successful for many who have her condition. So, Gilly — determined and doggedly optimistic — is trying the diet as a precursor to future medicinal reductions.
Being Keto means you follow a customized high-fat, adequate protein, low-carb diet. This is not an endorsed Keto commercial. I’ve now explained all that I know even after reading three books by doctors, nutritionists and Keto followers. By mid-point in my reading I think, “Man, I’d love some French Fries.”
But it was Gilly’s 22nd birthday. She was hosting a cook-out at her apartment with her friends. And she actually wanted her mom and dad to be there. She had the menu planned and said she was making a Keto cake.
Hold on! I’ll make that cake, missy.
Like most things in life, that which is most rewarding is seldom simple. It didn’t help that I was dealing with some stressors — a difficult work project, some personal matters and the election recount were mental disrupters to my baking soul. All factors led me to ignore the intricacies of making a cake that required ingredients I’ve never used before.
Still, I channeled Ina Garten, the queen of the baking universe, and thought, “What would Ina do?” Why, she would mix some stevia with almond flour into a “how easy is that?” baking pan and serve it to her husband, Jeffrey, and actress Jennifer Garner.
Yet, even this recipe would test Ina’s baking chops. Turns out almond flour doesn’t rise because, let’s be honest here, it’s not flour. And the buttercream icing was made of buckets of butter, which, butter being butter, melted in the sun. I threw some chocolate chips on the cake’s top for aesthetic effect rendering a finished product that looked like a chocolate chip flat pancake swimming in yellow lava.
But, miracles happen when you are surrounded by grace.
Lucky for me, I was surrounded by cook-out guests with generous hearts and a birthday girl with the biggest heart of all. So, it didn’t surprise me that Gilly loved the cake. So much, in fact, that she encouraged her friends to try a piece and graciously join in on the Great Keto Cake Tasting Test (Food Network, here’s your new television program. You’re welcome). The verdict? A greasy thumbs up with a recipe notation to serve with a spoon instead of a fork.
That day was never really about the cake. It was about celebrating my daughter. She has taught me so much about the value of being present. Of being mindful. Of not giving up. Of fighting through tough times while embracing the good.
Earlier that morning as I was making the cake, I caught myself paying attention to those stressors that were looping endlessly in my head. My heart began to pound with worry. Then I looked down at the bowl of eggs, almond “flour” and other ingredients that don’t belong in a cake. Taking a deep breath, I said a prayer of gratitude that I was making something for someone so courageous, kind and open.
When I took the cake out of the oven, it looked nothing like the photo on the recipe, but it looked exactly like love.
