I like to bake and decorate cakes.

Which is rather unfortunate for two reasons: 1) I am a diabetic and 2) I’m not a good artist. So not only can I not eat my creations, but I’m not even sure you could classify them as “art”.  Edible Creations these are not. More like Inedible Avocations, maybe.

And by “inedible”, I mean only for me, because if I do say so myself, my cakes are quite yummy. And all too often I’ve been on the receiving end of a cake that was stunning to the eye yet gag inducing to the tongue. So yeah, I’ll give myself credit for that.

I’m not even sure why I like cake decorating so much. I really can’t draw well. At all. Even my stick figures are embarrassing. But there’s just something about the process that I really enjoy. Staining my hands while working all day rolling out fondant and mixing and coloring frosting, excited at the prospect of bringing to life the image I have created in my head, even though my end results never even come close to my grandiose aspirations. And lest you think I’m being too hard on myself, let me show you just how bad it is.

Here’s what I was going for:

Photo by http://www.jellycakes.co.uk

Here’s how it turned out:

Photo by Me–although I’m sure one else would ever try and take credit for this!

(I was about to remark along the lines of “doesn’t my version look like a Kindergarten drawing”?, but I don’t want to insult Kindergartners everywhere!)

And some other gems from the Ugly Cake Files:

My Cinco de Mayo Cake

My complete and utter failure of Thomas The Train

Lila’s request for a Carousel Cake. Not too shabby with a cursory glance but I assure you that’s a ton of pink frosting covering up a multitude of dents, cracks, and holes. But it was delicious nonetheless!

Look, this isn’t a pity party.  I acknowledge and accept that I’m not a good artist. I never have been. I was the kid who was never able to completely color within the lines and I’m the adult that can still barely even draw a straight line. I am at peace with this.  I’m actually quite cheery and optimistic that I can only get better with time (because really, how could I get any worse?!) but I don’t kid myself into ever thinking I could actually sell these give these away to somebody. And that’s ok because that’s not the point.

What matters to me is how so extremely excited the Babes get when I pull out the mixer and gather my tools. They are just beside themselves. They hop around me, asking to help, and then make an even bigger mess as they spill all the flour and drop every egg that I hand to them. They get all in the way and they make me forget an ingredient and then I end up having to physically remove them from the kitchen so that I can start all over, but all the while they are so pleased and excited that “Mommy is baking a cake for me”.  And after the big reveal, when they actually recognize and shout with glee over their character cakes, why, that makes all the headache worth it.

I imagine one day they won’t be so easily impressed. They will probably roll their eyes and point and snicker at my childlike attempts. But even then, I will continue to create. I’ll do it because I enjoy it and it makes me happy. And because I know they’ll eat it anyway.