I missed cake decorating class last week due to my nasty head cold. I was really bummed about it, because we were making a doll cake (which then appeared on cake wrecks this week ... but, mine would have been cute and not wreck-y).

But that same week I would have had to make two cakes, if I had not been sick. My coworker got married just before Christmas last year, and my group wanted to throw a little surprise post-wedding party. Of course, I was to bring the cake! But, because I was sick, I wasn't about to bring in a germ-bomb, so it was postponed to this week.

Missing class meant I had oodles of frosting left over, and since I didn't know this week was frosting-only, I ended up with some extra cake mixes. Specifically, a random half milk chocolate mix. The party planner didn't know if chocolate or vanilla would be better, so marble it was!

The thing about the Betty Crocker milk chocolate mix is that it's ... well, it's just plain not that good. It's thick and heavy until you bake it, and then it tends to dry out. But the half mix was perfect to blend with the full white mix, because it made a nice color balance. And it came out tasty too!

I cheated and used pre-made chocolate frosting. No one seemed to mind. I also bought some bavarian cream filling rather than make it myself, and as you can see, the design was basically the same as the first cake from class:

I wasn't feeling particularly creative. Plus, it's such a nice design. I obviously need to work on my writing, but isn't Joelle a pretty name?

The cake was a big hit. So was the card that blared "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAt Laaaaaaaaaaaaast ...." when you open it ...