I had no intention of sharing this cake.

Christmas Surprise Inside Cake #surpriseinside

Everything that could go wrong, did.

The multi-colored roses are oddly resembling a pile of mush.  The touch of green leaves is a more of a massive green undergrowth and has a life of its own.

Surprise Inside Cake!

And the inside… well.  Lets just say that was not my best work.

Its completely tilted over.

Christmas JOY Surprise Inside Cake #surpriseinside

Why on earth would it do that?  Maybe because I used the wrong cookie cutters when preparing my cake and they were too tall for the pan so I had to improvise and create a “wall” around the cake with parchment so when I poured the extra batter over the letters it wouldn’t spill out the sides which didn’t really work and the batter did spill out on all sides resembling a square mushroom that took 70 minutes to bake and ITS CROOKED.

CROOKED!

This cake that I spent many hours dreaming about and baking and decorating was a total failure.

Christmas Surprise Inside Cake #surpriseinside

But then I shared this picture on Instagram with the caption, “Guess what I am up to.”  and the adorable @achewycookie said,

“Spreading some JOY!”

And I was humbled.  Because most people don’t care about the dumb details like I obsessively do.

They just feel loved and appreciated when someone makes them a cake.  As they should.

So here it is.  The cake that should have been something else but isn’t so it is what it is.

Merry Christmas. 🙂

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Meet Amanda Rettke

Amanda Rettke is the creator of I Am Baker, and the bestselling author of Surprise Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion – With a Little Something Extra Inside.Over the course of her 15+ year blogging adventure, she has been featured in and collaborated with the Food Network, New York Times, LA Times, Country Living Magazine, People Magazine, Epicurious, Brides, Romantic Homes, life:beautiful, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Mail, Star Tribune, The Globe and Mail, DailyCandy, YumSugar, The Knot, The Kitchn, and Parade, to name a few.

Reader Comments

  1. Not everything is always meant to be perfect…and if it is tilted..that shouldnt matter 🙂 it is most definitely about the joy you bring to other people and joy during the festive times with your family and friends.. heck a belly full of laughter surely makes me tilt in more than one way lol.. xx love the cake! X

  2. Had you not mentioned the crooked letters, I would have thought that you intended them to be that way! It’s an amazing idea!

  3. The cake is beautiful. You are too crital of yourself. All you work is very inspiring. Thank you and keep up the good work

  4. Sometimes “perfect” can be boring. This cake is pure fun and I like that the joy is spilling over! Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas to you!

  5. I see nothing wrong with this cake ..except for one thing!… my face is not buried in that gorgeous pile of icing on top!!!!! JOY indeed!! Merry Christmas Amanda!!

  6. Although I do think it looks absolutely beautiful I understand how you feel because I’m the same way. We are always hardest on ourselves. But, you can always remember Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree and how much Joy that brought to everyone!
    Merry Christmas!

  7. Thanks for sharing Amanda! It’s a great cake and a lovely sentiment. It’s best when we don’t take ourselves toooo seriously, right?!? And at least you spelled it right!
    Happy Christmas and thanks for a year filled with your great ideas!
    Theresa

  8. Amanda, everyone knows that bakers and bloggers are their own worst critic. I think it’s a perfect example of cheer and love ♥

  9. Don’t think of it as crooked, think of it as _italicized_ LOL. I think it’s very pretty, and you did a nice job. But since you don’t like the way it turned out, I am wishing you better luck next time! 🙂

  10. I actually thought the top looked like ribbon candy! Can’t go wrong with red, white and green….looks good to me!

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