The Classic: A Yellow Cake, a Rivalry, and a Lesson in Trust

The Classic Yellow Cake

Why a Classic Still Matters

What goes with a pot of spicy chili for a football game? I chose a yellow cake for the day of the Bears vs Packers wildcard game because it’s classic— just like a football game between age-old rivals. I had big expectations for this game, as I did for this cake.

Classic doesn’t mean old and tired to me. Classic means rich history, stories, and time-tried. Part of that means riding out the rough times, making necessary improvements, and pushing through fear of the unknown.

I grew up watching the Bears, but we also bordered Packers territory. Both teams have had their ups and downs through the years. When I was a kid, I had an opportunity to go to a Bears game with my aunt and uncle, but I turned it down purely out of fear—in my small life, I didn’t know what lay beyond school and church. I wish now that I’d gone to that game, but it’s a lesson that grown-up Elaine is ready to embrace— don’t turn down an opportunity merely out of fear. That’s even more reason to give it a try.

That brings us to today and this story. This is me making adjustments and taking chances, while making a classic cake for a classic event and doing something with it that is anything but classic (blogging about it).

Mixing Tradition, Butter, and Big Expectations

The cake: like the recipe said it has “sunny yellow layers, surrounded by rich fudge frosting.” This description proved accurate. The base batter was pretty classic for a dense, moist cake, with lots of egg, mostly yolk, vanilla, and real butter. The notable piece was that the recipe instructed to whisk the heavy cream by hand into soft peaks.

By hand?

I did as directed. While whisking. And whisking… I wondered, does this cream actually know that it’s being whisked by hand? Does this cake understand the kind of expectations I have now after putting in all this work?

Thirty five minutes at 350 degrees would give me the answer. She accepted her challenge.

The Fudge Frosting Moment

Now let’s talk about that frosting. All I can say is that I’ve never had only three ingredients emerge into something I couldn’t give justice to in words. It was perfection, with true fudge flavor—soft and creamy—and melted on the tongue. The key, really, was in the time and temperature to allow the simple ingredients to reach the magical consistency.

After finishing the assembly of this four-layer simple work of art, I just wanted to dig right into it. Alas, patience is a virtue, so she perched on my basement bar to await a few friends we’d invited for the big game (Bears seating only).

Waiting, Watching, and Trusting the Process

As halftime drew near, so did the anticipation of the cake, admittedly in part because the game wasn’t as interesting at that point as a decadent distraction. When the time came, I could tell as I was slicing and tipping the dense hunks onto plates, this cake was worth the wait.

The reviews started coming in that it tasted like a cake made with cream whipped by hand! OK, maybe they were led toward that description a bit, and granted there were only four reviewers, but we got a five-star rating!

The Transcend Moment: Mindset Is the Second Ingredient

The preparation of this cake revealed a couple of interesting parallels to the impending game. First, I’ve been putting in a lot of mindful effort to stay unattached to outcomes. This applied to the cake and the football game.

Of course, I hoped the cake would be great and I had a good feeling about it. I also hoped the Bears would win, but honestly, I wasn’t sure whether I should have a good feeling about that. You just never know. If you’re a Bears fan, you know what I’m saying.

In the end, it turned out, as it often does, that hard work pays off. My cake was fabulous, and I have to believe that special details land in a recipe for a reason. That touch of extra effort likely made a difference in the end product.

In the case of the Bears game, it wasn’t looking good in the first half, but it was clear that by the fourth quarter, adjustments had been made and a season of practice and grit led the Bears to a win, also.

The takeaway for me is mindset is golden, hard work pays off, and fear is an opportunity.