My first (and probably not final) failed attempt at cake decorating

I learned several things today:

1. Cupcakes are easier to decorate than cakes
2. It is possible for a cake to look unappetizing
3. When this is the case, it's best just to close your eyes and take a bite
4. Cake-decorating classes might be worth the money

I set out to make a 2-layer 6-inch cake so I could practice decorating it. You see, the plan up until about 15 minutes ago was to put a small cake at the top of the wedding cupcake stand so Nick and I could do all that traditional cake cutting stuff. But after today, I'm thinking I'll stick with cupcakes.

Unlike most baking sessions, this one started off well and ended with...well, you've seen it. I began with the recipe for Wacky Cake. There was the perfect amount of batter for two 6" cakes, which I baked for somewhere from 28-31 minutes. Good so far.

Then came the frosting, and that was what killed it. The frosting always saves my cupcakes, which are often quite ugly underneath all the butter and powdered sugar. But this time, it just did not work. So the problems were:

1. I made mint frosting, so I dyed it green. Ugly.
2. I was planning to use one batch of frosting to frost and fill the whole thing and then use what was left for piping designs on. I wanted it thick so it would hold its shape when I was piping it, but it was too thick just for frosting and I could not get it smoothed out.
3. I apparently do not have a steady hand with a pastry bag.

In case you can't tell from the picture at the beginning of the post, the top of the cake reads, "Sorry I'm Ugly." Yeah, that's right. It's so ugly it had to apologize. Thanks cake. Its one redeeming quality at this stage in its likely short life is that it looks like PacMan.

Fortunately I now have an entire cake to eat because it's too ugly to bring to anyone. Unfortunately, even I don't really want it.