so a couple of weeks ago, i went to the Honda dealership to get my oil changed. i wait them out until they send me a coupon, and this time it was a $14.95 coupon. anyway, i’m sitting in the waiting area and they had a copy of Bon Appetit magazine. now that i’m totally into this cooking thing, i started reading it. they had some cool stuff in there, and on the cover was this awesome looking cake. i found the page where the recipe was listed and thought i might be able to pull it off. i asked my ‘service advisor’ on my way out if i could get a copy of the page, but she just told me to take it. i showed her how on the front it said in blue sharpie “DO NOT REMOVE”, but she said to ignore that. she was endorsing theft! apparently the magazine belonged to the lady acting as the cashier, and she said i could have it, and they both laughed at me making a cake, and told me to bring a piece by when i made it. whatever. so i went home with a free copy of the magazine, with color pictures of the cake.

since the big Hornets/Lakers game is tomorrow, i stopped off at the store on my way home tonight for the ingredients i did not already have. this cake is going to be expensive to make! i couldn’t find a big jug of heavy cream or anything, i had to buy it by the pint. the unsweetened cocoa, there’s more than just 8 oz of the standard container, so i had to buy 3. the peppermint extract, i had to buy organic because they did not have it near all the other extracts. who buys root beer extract? even though the recipe calls for ‘high quality’ white chocolate, i got some Nestle. it’s the exact amount, unlike the bittersweet chips that come in “just not enough for this recipe” size. i was able to find everything and didn’t have to go to another store like in the cheesecake episode. i plan on waking up early Wednesday to make it and have it ready to go for my family’s Christmas Eve gathering. i am hoping it comes out. i have moved up from mixing cake batter with a fork since i actually bought a mixer, but it’s the whole making frosting AND cake from scratch that bothers me.

one of the comments from the recipe page is a little disconcerting:

Although the picture of this cake is beautiful, the preparation for this cake is what I would compare to a war

THEN A WAR IT SHALL BE! i have conquered many things, but layer cake is not one of them. i will make this though, and it will be awesome. there is no turning back. no surrender.