Baking the Valentines Cake

It was a peaceful, sunny morning in Candy Town, and Tiffi loved sunlight. She knew it might not be like this for long, because usually in very late winter and spring, it can hail or rain all day. She was curious to find out how long the lovely weather will last. Therefore, she decided to look at the weather forecast for this week, including Valentines Day. When Tiffi thought of Valentines’s Day, she thought of making cards and baking heart-shaped delicious cookies with pink frosting and red heart-shaped sprinkles. It had been like that for her last year, and the year before that. This year, she decided to make it a bit different. But all her thoughts stopped when she looked at the forecast. Today, the sky was blue and clear, with little puffs of cloud, and it would be the same tomorrow, with a sky only a bit more cloudy, but the weather for Thursday and that of the next three days excited her. There was going to be snow! Valentines Day was this Sunday, and it was going to be snowing Sunday. She looked through the reports from Thursday through Monday, and found some interesting data.

She went to Chocolate Mountain to report to Yeti. "It's going to be snowing for five days! We're going to have a beautifully white Valentines!" Yeti, however, had already seen a lot of snow. It snowed quite often in the subalpine and alpine tundra of Chocolate Mountain. "I have an idea," he said, "to celebrate this snowy Valentines Day. How about we bake a multi-layered Valentines cake? We can bake the first and second layers, and add our own frosting and decorations! And then we can ask nine more of us to add the eight other layers? Let's ask...hmmm..." But while Yeti was still thinking, Tiffi got it. "Yeti, that's a very creative and fun idea! We should bake it with Nutcracker, Odus, Misty, Red Rabbit, Dachs, Olivia, Jelly Queen, Rachel, and the Bubblegum Troll." Yeti loved Tiffi's selection. "So let's start right now!"

Tiffi and Yeti went back to Candy Town to start baking, but first, they decided what their layer would look like. They came to an agreement that their cake would be a white one with vanilla frosting to represent the snow (Yeti's layer), and inside the cake would be a rainbow heart (Tiffi's layer). Now they need the ingredients. "Let's look it up online," suggested Yeti. Tiffi and Yeti never found searching up a recipe like that so easy. "Well, we sure need a lot of ingredients!" said Tiffi. "3 cups of cake flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt?! We also need some white eggs. Let's get them at the market."

"Hello Tiffi, this must be your friend Yeti?" said Mr. Toffee as they entered one of the Candy Kingdom markets. "What can I get for you today?" Tiffi explained the recipe, including the ingredients. They went inside, and in only three minutes, they bought all the ingredients. Tiffi looked at the recipe. "It costed 32 gold bars," she said. "Let's start baking!" When they got to Tiffi's house, she said, "We need to set a rack in the center of the oven, then preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray." The first step went quite successfully, and meanwhile, they they sifted together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl and set it aside. Then, in a standing mixer using the paddle attachment, they creamed the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes, and soon it was light and fluffy. In a large measuring cup, Yeti combined the milk, vanilla, and almond. Tiffi added one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blended on a low speed for about 30 seconds. She also added one-half of the milk mixture and blend until just combined. Then it was Yeti's Turn. He added in half of the remaining flour mixture and blend until just combined. He added the remaining milk mixture, blended for a few seconds, then the remaining flour mixture and blended at low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated. And finally, after two hours or so, they finished the main part, and after another hour when the cake was in the refrigerator, they added their decorations: heart cookies, sprinkles, and candies. "We're finished!" said Tiffi. "Isn’t it beautiful?" Yeti nodded. "Remember there are still many layers to go!"

First, Tiffi made a phone call to Nutcracker, Odus, Misty, Red Rabbit, Dachs, Olivia, Jelly Queen, Rachel, and the Bubblegum Troll. They all said they were at the candy swimming pool, enjoying the sunshine. Just when Tiffi and Yeti were about to ask if they wanted to join the baking party, they were disconnected, and Tiffi had to mail a letter. After thirty minutes, everyone arrived at Tiffi's house. "Wow, that's a nice cake!" some said. "Looks sweet." Yeti smiled. "So who wants to continue our baking?" Everyone raised their hands. "So, before we begin, think of what you want for your layer, and let's go to the market!" They bought different items for the following layers:

After they finished, they named each layer of the cake:

• Tiffi and Yeti: Snowy Rainbow Heart
• Nutcracker: Musical Blue Heart
• Odus: Violet Flower Heart
• Misty: Color Bomb Power
• Red Rabbit: Strawberry Heart Cake
• Dachs: Chocolate Forest
• Olivia: Purple Valentines Wonder
• Jelly Queen: Orange Flower Cake
• Rachel: Leaves and Roses Cake
• Bubblegum Troll: Yellow Heart

They all agreed it was very fun. "This is going to be the biggest surprise when we put it together," said Tiffi. "Let's show it to Mr. Toffee on Valentine's Day!"