The perfect cake...

... is impossible! I've come to find this out over the holiday season. I can bake cookies and cupcakes along with the best of them, but two-layer cakes are another story.

The first was for the Christmas dinner I made for Hugh. It was from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. A simple "Devil's Food Cake" and "Quick Chocolate Butter Icing." This one was a crater cake that Hugh still ate graciously and with many compliments. However, it was disheartening because I spent a long time on it and then it sunk!

The second was this afternoon. How can you go wrong with a Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake mix and chocolate icing in the container? This one couldn't be as bad, I thought as I put the cake pans into the oven. How hard is it to add water, eggs, and vegetable oil correctly? However, I wanted to overcome my last two-layer cake experience and decided to make another two-layer cake instead of a sheet one. Now I'm dealing with a sloped cake situation again! Can I not bake a cake correctly or what?!

I tried to take the focus off that and decorated the top! My decorating is corny, I know! I know it's hard to tell, but the upper right side is sloped...I'm going to try until I get it perfect!