Pop quiz: What is the biggest lesson in finance? If you answered “Something something credit card debt” or “My mom told me to invest in stocks”, then you are WRONG (well, you’re probably sort of right). The biggest lesson in finance is to not spend money you don’t have! Which is exactly what I did. On baking supplies. For a cake I didn’t need to make. At 1:00 AM.
Look Ma, I’m fiscally responsible!
To make this a more enjoyable read, try playing the Law and Order "Chung chung/Dun dun" sound in your head after each time stamp. Or not. You do you.
10:31 PM - I’m sitting on my couch watching The Office for the umpteenth time when the Urge hits. The Urge hits me at random times and for different things. The Urge usually comes late at night. Sometimes it’s to go running at 11 o’clock at night — I wish this would hit around 4 PM and more frequently. Other times it's to build some complicated DIY art project for my mom’s friend's aunt's parakeet whose birthday is months away. But most of the time it’s an urge to bake. So I sat there and pondered over whether or not to drag my butt to the store and get ingredients for a cake with only $40 in my bank account.
10:49 PM- The Urge is getting stronger and I find myself looking up fun recipes with not a lot of ingredients. ‘Cuz mo’ ingredients = mo’ money. I settle on an easy double Dutch chocolate upside-down cake
11:01 PM- I drag my butt to Kroger to shop with all the other weirdos who do their shopping at bizarre hours. Random aside: PeopleofWalmart.com is a gloriously strange site that doesn't leave me with any questions on why other countries typecast Americans the way they do. And reminds me why I don't like shopping at Walmart. :)
11:30ish- They rearranged Kroger, and I get lost and aimlessly wander around looking for items. But I did discover Kroger sells stuff I thought I could only get at World Market. I did an internal happy dance while my bank account cried some more.
11:45 PM- Self-checkout is broken and I'm forced to interact with another human being. The mere thought makes me shudder.
11:48 PM- My bank account strangles me. I kind of want to strangle me. Remaining balance is a whopping $9.31, and it has to last me until I get my next paycheck in 7 days. But this cake will be amaze-balls. Hopefully. Otherwise I'm fucked. HA. Let's be honest. I'm already fucked, but at least I'll have a cake to help compensate.
12:07 AM- Parking on my street sucks and I have to park half a block away from my apartment. My street is also creepy AF at night because we don't have streetlights, so I scurry home before I get put in a Criminal Minds episode. (Not pertinent to the story, but I want strangers to know I'm brave.)
12:13 AM- Fuck. I'm craving coffee. (I also want them to know I really like coffee.)
12:20 AM- With the oven prepped to 350 degrees, all the ingredients out in front of me, and fresh coffee in hand, I get to work.
12:21-2:50 AM- In a mixing bowl, I stir together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Then I add the milk, the butter and 1 tsp of the vanilla, and stir until blended. I sing the "I'M A NUT" song and dance as I stir in the nuts. This is why I am single...and I'm obviously very torn up about it. With the weird children/stoner song over, I then pour the batter into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
In a small bowl, I combine the brown sugar with the 1/4 cup cocoa powder and stir well. Then I spread the mixture over the batter in the pan whilst making baseball jokes to myself. Baseball, batter. Get it?...Sorry. Using a large spoon, I drizzle 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water over the cake.
I bake it for 40 to 45 minutes, or just until the top of the cake is firm. After letting the cake cool slightly, I cut the cake into squares and place them upside down (gooey side up) on dessert plates and serve to friends.
Or put it in the fridge because it's 3 AM, and no one else is awake.
Double-Dutch Chocolate Fudge Upside-Down Cake
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar, divided use
2 tablespoons, plus 1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (some people use buttermilk to have a richer cake, but I think good ol' regular 2% works perfect)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided use
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (this is optional, but I like my cakes to have some crunch)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water