Bundt Cake Confessions
As a single gal, cooking and baking aren’t really something I do very much. Given my current state of rehabbing, I really don’t do it much at all unless it can be done in the microwave, air fryer, or toaster. But, oddly enough, when I do cook or bake, I really enjoy it. Maybe it’s the orderliness of the recipe. Gathering all the ingredients and following the recipe step by step is like checking boxes down a to-do list, except when you are done, you can say “ta-da!”
That applies mainly to cooking, not baking. When I look for a dish to cook, I have a few requirements. First, do I like all the ingredients? I’m not an extremely picky eater like I was as a child, but if I come across a dish with let’s say, salmon, I pass. No hate comments from all you salmon lovers. Second, how many ingredients are needed? If I can find a recipe with less than 10 ingredients, I’m on board. I never claimed to be Julia Child, so let’s keep this simple. And, last, is this a one-pot, casserole, or crock-pot meal? If the recipe passes the container test, then we have a winner.
Baking on the other hand is different, but a close cousin to cooking for me. You might call my baking style, “semi-homemade.” There used to be a Food Network show called “Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee.” She was my kind of girl. I will tackle a lot of pie or cake recipes, but if there is a step or two I can cut out with something not homemade to make my road to the finished product easier, I will. Give me all the apple pie filling cans in exchange for making that stuff from scratch AND THEN making the apple pie. A cake mix is a box of perfection that can be doctored up to taste like you slaved in the kitchen all day.
The equivalent of the crock-pot in my baking world is the Bundt pan. Not only can you create a delicious delicacy using your semi-homemade tricks, the presentation is amazing! A cake mix and a few extra ingredients mixed up and poured in that finely-crafted pan results in a cake that comes out beautifully…as long as you grease it first. And, icing the cake is as easy as drizzling over your quickly-made concoction of powdered sugar and milk, or whatever other sweetness you want to add. Even after slicing the cake, it looks like a work of art.
There is your basic Bundt pan, but there are also many different varieties. You have pirouette, twist , floral, crown, heart-shaped, and swirl designs. All those wonderful designs are what makes the presentation so exquisite. But, it also can make cleaning the pan afterwards a chore. Whether it’s a 13x9 cake pan or a pie plate, the cleanup of those containers are fairly easy. But a Bundt pan has all those nooks and crannies that create the beautiful design, but harbor all the cake residue left behind. Even the dishwasher may not get it as clean as it needs to be. You must be very detailed in cleaning out that pan lest you end up with a yucky result the next time you decide to make a dessert.
When I pray, confession of sin happens pretty early on in my conversation with God. I try to ask forgiveness in the moment after my sin, but often I don’t, and so I’m relegated to trying to remember all my sin to confess since I last talked with God. I feel like I confess the same sins repeatedly and so I began thinking of how I could better see the sin in my life. As I was praying one day, I asked the Lord to make known to me all the sin that is hidden within the nooks and crannies of my heart. They could be sin that I’m not aware I’m committing, or it could be sin I know I’m committing, but suppressing it away to an area never to be found again.
Like a Bundt pan, my sin can become residue that is hidden and become stubborn to remove. Oh, I may present myself well, all put together with drizzle on top, but when I look behind the scenes, there is clean up in my heart I have to do. As I come before my Savior, I want His Holy Spirit to help me deal with the tough nooks and crannies of my heart where sin clings. Only by His Grace can my presentation be glorious and my sins washed cleaned.