Having My Cakes

It's widely acknowledged (at least on this website), that the song "Africa" by Toto is possibly the greatest piece of music ever composed.

Sure, my Dad may tell you Beethoven's 9th is a stunning tribute to the glory of the human voice, and my Mum may tell you the Rolling Stones rocked back in London in the '70s, but did Ludwig Van or Keith Richards ever come up with the phrase "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti"? NO THEY DID NOT.

So when my plans to host a little soiree at my parents' house (I probably should respect their music choices a bit more) coincided with my friend Kate's foray into the world of commercial baking, I knew there could be only one outcome: The Africa Cake.

Kate has been baking delicious treats for as long as I've known her. I started bugging her a few months ago about actually turning a few dollars from it. So I was happy to become a demanding client.

This particular culinary construction is a Mississippi mud cake, with bourbon mixed through it. It was as delicious to taste as it was to gaze at lovingly.

Look at the detail! Giraffes are my favourite animal, look at the giraffes!

You can see that it went down a treat:

I'm not prone to hyperbole, but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I think this particular Africa Cake could bring about world peace.

It doesn't end there. This week was the final parliamentary sitting week before we head into the state election campaign on Sunday. I decided to call on Kate's services once again to whip up something suitable.

Yesterday, she turned up at parliament with this Sunshine State themed delight:

This was an orange yoghurt cake with a white chocolate ganache. Kate had even researched Queensland's electoral boundaries - but of course they changed somewhat as we cut the cake up. Gerrymandered, if you will. The assembled journalists in the Media Gallery all gave it the thumbs up - as did retiring Speaker John Mickel, who popped up for a mouthful!

I'd highly recommend checking out the Cake Baked by Kate site - she's been documenting the cake-making process and to a packet-mix gal like me, it's a revelation. You can also get in contact with her about getting your own cakes made - she's very reasonable and up for any challenges!

While we're on the subject of gourmet goodness - another friend of mine, Joanna Lam, is also amazingly talented cook. She blogs about food experiments and reviews restaurants and cafes at the charmingly aggressively named Eats Food, Hates You.

I have far too many talented friends!