A Respite for Randomness

We interrupt this cake baking marathon to bring you. . .

various observations upon the process of baking, not all of them new.
1. There are slightly less than 5 cups of brown sugar in a bag. I know this because the (wonderful) chocolate groom's cake requires 2 1/2 cups of sugar for each layer, and I had to open a second new bag to finish the second layer.
2. Cake mixes make life easier. DO NOT, under any circumstance, act as if this is not a revelation. Almost 3/4 of the way through my 8-cakes-from-scratch project, I realize the inestimable value of adding eggs and oil to a bag of powder. Cakes from scratch must be indescribably rewarding. . .otherwise no recipes would have survived. I'll let you know tomorrow.
3. With 3 cooling racks, where to put 8 cooling cakes soon becomes a problem.
4. When making several cakes from scratch in successsion, one quickly memorizes even the most detailed recipe. If, then, you should need a heavenly chocolate cake recipe or a quite good white cake recipe in the next 36 hours, call me. After that, I don't promise to retain the memory. (Please understand that I mean no offense to the white cake. . .it just isn't quite possible for white cake to be heavenly. After all, the Bible mentions only that we shall wear white robes. There is no mention of white cake. It seems obvious, then, that the cake will be chocolate.)
5. Parchment paper is invaluable in convincing cake pans to release cakes-from-scratch as if they were cakes-from-mix.
6. Letting a cake sit in the hot pan for over an hour is NOT conducive to getting it out in one piece. (Someone needs to pay more attention. . .set timers. . .do less than 4 things at once. . . .)
7. I need a bigger kitchen. And an extra table.
8. My glass mixing bowl is preferrable to my stoneware mixing bowl when using my hand mixer, for 2 reasons: the glass bowl is the perfect circumference for my hand mixer, so it does not toss batter bits up on the sides where they will not get mixed in; stoneware makes a horrible clanging noise when combined with an electric mixer.

In case anyone queries into my enthusiasm for completing this cake, let me assure you that I always rebound once the baking is done.
That's all for now. I have some lovely quotes to post from the ORU English Department's spring newsletter, but it is downloaded on the other computer and must wait.