When Life Hands You Lice, Make Cake!

Nit-pickin’ good.

Tuesday was going to be duck-egg-cake-making-day.  I was excited to use the duck eggs I picked up Saturday.  Duck eggs are superior nutritionally to chicken eggs in almost every category, but that’s not the reason they are sought out by bakers.  They are in a word richer…in color, in fat, and in protein.  All this is supposed to result in exceptional cakes.

 

Exceptional cakes in my house, however, have the caveat of being gluten-free.  I have been gluten-free for so long that I hardly remember what a wheat cake tastes like, but I do remember the texture, and nothing gluten-free I have tried comes close.  That is not to say I don’t enjoy cake anymore.  I do.  But I was hoping the duck egg would work magic on a basic gluten-free flour mix.

 

Alas, Tuesday was not duck-egg-cake-baking day after all.  It turned out to be rid-your-daughter-and-your-house-of-lice day instead.  The mixer stood alone and empty.

 

Wednesday was to be another day of nit-picking drudgery.  The panic of a lice infestation was subsiding however, especially after reading that lice can’t jump and don’t live long off of a host.  We were starting to relax a bit, but there was still a sense of dis-ease that any personal creepy-crawly infestation is sure to cause.  If ever there was a moment for a mood boosting cake, this was it.  I didn’t have time for a GF scratch cake, so I grabbed a mix and cracked my two beautiful duck eggs into the mixer and soon a cake was in the oven.  None of us like frosting too much, so we often opt for a powder sugar dusting instead.  This time I was rummaging through fall-themed cookie cutters for a contrast decoration for the top, when I yelled, “Who wants to have a louse cake? Make me a template!”  Unbelievably, three children were racing to draw and cut their versions for the cake.  The winner didn’t look much like a louse, but cuteness won over accuracy.  The nits were my oldest’s touch.   

 

You know, sometimes you just gotta laugh.

 

As for the cake, I should have used just one egg.  One duck egg = 2 chicken eggs.  I knew this but I wanted to see if the extra eggs would counteract the often grainy texture of gluten-free cakes.  The cake rose to fantastical heights in the oven, but when I tested the cake with a knife, it deflated like air let out of a tire.  The cake was still rich, but it was very, very dense.  Restraint, it seems, is key when using duck eggs.