The first day of my current job was nerve wracking. A month earlier, I had left a job after only two weeks. The supervisor literally scared me away and I don't scare easily. My nerves couldn't take the jokes about firing me in front of the rest of the staff and I hated the constant invasion of my personal life- he would even text me outside business hours. Creepy, no? Finally, after a confrontation where he kept yelling "I can't read you," I found the words spilling out my mouth: "I cannot work with you." That was that.
A month passed and I got a phone call out of the blue from a local company. I survived the interview process and got the gig! Much to my surprise though, I found my usual confident self... shaken. It was like I was waiting for someone to yell at me. Little bursts of adrenaline would hit in meetings as my body anticipated another confrontation.
As luck would have it though, fate decided to send me a secret weapon: Michelle. We started the same day, with the same job title, and assigned cubicles directly across from each other. Where I am soft spoken and cautious in new settings, she is warm, talkative, and out going. We started taking walks together during breaks and sharing pictures of our adorable pets. She's one of the kindest people I've met and I gravitate to her positive vibe. Soon, I found myself looking for her in meetings to calm my nerves. I had a friend in a room filled with strangers.
This cake was made specially for her birthday. She's not picky so I decided to shake things up and try this mixed bag of flavor: white cake with lemon- rhubarb curd and brown sugar cream cheese frosting.
White cake is polite and doesn't leave much of an impression. It compliments the filling because it balances the tartness and texture of the curd. The curd is yummy and a real treat for us lemon-rhubarb fans! You can sweeten to your content- I prefer to keep a bit of the bite! And let's face it, it's hard to go wrong with cream cheese frosting! The addition of brown sugar took away the strong flavor and created a lovely shade of off-white frosting. I toyed with the idea of adding coconut but decided that may be over kill, heh heh!
Hat's off to Lighter and Local for putting this cake together! The cake is from America's Test Kitchen, lemon curd is from David Lebovitz (*swoons*), and the frosting is form Smitten Kitchen- a true team of all-star bakers!
For the recipe, click here!
PS. Sorry for the picture lighting in some- we crushed this in the office and I baked it at night!
